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For Giant, the task
of building buzz
New men's magazine aims to reach young men
By Lorraine Sanders
When a new magazine launches
on the promise of going where no other magazine has gone before, it
raises some obvious questions. Is there indeed a market for it? Will
it find readers, and in sufficient numbers to attract
advertisers?
These questions apply to no other recent launch so much as
Giant. The independent title founded by former Dennis Publishing
executive Jamie Hooper debuted in October with the mission of
becoming the first entertainment magazine for men.
"We're not the first entertainment magazine. We're
the first entertainment magazine for this demographic profile,"
says Hooper. Giant targets pop-culture loving men in their 20s and
30s, especially 18- to 24-year-old set coveted by marketers.
But the new title, while gaining attention among
media people and rivals in the fiercely competitive men's category,
has yet to create a storm of buzz among readers. To say the least, it's
going through growing pains.
Monday’s announcement that editor-in-chief Mark
Remy, the former executive editor of Stuff who joined Giant a little
over a year ago, is leaving is certainly one indication.
Another is recent declines at the newsstand.
But Hooper dismisses any suggestion that Giant is
struggling.
"This is the natural sort of course of things for a
magazine at the early stages," Hooper says. "We are a
great idea that is finding its audience."
Therein lies its challenge.
Though Giant has said it plans to increase its its
distribution next year from 250,000 to 300,000, things have been
sluggish at the newsstand. For it its premiere issue, Giant shipped 350,000 copies
to newsstands, but that number shrank to around 250,000 for its
April/May issue. Hooper will not reveal the sell-through rate, how
many copies are actually being sold, though that figure is presumed
to be a fraction of the number distributed.
Hooper says a new distribution deal with
Blockbuster should push the magazine's newsstand draw back up to around 330,000 for the
June/July issue.
To capture readers, Giant has to deliver what it
promises: entertainment for guys. For an entertainment magazine,
that means getting A-list stars to cooperate for interviews, cover
shoots and photo spreads is crucial. And for Giant the
challenge will be in pulling in not just any celebrities but the
right celebrities to satisfy the average dude’s appetite for
entertainment news.
Hooper says reaching out to Hollywood has been not been
difficult.
"We have challenges like every start-up, but that has
not been one of them," he says. "The primary [challenge]
that we focus on is breaking through on the newsstand in a sea of
soft core pornography."
Still, the magazine has been beefing up on its
Hollywood connections. Last month, it hired Rob Hill, formerly of
FHM, as Giant’s executive editor. Greg Williams was recently
appointed as Giant’s editorial creative director after stints at
UK magazines Arena and Maxim. The new editor-in-chief has yet to be
announced.
Giant's publisher Michael Provus says Hill and Williams will
concentrate on celebrity relations, securing cover talent and
interviews with Hollywood talents.
“With [Greg Williams] and Rob together, it’s really
going to take the magazine to the next level,” says
Provus, who joined Giant from Stuff.
In the coming months, readers and advertisers can
expect more of the same cheeky features, movie coverage, celebrity
Q&As and pop-culture trivia that have characterized Giant
editorial.
As it works to boost newsstand sales, Giant’s focus
will be in selling that readership to advertisers in categories that
target young males, such as electronics, CDs, gaming, satellite
radio, DVDs and techie gadgets.
Unlike GQ and many other men's titles, Giant doesn’t
cover men’s fashion, which could make it more difficult for the
magazine to find advertisers among men’s fashion designers,
grooming products and accessories.
Giant's April/May issue carries about 50 ad pages,
according to Hooper, and he says his sales team has been able to snag advertisers
from a variety of categories outside entertainment. And he expects
to see more coming into Giant.
"It's just a tough market out there for
advertisers to reach young men, and we offer a different
option," Hooper says.
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April 21, 2005
©
2005
Media Life
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Lorraine Sanders is a staff writer for Media Life.
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