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AdAgeSPECIALREPORT 10.25.04 MAGAZINES: THE A-LIST

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR US WEEKLY Reinvigorated Wenner title makes connection with young women; advertisers follow in droves By JON FINE

jann wenner is taking the high road. This is kind of funny,because he’s talking about Us Weekly. “A bra strap slipping,dirty shoes,Britney walking bare- foot—they’re fun,”says the sharply dressed,slightly stub- bled chairman of Wenner Media,who’s gazing down,mogul- See US WEEKLY on Page S-6

The A-List Editor of Year Exec of Year Worth watching Ad Age online INSIDE From ‘Us Weekly’ to ‘In How to hold the high Mary Berner lives up to Keep newcomers ‘Life,’ For more on the Style,’ this year’s top ground and sell? David her ambitious vision for ‘Suede’ and ‘All You’ on A-List magazines, magazines sparkle Granger figured it out Fairchild Publications your radar screen go to AdAge.com Page S-2 Page S-8 Page S-10 Page S-12 QwikFIND AAQ06L

PHOTO BY SCOTT GRIES AD AGE MAIN 10-25-04 B 2 AADB 10/21/04 4:38 PM Page 1

October 25, 2004 | Advertising Age |S-2 AdAgeSPECIALREPORT MAGAZINES: THE A-LIST

US WEEKLY REAL SIMPLE Parents: Wenner Media, Parent: Time Inc. Walt Disney Co. Publisher: Robin Domeniconi Publisher:Victoria Lasdon Rose 1 2 Managing editor: Editor in chief: Janice Min Kristin van Ogtrop

Ad pages: 1,157.9 25.2% Ad pages: 925.6 16.4% Total circulation: 1,351,163 17.4% Total circulation: 1,721,071 25.1% Subscriptions: 605,276 6.1% Subscriptions: 1,331,713 30.2% Single-copy sales: 745,887 47.3% Single-copy sales: 389,358 10.3%

Irresistible magazine More like Real confection or harbinger Something. No. 2 or of the apocalypse? You No. 1 for three years decide—because we straight on Ad Age’s already have. Formerly A-List. This is a maga- Wenner’s folly; zine that routinely currently raking it in achieves perfection in on all fronts. Watch Us its specific aims. It looks Weekly drive newsstand gorgeous, the editorial sales in an entire category. Judging from its is spot-on and its monthly heft is stunning. Re- track record, this title may be today’s best viled at launch; today likely the single maga- possible answer to Freud’s most famous zine other companies most wish they’d open-ended question. Yes, the ad ‘recovery’ is tepid, but these 10 magazines stand out as Advertising Age thought of first. editors look at circ, ad pages, editorial excellence and buzz to determine the A-List

MEN’S CONDE NAST LUCKY PREVENTION HEALTH TRAVELER Parent: Conde Nast Publications Parent: Rodale Parent: Rodale Parent: Conde Nast Publications VP-publisher: VP-publisher: Kate Kelly Smith Alexandra W. Golinkin 3 VP-publisher: 4 VP-publisher: Lisa Hughes 5 6 VP-editorial director: Editor in chief: Kim France Rosemary Ellis MaryAnn Bekkedahl Editor in chief: Tom Wallace Editor in chief: David Zinczenko Ad pages: 1,181.3 13% Ad pages: 889.7 18.9% Ad pages: 1,093 14.7% Total circulation: 970,672 16.3% Total circulation: 2.5% Ad pages: 760.8 9.9% 3,359,698 Total circulation: 799,081 1.6% Subscriptions: 710,469 15.6% Total circulation: 1,718,319 1.3% Subscriptions: 2,964,340 2% Subscriptions: 744,861 1.1% Single-copy sales: 260,203 18.1% Single-copy sales: 395,358 6.4% Subscriptions: 1,229,744 0.9% Single-copy sales: 34,220 12.7% Single-copy sales: 488,575 7.2% If Time Inc.’s Real Simple Never let it be said that It’s no longer news that The travel category has is the magazine all the media landscape is men care about this come roaring back, and companies wish they’d dominated by the new, stuff—ab exercises, hair 2004 is a good year all thought of first, Lucky is and that old warhorses removal techniques— around for the big travel the magazine everyone don’t have some fight left in fact, that men do care magazines—but Conde else is outright copying. in them. This venerable is a downright middle- Nast Traveler’s gains This yearsaw Conde Nast’s magazine—founded brow realization. But it is bested those of the Cargo, Hearst’s Shop Etc., in 1950—saw its 2004 news that Men’s Health competition. Besides Ziff Davis’ Sync and numbers blow up big on just keeps finding more posting positive Fairchild’s Vitals; next year comes Vitals for all fronts, with solid gains in circulation consumers to buy it each month. High-profile performances on all key women and Conde Nast’s Domino. What they and nearly a 20% jump in ad pages. team of Elaine’s regular Dave Zinczenko and indicators, it remains an outpost for lush will see: It’s not a slam-dunk unless the edit Prevention’s performance provided a big MaryAnn Bekkedahl keeps the heat on. travel-porn shots of distant locales. formula is smart, direct and fun, like Lucky. boost in a big year for Rodale.

