MEDIA WATCH: KEEPING AN EYE ON THE MEDIA AROUND US

QUALITY AND QUANTITY: GQ HITS 20

Men's magazine GQ is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a bumper December issue, including interviews with cover-star David Beckham, Jack Nicholson and Noel Gallagher.

Rejoicing in all things manly, the magazine will include features on the men who have defined the past 20 years - from Tony Blair to Eminem – and Heston Blumenthal’s scrambled egg and bacon ice cream recipe. Um…yum?

Men’s mag circulation figures have been declining steadily over recent months, but GQ remains one of the few publications to successfully target aspirational and affluent 20-50 year old men. Its circulation is up 1.7% in the latest ABC figures, whilst downmarket lads’ mags such as FHM and Maxim continue to struggle. Perhaps this really is the end of the tits and arse culture that sprang up in the 90’s, and it's time for PRs to focus on the quality men’s sector…or perhaps that’s wishful thinking and we’re destined to see minor female celebrities baring all for many years to come.

FT DOES DIGITAL

As part of its push to become a key social media destination for financial news, the Financial Times has launched the Long Room.

A new discussion and analysis area targeted at finance professionals, the Long Room allows users to upload and share multimedia content within the newspaper's existing FT Alphaville community - which already includes live blogging two hours a day from the Stock Market.

ALWAYS INSTYLE

InStyle magazine is the latest women's glossy to go through a redesign. Its November issue will feature a new-look cover with a bigger masthead. Editorially, the issue will include additional features such as a brand new shopping section, expert styling tips and more.

CITY AM LAUNCHES UP NORTH

City AM, the Capital's free business paper, has announced plans to launch two regional editions in Manchester and Edinburgh. Initially the paper aims to distribute up to 17,000 copies outside the capital.

Media Moves

heat
Jeremy Mark is set to join heat as Deputy Editor on 10th November. Jeremy is currently Deputy Editor of Now magazine.

The Sunday Telegraph, Seven
Paul Kendall has recently been appointed Associate Editor / Feature Writer of The Sunday Telegraph’s Seven magazine. He was previously Deputy Editor for The Mail on Sunday’s Review section.

Look
Justine Harkness has joined Look magazine as Acting Deputy News Editor and will be replacing Julia Etherington. Justine has previously worked for celebrity titles Now and OK! and will be responsible for celebrity shoots and interviews at Look.

Waitrose Food Illustrated
Jenny McIvor joined Waitrose Food Illustrated as Deputy Editor yesterday. Prior to this she was freelance, writing for the BBC’s olive and The Guardian, among other titles.

VIRGIN TRAINS' HOTLINE

Hotline, the official magazine for Virgin Trains, will now be produced by Ink Publishing.

Previously a quarterly magazine, Hotline will be relaunched as a new-look monthly publication focusing on the best of the best across the Virgin Trains network - from Euston to Edinburgh via Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and everywhere in between.

Madeleine Ensor has taken over as the magazine's new Editor.

HEY BIG SPENDER...

Black Card, a brand new upmarket magazine dedicated to intelligent luxury has launched today.

The magazine targets holders of the black credit card provided in the UK by various banks and financial institutions. Editorial content covers key aspects of a modern affluent lifestyle including profiles of inspirational people, travel and leisure, art and design, international property, food, drink and restaurant trends, as well as luxury shopping and fashion.

The second issue of Black Card is scheduled for late November 2008 and the magazine will be bi-monthly in 2009.

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH BROUGHT TO LIFE

The Sunday Telegraph has introduced a brand new 24 page, colour supplement to its weekly offering.

Life will incorporate the paper's old Home & Living section - offering advice on property, interiors and gardening - with new sections that focus on health & fitness, the great outdoors and food. Each week a panel of experts will also offer advise on everything from family to pets.

Jeff Howell and Paula Robinson will continue to write on DIY and interiors; and Bunny Guinness and Elspeth Thompson on gardening. Added to this will be recipes from top-class chefs, as well as health advice from Dr Dan Rutherford.

Media Moves

Cosmopolitan
Fiona Cowood has recently joined Cosmopolitan as Features Editor. She was previously freelance and prior to that was the Features Editor of Bliss.

DailyCandy/DailyCandy Kids
On 15th September, DailyCandy is launching a weekly London kids edition called DailyCandy Kids. Rose Astor has been appointed Kids Editor.

Prima
Karen Swayne, previously freelance, joined Prima this week as Features Editor.

WHAT'S THE POINT OF LAD MAGS?

You do have to ask, don't you?

The latest numbers make grim reading as Maxim lost 59.6% of its readers compared to last year, FHM was down 10%, Loaded dropped 20.8% and even relative newcomers Zoo and Nuts couldn't defy the drop and lost 13.6% of their readers.

In fact, the only shinging lights in the gloom were freebies Sport and Shortlist - both of which posted gains - and the premium titles GQ and Esquire.

However, when you look at the numbers that the likes of FHM, Maxim (and its stablemate, the online-only Monkey), Loaded and the newstand weeklies are posting for their websites, a different story emerges.

Okay, so the onlines aren't bringing in the premium advertisers, but they are delivering serious volumes of young, affluent males, an audience that it's virtually impossible to reach any other way.

Perhaps, then, the likes of FHM and Nuts magazines are actually a piece of marketing for the websites that their brands support. In which case, the tits and arse covers are simply a promise of more to see online and the newstand presence becomes a fabulous piece of marketing in stores up and down the land that more-or-less pays its own way.

The lesson for PRs (and our clients?) ... hitting the online versions of the lad mags is now the most compelling way to deliver reach for brands that can engage with the audience that these titles reach ... and doing it time and again in a targeted way is the thing that will deliver impact.