Bauer to launch ‘intelligent’ men’s mag
Bauer Media is hoping to take on Condé Nast’s Wired magazine with the launch of an “intelligent” men’s monthly that it believes will give brands an opportunity to target a broader range of readers than its other men’s titles.
The first issue of ‘Wonderpedia’ launches on 24 May and will include articles on historical events and conspiracy theories with content on futuristic technology and nature.
It will target “successful” and “intelligent” men aged between 25 and 54, a demographic the publisher says want to know “something about everything and everything about something.”
Bauer Media hopes to create a new “knowledge” category and claims that the title is the first of its kind.
Launch advertisers include Peugeot and beer brand Staropramen.
The publisher is rolling out a £1m marketing campaign on 10 May) that will include 200,000 free samples being distributed to existing Bauer subscribers as well as to London museums.
Additionally, Bauer Media will use its portfolio of specialist titles such as Empire, Digital Photography and Trail alongside its radio stations to promote the launch.
Abby Carvosso, managing director of Bauer Media Lifestyle and advertising, says there is a “growing thirst” for knowledge from young men fostered, for example, by the appeal of scientists such as Brian Cox.
She adds: “We’ve tried to make Wonderpedia entertaining and in a way more random than anything that’s out there. We’ve married this approach to editorial to how we approach advertisers. You can have the randomness of the advertising with the randomness of the editorial.”
It hopes to fill the gap left by the long-term decline in circulation of its lads’ mags FHM and Zoo. it also comes as rival Loaded was bought by millionaire pornographer Paul Baxendale-Walker after its owner Vitality Publishing called in administrators after stacking up £1m of debt with creditors, less than two years after buying the magazine from IPC Media.
The news and current affairs sector, which Wonderpedia will join, was one of the few remaining growth sectors in the UK, according to the latest ABC audit, with circulation figures up 12.3% in the second half of 2011. However, the Men’s Lifestyle category, which includes Loaded and Bauer’s FHM and Zoo, saw a 2.5% decrease during the same period.
