Loaded publisher to launch women’s weekly
Loaded publisher Blue Publishing is set to enter the competitive women’s weekly market with the launch of a title it claims will eschew the traditional celebrity lifestyles and fashion content to focus on what young, outgoing women really want.
Rush launches later this year, taking on established weeklies Heat and Closer by targeting women aged between 18-25. Articles will focus on music, parties, drinking, friends, holidays, social networking and cars.
It will adopt a similar style to men’s title Loaded and the publisher claims it will fill a “gap in the market for a magazine that doesn’t put celebrities on a pedestal”.
Blue Publishing owner Paul Baxendale-Walker told Marketing Week: “We’re going for a more realistic look of lifestyle than a lot of the magazines on the market. It won’t be saying live your life like this celebrity instead it’s going to be about being truthful to girls of an 18-30 age group.
“There will be celebrity coverage but it’s going to be taking the mickey out of it. That’s where the Loaded connection comes into play. Loaded still has celebrity but it doesn’t take it too seriously and it’s not going to be dictated by celebrity culture.”
An iPhone app will be launched alongside the magazine.
The publisher is hoping Rush will breathe life into the struggling women’s weekly market, which saw July to December 2012 circulation figures tumble by 13 per cent year-on-year. Publishers have taken to developing multi-media strategies around their core brands as they look to attract new audiences and open up new revenue opportunities amid an in steady decline in recent years.
Loaded launched a branded TV channel last December following its acquisition by former lawyer and adult film producer Baxendale-Walker after its former owner went into administration earlier in the year. The publisher claimed the launch a success with a weekly reach of 148,000, which place it ahead of more established UK broadcasters such as Fox News and Wedding TV according to Barb.
