Company magazine unveiled a new ‘streetwise’design on Monday to reflect the popularity of fashion blogging and social media trends amongst young women.
The Hearst-owned women’s monthly has undergone a complete redesign, with a smaller 170mm by 230mm format, blogging-inspired colour scheme and matt page stock.
The new look is inspired by the success of Company’s bi-annual sister title, High Street Edit.
Following research into the purchasing habits of 19-30 year old women, Company will feature shorter, ‘bite sized’articles and more images and illustration to mirror social networking platforms.
The brand is also launching its first Style Blogger Awards in association with New Look to reflect the influence of UK style bloggers and a Facebook group that will enable readers to interact with and influence magazine content.
The cover price of £2 remains the same.
Victoria White, editor of Company, said: ‘The new look gives Company a point of difference at the newsstand which is what our readers are looking for. The size and format of the magazine is completely unique to the UK market. White said the new design was “a total reinvention of the traditional women’s magazine.”
‘Social media is such an important part of any media company’s overall strategy. Young people today are more tuned into Twitter and Facebook than ever and we have recognised the resurgence of social media by including design influences from the blogosphere,” she said.
‘Brands that don’t engage with their target audiences on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are likely to be left behind and lose touch.’
Ella Dolphin, group publishing director of Hearst’s young women’s group, said the new magazine will appeal to ‘the girl who dreams of being street-style spotted, who loves the nice things in life and documents them all using her camera phone.”
According to ABC figures for the first half of 2011, Company’s circulation fell by 17.1 per cent to 180,162 between 2010 and 2011.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog