Coverlines now receive greater emphasis than images
Financial magazine Bloomberg Money has had an overhaul and increased its cover price to reflect renewed confidence in the stock markets.
The redesign is the result of feedback from the title’s core readers – private investors – and is the first since the magazine launched six years ago. It includes a switch to a perfect-bound format, higher quality and heavier stock paper and an increase in cover price from £3.50 to £3.85.
Editor Julian Marr said the changes were prompted by renewed optimism in the markets for 2004. Private investors have had a tough time since the dot.com explosion and crash of the stock market in March 2000, but Marr said the market had picked up since the end of the crisis in Iraq.
“The past three years have been challenging but I’ve always taken the view that those are the times when you have got to come good for your readers,” he told Press Gazette.
“We have reduced the size of the pages a little so that it is more of an A4 size — in keeping with the more consumerorientated magazines. We have rejigged the inside and made a few changes in terms of the content.”
Production editor Pascal Don and freelance designer Paul Carpenter were instrumental in the redesign, which also includes better signposting and navigation throughout.
Marr said improvements had been made to the cover with a greater emphasis on coverlines rather than images. In addition, the ‘stockwatch’ shares section has been given more prominence.
Although the current issue carries an additional eight pages, Marr said there were no plans to increase pagination permanently.
“We are moving to the end of the financial year, which is a boom time for financial magazines, so we have moved it up slightly,” he said.
The revamp follows the appointment of publisher Michael Jones, also publisher of owner Incisive Media’s online B2B portal IFAonline. Jones takes over from the title’s previous publisher, Toby Finden-Crofts, who left to go travelling.
Investment Week reporter Philip Scott has also joined the editorial team on Bloomberg Money as a staff writer.
Marr, who has been editor of Bloomberg Money for three years, is also editor of sister titles Wealth and the quarterly spin-off Bloomberg Money Investment Trust.
By Ruth Addicott
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