ESQUIRE SHAPE THE NEW IN STYLE Parent: Hearst Magazines Parent: American Media YORKER Parent: Time Inc. VP-publisher: Kevin C. O’Malley Publisher: Ann Taylor Parent: Conde Nast Publications Publishing director: Katy Egan 7 Editor in chief: David Granger 8 Editor in chief: Anne M. Russell 9 VP-publisher: David Carey 10 Editor: Louise Chunn Ad pages: 703.8 15.7% Ad pages: 1,010.5 18.4% Editor in chief: David Remnick Total circulation: 717,113 1% Total circulation: 1.1% Ad pages: 2,373.3 8.3% 1,617,604 Ad pages: 1,523.7 1.3% Subscriptions: 606,865 3.3% Subscriptions: 5% Total circulation: 1,780,427 4.8% 1,160,089 Total circulation: 1,003,205 4.7% Single-copy sales: 110,248 13.9% Single-copy sales: 10.4% Subscriptions: 847,570 12.3% 457,515 Subscriptions: 954,076 4.8% Single-copy sales: 932,857 1.1% Single-copy sales: 49,129 3.1% This turnaround story Given that this former has been long in coming, Weider Publications title A prototype of sorts and it’s not quite over is one of the few unques- They said it couldn’t be for the likes of Us yet, judging from a key tioned bright spots at done—and sometimes we Weekly and Lucky—and Hearst executive’s American Media, it’s wonder—but the data from the august Time cheerful admission that unsurprising it alone was indeed bear out that The New Inc., no less!—In Style “there are months where cited as a reason-for- Yorker’s transformation to shows no signs of it is profitable.” Still, the dealing by rival bidders profit center continues. slowing. Ad pages are David Carey may be the up almost 10%, and pamphlet-thin Esquires for Weider’s portfolio. ✂ of the past are far behind it, ad momentum Newsstand and ad page sales continue to fair-haired publisher at this is for a monthly continues and the work of Ad Age Editor soar, and Shape is significantly outpacing its Conde Nast now, but his success is unthinkable magazine that sold 3,000 of ‘em last year. of the Year David Granger speaks for competitors. In sum: shipped out from without David Remnick—who, with the likes of As spinoffs ramp up, look for Time Inc. to itself—smart, smart-looking, ambitious Weider but still shaping up (we’re sorry) at its Seymour Hersh, proved a general-interest continue to echo this executive’s sentiment: and funny to boot. new home. weekly can still lead and drive news cycles. “Thank God for In Style.”

Notes: Year-to-date ad page numbers are for January-September 2004, from Publishers Information Bureau; during this period, overall ad pages for magazines tracked by PIB rose 2.2%. Circulation numbers are for six-month period ended June 30, 2004, from Audit Bureau of Circulations. All percentage changes are vs. year-earlier period. AD AGE MAIN 10-25-04 B 6 AADB 10/21/04 4:36 PM Page 1

