IPC restructures around consumer audience

IPC Media, the consumer publishing company which produces NME, Loaded and Marie Claire is to restructure its business around its target audience groups.

The company will be structured around three audience groups of men, mass-market women and up-market women, where it had previously organised business divisions around subject areas and magazine frequency.

IPC Inspire will be the men’s division, headed by managing director Paul Williams and will include leisure, music and lifestyle titles.

IPC Connect will be the mass-market women’s division, headed by managing director Fiona Dent. It will include women’s weeklies, the goodtoknow network and IPC’s TV entertainment brands.

IPC Southbank, headed by managing director Jackie Newcombe, will be the up-market women’s division including fashion, beauty and home interest titles.

While the restructure means a number of staff cuts an IPC spokeswoman says that the restructure does not mean any titles are being discontinued or merged adding that it’s “business as usual”.

The previous divisional names IPC TX and IPC Ignite will go.

The changes will take effect on 4 January.

Evelyn Webster CEO of IPC Media says: “While our current structure has served us well over many years, it now no longer fully reflects our clients’ business needs. “

She adds that by restructuring the business by consumer audience, rather than magazine frequency or subject area, IPC will “create a more market-facing structure, which will also bring greater coherence to our operations.”

In addition to the structural changes, Charlie Meredith, previously managing director of IPC TX, has been appointed to a newly created board role and will be responsible for the majority of central operations including IPC Direct, the direct marketing division; IPC Plus, the syndication and licensing division; production; property/facilities and environmental concerns.

IPC Ignite managing director, Eric Fuller, will leave IPC at the end of December.