John Brown Publishing wins Nike customer mag contract

John Brown Publishing (JBP), the publisher of Bare, is understood to have won the contract to publish Much Respect, Nike’s first venture into the consumer magazine market.

The magazine will be launched in June in support of Nike’s Jordan brand, which is endorsed by basketball star Michael Jordan. It will be distributed through 13 Niketown stores in the US.

The Nike consumer magazine will showcase athletes alongside features on music, business and urban culture. Nike has not decided whether to distribute the magazine in the UK.

JBP publishes three magazines in the US, the largest being Space, an American version of Ikea Room, which has a print run of 1.2 million. JBP chief executive Andrew Hirsch recently moved to New York to establish headquarters in the US.

In February this year, the company won the account to publish the Automobile Association’s (AA) magazine. The AA terminated its five-year relationship with Redwood and handed the publishing contract to JBP without a pitch. The account is understood to be worth more than &£5m a year (MW February 1).

Three of JBP’s consumer magazines – Viz, Bizarre and Fortean Times – were acquired by IFeelGood (IFG), the publishers of Hotdog, last week for &£6.4m. IFG intends to increase the frequency of Viz, which currently publishes six editions a year, plus summer and Christmas specials.

JBP finance director Tom Gleeson is to join IFG as managing director following the deal.