October 25, 2004 | Advertising Age |S-6 AdAgeSPECIALREPORT MAGAZINES: THE A-LIST MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR This just in: Celebrities still eating the world! Us Weeklynever shrinks from its fascination with the world it covers, from the absurdity of it all to US WEEKLY its joy in following it. Weekly are born. “Consider it done,” deadpans Deputy Editor Mike Steele, nodding while scribbling onto a pad. The hats in question turn up on Us Weekly’s next back page, under the chirpy headline “Classy Hats!” So goes the remora-shark relationship Us Weekly has with today’s celebrities, though it’s sometimes hard to tell who’s the shark and who’s the remora. If certain celebrity couplings are good for all parties’ careers— think Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher or Justin Timberlake and Britney—then who’s feeding whom? “There is a relationship between the medium and the personality,” says Mr. Gabler. “Justin and Cameron [Diaz]—she makes movies, he sings—but ultimately they are better known for their narrative than anything they do in the world.” Consider, says Michael Hirschorn, exec VP- production and programming at Viacom’s VH1, “Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. They’ve very smartly put their dirty laundry out there, literally, and have been very TEAM LEADERS: successful” because of it. Publisher Ms. Min likes to say that Victoria Lasdon Us Weekly focuses on Rose (l.) and “aspirational” celebrities, Editor in Chief those with fantasy looks and Janice Min. fantasy paychecks and fantasy

SCOTT GRIES SCOTT mates, like Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. But is what’s most important. It’s one in which million, and it’s expected to outpace longtime the magazine’s take on “Life: The Reality people look at, rather than read, magazines. Wenner flagship Rolling Stone in total revenue Show” gets much juice from these celebs’ Us Weekly It’s one in which Britney Spears twice as well. Mediamark Research Inc. released musings on the mundane. “Gwyneth [Paltrow] From Page S-1 prancing barefoot into gas station bathrooms figures this year that showed Us Weekly’s gave a quote where she said she was secretly style, onto midtown Manhattan from his merits news analysis, assuming a delirious women readers have a higher median wearing a girdle after she gave birth. That’s why hushed corner office. “To show people’s picture page headlined “Britney: Totally household income—$83,365—than readers at she looked so thin,” says Ms. Min. “For our unfortunate body parts, which the Star has”—it Trashtastic!” qualifies as news analysis. (Oh, Conde Nast Publications’ Vanity Fair and Time readers, that’s really interesting.” has, both traditionally and under the leadership all right: It does. These days, it does.) Inc.’s In Style. This year, Mercedes-Benz USA Today, Us Weekly’s DNA is a convoluted of former Us Weekly editor/reinventor Bonnie Ask yourself if anything will attenuate was among the advertisers pumping up the helix with genetic material grafted from ’50s Fuller—“that’s just uncomfortable. It’s America’s obsession with celebrity—and weekly’s pages 25.2% through September vs. a scandal sheets like Confidential, supermarket compelling, but it’s uncomfortable.” decimate sales of the Us Weeklies of the year ago, to 1,157.9, according to Publishers tabloids, the newest wave of British weeklies Ah, yes. Us Weekly: class act. world—if you must. But also ask yourself : Information Bureau. like Heat and OK!, the E! channel, In Style, and Roll your eyes; purse your lips and shake Would the likes of Bauer Publishing’s In Remember when