Jack: long-awaited relaunch next week
Jack will hit news-stands with a new look and a bigger format next week in a bid to drive up sales and attract more readers from outside London.
The long-awaited relaunch for the November issue features design changes by new art director Steve Read, an expanded 40-page reviews section and more sport. The old pocket-sized format has been scrapped and replaced with a new bigger format, the same size of National Geographic, and the November issue is packaged in a blister pack, similar to those used to display action figures in toy shops.
Publisher Bruce Sandell said it was the first time a magazine had been packaged in such a way and that the idea sprang from the cover image of a Private Benjamin-style action heroine and a feature on “sex wars”.
Pagination has been increased to allow more space for photography and the cover price has risen to £3. “The design feels very different and we are making full use of the extra pages. Two thirds of the extra pagination is just spacing out what was already in there; the other third is new content – we haven’t chopped anything,” Sandell said.
The regular “I Recommend” section, which features views from a range of experts on wine, music and films, has been merged into the reviews section. There is also a dedicated eight-page sports section. The November issue features Beyonce Knowles, Cameron Diaz and Nicole Kidman as “provocative warrior women”, and contributions from Gordon Thomson, deputy editor of The Observer Sport Monthly magazine, Rowan Pelling, editor and creator of The Erotic Review, and style writer Chris Sullivan.
Dennis Publishing acquired Jack as part of James Brown’s venture I Feel Good earlier this year.
Dennis has pledged to put up substantial investment to improve its debut ABC of 33,347, including various promotions in the national press and magazines such as Uncut, NME and Management Today.
By Ruth Addicott
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