Publicis wins Wal-Mart free mag contract

Publicis Blueprint, the contract publishing arm of French advertising giant Publicis Groupe, is believed to be entering the Canadian and German markets with the launch of a magazine for Wal-Mart, which owns UK supermarket chain Asda.

The magazine is understood to be similar in scope to the free monthly Asda Magazine.

Publicis launched Blueprint in May 1999, with Asda as one of its founding clients. The division is headed by chief executive John Wisbey, formerly chief executive of Forward, and managing director Jason Frost, a former publishing director at Redwood Publishing.

The Asda Magazine posted a circulation increase of ten per cent year on year – to 1,526,333 – in the latest ABC figures.

Blueprint also publishes George Magalogue, which features Asda’s clothing range. The bimonthly magazine targets women aged between 25 and 44 (MW April 19).

In July this year Blueprint won a magazine contract from Dixon Motors, the car and bike retailer. Blueprint will also sell advertising on Dixon’s in-store radio and its two websites, Dixonmotors.co.uk and Motorcycle-city.co.uk

Other clients include Thames Water, MFI and relationship marketing group Jigsaw Consortium.