Sept. 11 was going to kill even the warhorse women’s-service category. your head; slip it inside your bag so your Touch and American Media’s revamped frivolity? Neither do we. It was not always this way. At Us Weekly’s smarty-pants friends don’t see it. But Star—and Bauer’s upcoming Life & Style launch in March 2000, under the stewardship resistance is futile. Thanks to its Weekly—exist were it not for Us Weekly? ‘CLASSY HATS!’ of former Esquire and Men’s Journal Editor unprecedented fusion of newsstand heat, Ask yourself: Is there nothing about the most It’s a clear early-autumn morning, and the Terry McDonell, its sharply defined target of advertiser interest and—most incredibly— pedestrian acts of celebrities—grocery white-hot center of celebrity culture—in women had not yet fully coalesced, and Mr. the way it’s found a younger and wealthier shopping, struggling with sloppy ice cream other words, of American pop culture itself— Wenner struggled against his instincts. audience, Us Weekly is Advertising Age’s cones—that America won’t devour? may well be this undistinguished conference “It was trying to be too much like Rolling Magazine of the Year. As Mr. Wenner might put it, the answers room in midtown Manhattan. It’s stuffed Stone. I really had to learn to give that up,” he to these questions are uncomfortable. But with a standing-room-only crowd, where a says. “Three or four pages is way too long [for an A RIOTOUSLY FUN ‘READ’ compelling. Wenner General Manager Kent mostly young, mostly female editorial staff of Us article] … 700 words is too long.” (Cynics And, perhaps most importantly, it’s a Brownridge cites internal data showing the Us Weekly discusses recent fashion choices may counter that three paragraphs is too long for riotously fun read, assuming “read” is the average celebrity weekly reader buys 2.1 made by Ms. Spears and her new husband, Us Weekly.) In its first year, executives say, Us right word. “No one ever says, ‘Did you read copies of them on the newsstand. Each week. Kevin Federline. Weekly lost around $30 million and newsstand that in Us Weekly?’ “ says Simon Dumenco, Celebrity life “is a form of entertainment,” Mr. Federline, a staffer reports, was sales fell far short of stated goals. Wenner Media former culture columnist for New York says Neal Gabler, author of “Life: The Movie” photographed wearing a hat urging all to had to cut rate base 20% to 800,000. Magazine. “It’s always ‘Did you see that and a biography of ur-gossip columnist Walter “Rock out” with a crucial portion of the male In February 2001, Walt Disney Co. bought horrific picture in Us Weekly?’ “ Winchell. “I would go as far as to say it’s the anatomy exposed. Amid stifled giggles, staff a half-interest in Us Weekly for $35 million. Like it or not, Us Weekly has become a most popular narrative of the last 15 years.” writer Kevin O’Leary recalls, “Britney had a (Mr. Wenner had spent a year in the ’90s cultural reference point, if not an entire world For the first half of 2004, US Weekly’s really gross hat, too.” trying to find a partner for Us Weekly, view. It’s one in which the absolutely newsstand sales rose 47.3% to 745,887. Next “Her hat was ‘Shut up and do me,’ “ says a recognizing a weekly launch was a mammoth insignificant—the hookups, breakups and year, an executive familiar with the financials grinning Editor In Chief Janice Min. undertaking for a company with a revenue baby-making of the youngish and beautiful— says, Us Weekly will likely turn a profit of $50 This, friends, is how photo features at Us See US WEEKLY on Page S-12 AD AGE MAIN 10-25-04 B 8 AADB 10/21/04 4:33 PM Page 1

