While magazine circulation inched up an average of just 1.1 percent in the second half of 2007, a few magazines with innovative approaches and partnerships managed to beat the odds.
“It’s marginally good news,” said Jack Hanrahan, editor of Circ Matters, an industry newsletter.
Not everyone was so lucky, of course. People magazine, the category leader in the celebrity reporting bracket, dropped 8.5 percent on newsstands while its overall circulation dipped 3.5 percent to 3.6 million. People hiked its newsstand price to $3.99 in September, and newsstand buyers got a little skittish about forking over an extra 50 cents a copy.
Vanity Fair also took a dive because they were up against a spectacular 2006 when first pictures of baby Suri, with dad Tom Cruise and mom Katie Holmes, sold well. This year sales returned to earth, which in comparison to a year ago translated into a 6.3 percent drop in total circulation.
OK! weekly gives away about 76,864 copies a week in salons and doctors offices, but even without that managed to post some gains.
“We’re the only magazine in the category that raised its price and still managed to sell more copies,” said publisher Tom Morrissy.
At 935,375 total circulation it still trails the top four or five in its bracket. “It’s selling less than 60 percent of People, but a year ago it was selling 67 percent less,” said Hanrahan.
Overall, five of the titles posting strong circulation advances owe the good news to deft marketing maneuvers – rather than pure increased interest among readers. While it will be hard for the titles to repeat the success next year, see if you can guess what caused such a stunning increase for the plucky quintet.