In a climate where the men's magazine category faces the chopping block, Odysseus Publishing has launched a spin-off of its successful Men's Fitness to fill a gap in the market.
Titled Men's Fitness: Eat Fit, the first issue went on sale recently with advertisers including Harvey Norman, Diary Australia and Sanitarium and a 'test run' of 28,000 copies.
A small publisher launching a magazine in a market that its bigger counterparts shy away from may seem a backward approach, but Odysseus believes there is a market niche that is not being serviced by Australia's current stable of magazines.
“I've looked in Australia and overseas and no one's done a nutrition magazine for men,” Eat Fit publisher and editor Todd Cole told AdNews. “There are plenty of nutrition titles for women. I don't know why everyone's overlooked the potential of this part of the men's category. Eating and diet is a big part of fitness, but all the other magazines focus solely on exercise. You can eat your way through pretty much any workout.”
“I've seen preliminary sales data,” Cole told AdNews. “I'm loathe to give numbers as it's such early days, but we're projecting about 19,000 copies in final sales for the first issue.”
While these may not seem to be blockbuster sales, it's a positive result in the current climate. The latest circulation and readership audits have not been kind to the men's category, and previous sector stalwarts FHM and Ralph have both fallen victim to readers abandoning print in droves.
But Eat Fit's father title, Men's Fitness, bucked the trend, posting a drop of only 1.1% in readership in the 12 months to March in a category that tumbled 16% overall. “I'm not concerned when GQ sees falls by 36.5% in the same audit,” said Cole of the result. “We're holding steady. But there's blood in the streets in the men's category.”
In the December circulation audit, however, the title posted an 11.1% gain; rival title Men's Health, published by Pacific Magazines, fell 4% and ACP Magazine's Zoo Weekly fell 26.9%.
“We're expecting another [circulation] increase next audit,” Cole said. “The magazine connects with the Australian male on a personal level. We have an easy, blokey style and give them advice that is practical for their lives.”
The second issue of Eat Fit, which is currently in production, was not a sure thing when the magazine launched and advertisers approached were told as much. “Most brands were keen to be involved,” said Cole. “Men and nutrition is niche and the title is a bit of a breakthrough.”
Eat Fit currently only exists as a print product, but development on a website and iPad app is underway. “I can't wait to get it onto the iPad,” said Cole.
Eat Fit's second edition will be on sale around June.
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