October 25, 2004 | Advertising Age |S-8 AdAgeSPECIALREPORT MAGAZINES: THE A-LIST EDITOR OF THE YEAR What makes a man’s magazine a man’ s magazine? Judging from his readers, advertisers and peers, David Granger still DAVID GRANGER knows. By JON FINE neglecting what makes his magazine surpris- ingly fun: its visual palette and playfulness, its he good news was that David greatly improved short pieces. Granger got the job he always wanted All this, as recent years severely tested the when he was named editor in chief of notions of what constitutes a men’s magazine Esquire in 1997. The bad news? He (hello, Maxim) and highbrow general-inter- Tgot the job he always wanted when he est magazine (goodbye, Talk). Mr. Granger was named editor in chief of Esquire in 1997. even conquered a strong strain of earnestness “It was practically on life support,” recalls that gripped earlier iterations of his magazine. Cathleen Black, president of Hearst Magazines, Even he concedes his tenure had a rocky who hired Mr. Granger away from his executive start, and there are times when Esquire trips editor perch at Conde Nast Publications’ GQ. visibly over its outsized ambitions. But ad page “He understood this was not going to be easy.” and readership gains have accelerated, and Although perhaps not to the degree he dis- National Magazine Award nominations are covered. Mark Adams, who worked with Mr. plentiful. And, in 2004, David Granger is Granger at GQ, recalls an e-mail exchange he Advertising Age’s Editor of the Year. had with his former colleague shortly after Mr. Granger left. “I said, ‘Do you finally feel THE SWAGGER OF SUCCESS like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel?’ “ Mr. Granger, who’s 47, is welcoming, albeit with says Mr. Adams. Mr. Granger’s response, per a tinge of wariness. (He’s more of editor-as-ob- Mr. Adams: “Let me put it this way. I am get- server than editor-as-host.) He dresses ridiculous- ting the idea that maybe I am in a tunnel.” ly well, mixing and matching textures and pat- “He knew he had a long way to go,” says Mr. terns against custom-made pinstripe suits. Adams, now deputy editor at National Geo- There’s a zebra pelt on the floor of his office, and a graphic Adventure. An executive says Hearst bit of swagger in his bearing that may not have then lost more than $12 million a year on Es- been when he took the job. More than one person quire; a Hearst spokesman declined to comment. contacted for this article referenced “a complicated But Esquire still occupies the high ground of father-son relationship” between Mr. Granger magazine journalism—a rare destination these and his former boss, GQ’s Art Cooper, and it’s days. Its wit and hefty ambitions are arguably hard not to imagine the growing consensus that matched only by Conde Nast’s New Yorker. his magazine ultimately outdid the late Mr. Unlike The New Yorker, though, Esquire is re- Cooper’s is a source of enormous pride for him. quired to devote serious space “He is doing exactly the magazine he TOP EDITOR: David to service each month. wanted to do,” says a friend, “at a fraction of Granger is doing Under Mr. Granger, Es- GQ’s budget.” exactly what he quire has balanced both aims. But before all this, David Granger wrote a wanted, giving He’s kept standards and qual- letter. men “perspective on the world.” ity high while editorial bud- It was 1996. Ms. Black had just been gets shrink. He’s made Es- named president of Hearst Magazines, and quire’s newsstand sales Mr. Granger wrote to tell her something. “I increase by double-digit margins for three said I knew something about Esquire that the straight years, while most magazines struggle last couple of editors had forgotten,” he says. to stave off losses. He made, and kept, Esquire “Esquire had started taking out all the service relevant, with nods in equal measure to what it … With the tangible, takeaway material out was and what it must be in order to survive. of the magazine, I thought it was in danger of Mr. Granger did this in a media world in- becoming Harper’s, which is a great magazine creasingly ill-suited to his ambitions of being but it’s going to be a very small audience.”

SCOTT GRIES SCOTT “part of the national conversation,” while not See GRANGER on Page S-12 Smart Fresh Bold Cool Hip

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October 25, 2004 | Advertising Age |S-10 AdAgeSPECIALREPORT MAGAZINES: THE A-LIST PUBLISHING EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR From Wto Women's Wear Daily, from Detailsto Vitals, from Jane to Elegant Bride to . . . Footwear News? Mary Berner has been busy build- ing Advance's next great MARY BERNER publishing empire. Furnishings News and Supermarket News. The thinking behind the shift is typical of the Growth came through iterations and entrepreneurial spirit that has infused Fairchild spinoffs. WWD soon begat WWD: The during Ms. Berner’s tenure: Vitals Editor Joe Magazine, today one of more than 20 titles or Zee had been the fashion director of W, so why special editions under the WWD banner. not tap into that expertise and his reputation? Fairchild’s B2B division has mushroomed in a More launches are ahead. Fairchild is similar manner, and even W, now second only currently incubating an upscale parenting to Conde Nast’s Vogue in ad pages among magazine and travel title, both of which are high fashion titles, has spun off W Jewelry. the fruits of another Berner invention— Fairchild’s other conduit of growth until now Fairchild’s “Idea” day, in which employees has been the reclamation of Conde Nast projects. are encouraged to pitch concepts to the Details was relaunched at Fairchild in 2000 after executive committee. Four different groups failing in all its incarnations at Conde Nast. A came up with a parenting idea, she says, a Fairchild executive says the magazine broke clear signal of its potential. even last year and is now firmly in the black. In May, the solidly profitable, though AD COMMUNITY ALSO A FAN relatively unglamorous, Conde Nast Bridal The advertising community loves Ms. Group was transferred to Fairchild and joined Berner’s forthright style, her focus on with another Berner project, the recently operating as much as selling, and her acquired and relaunched Elegant Bride. commitment to delivering products that stick While Fairchild, like all units of the closely to, and define, their niches. held Advance, doesn’t disclose top- or “She delivers one thing advertisers prize— bottom-line figures, executives there are an extremely considerable product,” says happy to reveal that ad revenue (not counting David Verklin, CEO of Aegis Group’s Carat SCOTT GRIES SCOTT the recently arrived bridal titles) has risen Americas, New York. “You really feel there is By GREG LINDSAY and shuffled publishers to “get the right people 54% since 1999 to a projected $400 million in a steady hand on the tiller at Fairchild, and on the bus, and get the wrong ones out.” 2004. The Bridal Group is expected to you see it in the product.” t’s been said of Fairchild Publications But it hasn’t all been executive rejiggering. generate $290 million in ads in ’04. These days, Ms. Berner’s style is in vogue at President-CEO Mary Berner that if she Ms. Berner has more than doubled the This year, however, has been bumpier; ad Advance, where the similarly operations- doesn’t run Conde Nast someday, she’ll number of titles Fairchild publishes, and has pages at stalwarts W and Jane have been flat obsessed Charles Townsend assumed the simply build her own magazine- created or taken on new franchises like the and down, respectively; the B2B division is president-CEO spot at Conde Nast in February. Ipublishing powerhouse. Having overseen Fairchild Bridal Group and the Vitals flat after growing even during the ad Ms. Berner succeeded Mr. Townsend as Fairchild for the last five years, Mr. Berner Network. The latter is transforming Vitals recession, according to TNS Media publisher of Glamour when he rose to exec VP, appears ready to begin creating in earnest that into the first magazine to alternate between Intelligence/CMR; while WWD’s revenue is later becoming chief operating officer at Conde publishing empire. men’s and women’s fashion with each issue. growing steadily once again, according to Nast. Mr. Townsend describes their working Ms. Berner arrived at Fairchild in Publishers Information Bureau. relationship today as “extraordinarily close.” November 1999, just as Advance NOW A ‘PLAYER’ At this point, “We’re done with the Adds Advance Chairman S.I. Newhouse Jr.: Publications, parent of Conde Nast “We’ve done the heavy lifting,” Ms. Berner iterations,” Ms. Berner says. “Otherwise, “We appreciate the close working relationship Publications, was completing its $650 million says, adding, “I would argue that we are eventually you’ll have a sock magazine: she has fostered with other divisions within the purchase of Fairchild from Walt Disney Co. perceived as a player now.” Leading the WWD Socks. We’re building brands now.” Advance Magazine Group.” Within a month, Ms. Berner had split the transformation of Fairchild into a player has The Vitals Network is an early example of Mr. Townsend’s handover of the Bridal company into three divisions and boldly elevated Ms. Berner to Advertising Age’s that evolution, creating a brand that is Group to Fairchild last spring was accordingly predicted that Fairchild would double its Publishing Executive of the Year. simultaneously niche and upscale. interpreted as a possible step in Ms. Berner being operating profit in five years. Upon getting the house in order, Ms. Vitals began life in August as a men’s groomed for CEO of Conde Nast someday. Ms. Berner, 45, laughs at that prediction Berner and her team chose to focus on shopping book and competitor to Conde “Has Conde Nast learned from Fairchild?” now. She recalls that the first two years on the rehabilitating Fairchild’s core franchises first, Nast’s Cargo, but is set to evolve next year Mr. Townsend asks rhetorically. “The answer is job ended up being “about getting the house in like company flagship Women’s Wear Daily into a hybrid of men’s and women’s fashion, absolutely. … These two divisions of Advance order.” She created an executive committee and profitable trades like DNR, Home alternating the focus every issue. have never been closer than they are now.” I Get the . Launching November 8

A new magazine from For more information, call your sales representative or Jeff Burch, Advertising Director, at 212-210-0280 or [email protected]. AD AGE MAIN 10-25-04 B 12 AADB 10/21/04 4:29 PM Page 1

October 25, 2004 | Advertising Age |S-12 AdAgeSPECIALREPORT MAGAZINES: THE A-LIST

you see when you walk down the street of any fashion center in the world.” SUEDE Launched earlier this month with a rate base MAGAZINES WORTH WATCHING ONE LOOK AT SUEDE makes it clear: Women of 250,000, Suede had 40 ad pages in the first By JENNA SCHNUER of color aren’t the afterthought here, they’re the issue. Ms. Vega says the launch sold out quickly at It girls. Published by Time Inc.-backed many newsstands, so the pressrun with many of this year’s magazine launches arriving too late to be Essence Communications Partners, was bumped up 100,000 for the judged,Advertising Age found no title warranting recognition as Launch Suede says its goal is to give “multi- second issue. Suede will publish nine culti fashionistas” a magazine that will issues in 2005. of the Year.But here are three new efforts that show particular promise. resonate in their lives. Suede gives the influencers their “What was missing [for this group] say. The “message to advertisers was a true reflection of themselves,” was one of the marketplace not will be,” says Steve Greenberger, senior VP-direc- says Editor in Chief Suzanne Boyd. being served,” says Ms. Vega. tor of print services at Publicis Groupe’s Zenith “They use fashion and beauty to “I like what I see so far,” says LIFE Media, New York. “I’m hoping to see more what- express and amplify their personality.” Zenith’s Mr. Greenberger, senior VP- FORGET APPLE PIE. When it comes to some- to-do this weekend. … If they go more servicey, Now is the time for Suede, says Publisher director of print services at Publicis Groupe’s thing truly American, most magazine folks would we’ll see some action.” Enedina Vega, because there are “so many Zenith Media, New York. “It seemed like it was probably give Life the nod. And now everybody’s Life “makes you feel good” about America, undercurrents” of multicultural influence in the more alive. I could see somebody enjoying all-American has come back to, well, life once more. says Publisher Peter Bauer. “It’s an added treat world, from the “pop culture leaders” to “what having it.” I On Oct. 1, 12 million readers found Life when they for people who are working harder and [who flipped through their Friday newspaper. have to] compress all their personal The title relaunched as a free weekly in life into the weekend.” magazine in Wal-Mart,” says Publisher Diane Oshin. 72 papers in 45 states, and 20 of the top “Friday is a great day for Life to be Editor Bella Price says talks with women 25 demographic market areas. published as Life will appear in papers ALL YOU across the U.S. made it clear that they “all loved Time Inc.’s third incarnation of Life, on a day when they have very few ABOUT 425,000 Wal-Mart shoppers threw celebrity magazines, but [these magazines] are which first appeared as a weekly in other inserts,” Mr. Bauer says, adding something extra into their carts in not about their real lives. ... This is back 1936, makes the most of the 48 hours that marketers will be able to reach August—the launch issue of Time Inc.’s at real life and everyday solutions.” in each weekend, says Managing Edi- consumers before they head off on All You. Agency media executive Carmen tor Bill Shapiro, also a key player in the their usual weekend shopping trips. With a competitive set that includes Graf agrees, saying, “This is all about development of All You. “Because people are so Mr. Bauer emphasizes that Time Inc. doesn’t Bauer Publishing siblings First for real people. It’s very relatable.” Ms. busy, we’re sort of pushing our emotions off to the consider Life to be a newspaper supplement, but Women and Woman’s World, as well as Graf, senior VP-group media director at side during the week. The weekend is a great time rather a magazine delivered by newspaper. No other service magazines, All You turns Omnicom Group’s GSD&M, Austin, to experience those emotions.” newsprint here. Mr. Bauer also touts Life’s photo the typical U.S. distribution model on its Texas, placed ads in the launch for Wal- The magazine’s editorial mix includes Life’s heritage, as well as its articles, as points of differ- head in favor of a newsstand-driven Mart, which got no special discounts. signature photography, short feature stories ence with newspaper supplements. magazine. Zenith’s Mr. Greenberger adds: “All and weekend to-dos, including a quickie do-it- The debut cover featured actress Sarah Jes- Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the launch pad You could be the title to cover the market.” yourself project. sica Parker, close on the heels of her Emmy win. was Wal-Mart Stores, which will be the only There were 60 ad pages in the launch issue, “The thrust to create a Friday supplement is in- The second cover? The must-have dog of the newsstand outlet for the monthly until the end of and, says Ms. Oshin, All You is closing December teresting—depending on what the demographics moment: the labradoodle. I 2005. The September issue “outsold every other with 70 pages. I

(That edge, though, is precisely what first newsstand sales slipped 10.5% to 916,022, connection, whether that’s delusional or not, to brought the media cognoscenti into Us though an American Media spokesman says these [celebrity] women who are reflections of Us Weekly Weekly’s corner.) that since then, newsstand sales were readers’ lives,” she says. “Breakups. Babies. From Page S-6 “regularly breaking 1 million.” Vacations.” The traditional tropes of women’s base then well under $300 million.) More FULLER DEFENDED In any event, Ms. Fuller’s template proved service magazines, played out on the red- importantly, Ms. Fuller came on in February Ms. Fuller, through a spokesman, declined to durable enough to outlast her. Under her carpeted landscape of today’s celebrity culture. 2002, remaking the title and starting its string respond. But David Pecker, American Media’s successor, Ms. Min, the numbers continue to “You can read Us, and I guarantee you not of double-digit newsstand increases. But she chairman-CEO, said in a statement: “It seems skyrocket. (Much can be said about Michael one story will make you feel stressed out,” resigned abruptly in June 2003 to take over strange that he says that, since he aggressively Eisner’s stewardship of Disney, but his Us Ms. Min says. “That’s not a bad thing!” the Star, and is not always remembered with attempted to keep her at Wenner Media. I Weekly deal proved remarkably prescient.) Ms. “You kind of need this sort of stuff when great fondness at Wenner. have not experienced any of that with Bonnie. Min paints her Us Weekly as having a softer the world is going to hell in a handbasket,” “Bonnie’s nuts. Bonnie is not a good boss,” Her success on the newsstand [at the Star], in focus—key celebs’ publicists might disagree— agrees Mr. Dumenco. “It’s much more says Mr. Wenner. “And her instincts and that she has already increased our sales, and appropriately wears her job-mandated comforting to look at a horrific picture of a editorial policies were beyond what I consider to mirrors the impact she had there.” In fact, for obsession with celebrity effluvia lightly. zitty, boozy Britney Spears than to think be tasteful or acceptable. There is a nasty edge.” the first six months of 2004, the Star’s “You really want to feel like you can make a about what’s going on in Iraq.” I

Simple Plan to Save the World,” from the May really accomplished was to make the maga- zine columnist. “All the complications of what it issue—appear near fare like real-life “Brutally zine as entertaining as possible. To make it means to be a man today are, I think, very diffi- Granger Honest Personals” (“I’m lanky, ridiculously in funny,” Mr. Granger says. He gives much cult to embody in one great magazine.” From Page S-8 debt and almost always stoned”). credit for this to Senior Editor A.J. Jacobs, “I and my staff try to make a magazine At the time, Ms. Black told him she’d stand Mr. Granger’s sense of presentation leads whom Esquire poached from Time Inc.’s En- men will respond to on multiple levels,” Mr. by then-editor Ed Kosner. But when Mr. Kosner him now to blend service with schtick and per- tertainment Weekly. Granger says. ”I want to give them an enter- left in May 1997, in a manner Hearst termed sonality. A gadgets column written by “Men in taining and rewarding experience that gives “mutual,” Mr. Granger got the job in 10 days. Black” director Barry Sonnenfeld reveals as PEERS SALUTE MAGAZINE them some kind of perspective on the world. I Mr. Granger’s predecessors, Ms. Black says much about Mr. Sonnenfeld’s deeply absurd, “He’s putting out what some months is ar- can help make their lives a little bit better.” today, were “very tied to the literary tradition. ultra-moneyed existence as his gear choices, as guably the best magazine in America,” says Mr. Miraculously, the market has actually I’m not saying whether that’s good or bad, but is evidenced by his offhand disclosure that he Adams. This view is widely shared among Mr. helped him. GQ has gone aggressively toward most people don’t want to read really long sto- owns “close to a dozen” Sony Trinitrons. (This Granger’s peers, judging from Esquire winning a younger reader, like Fairchild Publications’ ries today—you have to mix them up and make sense also leads Mr. Granger to sign on mid- four National Magazine Awards this spring. reborn Details. “It’s sort of left the market for them more reader-friendly … David listened to dling songwriter-cum-heartthrob John Mayer All the more amazing since Esquire straddles magazines for what I call ‘the high-normal the readers but crafted the magazine in a way to pen a music-related column. “Even my categories—men’s, general interest—in severe man’ wide open,” says Mr. Granger. “In some that respected what it was and what it could be.” daughters roll their eyes,” admits Mr. identity crises. “What is a man supposed to be in ways, I feel we are the last man standing.” What it’s become is a magazine where al- Granger, “because he’s got that image of a pret- the 21st century?” asks Kurt Andersen, the host Like we said: swagger. Or at least a long most comically big-think articles—like noted ty boy who’s singing to the girls.”) of Public Radio International’s “Studio 360” and way from staring down a long tunnel, hoping economist Jeffrey Sachs’ modestly titled “A All this came recently. “The last thing we former Spy editor and current New York Maga- for a hint of light. I