Media: Publishing brands

Donnamoderna.com, having successfully launched the Low Coach blog dedicated to low cost shopping, on the occasion of “Milano Fashion Design” has decided to get even closer to its users by bringing the advice of its personal stylist to the heart of the city, in Piazza Liberty.

During Milan’s most glamorous days, from 23 to 25 February, from 10am to 12.30pm, the “Milano Fashion Design” stage will become the control centre of the editorial staff of Donnamoderna.com and its young web stylist editors who will make available to all those who would like to learn something more about fashion the fashion coach, Valentina Fradegrada, who in just a few moves will change their style.
The woman who has revolutionised her look the most thanks to the advice of the personal stylist will receive exclusively a total look from one of the stores in the city centre.

Donnamoderna.com, in collaboration with Igers Milano, has also created a photo game on Instagram. Using an iPhone or iPad everyone can upload their photos on the theme fashion shoes using the tag #shoeMi – sandals, stilettos, wedges, moccasins, ballerine, boots, sneakers – and sharing the images on a virtual gallery visible in a special section of the Donna Moderna web site.
On Saturday 25 February, at 10am, the best photographs will receive prize gifts during an “Instameetup” organised by Donnamoderna.com at the Fashion House in Piazza Liberty.

The site will also of course include live fashion shows, this year even more up to date thanks to an innovative content curation format that makes it possible to aggregate content and authoritative comment from Donnamoderna.com correspondents and contributors, presented in the form of a continuous flow of videos, text and images. Finally, there will also be the possibility to become a virtual model with the game “Tu in passerella” (You on the Catwalk): choosing a dress and uploading your photo you can have the impression of participating in a fashion show on Milan’s coolest catwalk. The photos can also be voted and share on social networks.

Donnamoderna.com, as well as being very active on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, is among the first Italian media player to join Pinterest, the social network of the moment, with a range of fashion and beauty news.

Panorama Icon, the male fashion and lifestyle magazine produced by Panorama, got an important award less than a year from its launch. The magazine has been voted “Best in category” in the series “Graphics” of the Annual Design Review 2011 of I.D. Magazine, the American magazine that every year since 1954 brings together the best design projects in a range of industrial sectors, from graphics to furniture and environmental solutions.

The design and layout of Panorama Icon, produced by Leftloft, was selected by the jury for “A very contemporary design with fresh typographic flair” as well as “wonderfully inventive page composition” and “outstanding art direction of photography”.
Over the years the I.D. Annual Design Review has tracked the evolution of design and highlighted its impact on materials and the visual culture. Each edition is overseen by a jury of prestigious professionals who select the best projects in an ongoing survey of the state of the art of and advances in international design.

Panorama Icon, which is edited by Emanuele Farneti and on newsstands with the latest issue on Thursday 1 March, is aimed at readers interested in new lifestyles, trends, travel, shopping and discovering the secrets of the excellence of made in Italy. The title’s great point of strength is the quality of the images, with extensive fashion coverage as well as reportage and portraits by leading Italian and international photographers.

As part of the Milano Fashion Design initiative, from 22 to 27 February, the editorial staff of Grazia.it will move to the centre of the action during the Milan Fashion Week with.it Pop Up, located in largo La Foppa. Also on this occasion the structure, that will be the temporary base for the editorial staff of Grazia.it, will be the reference point for the IT FAMILY of bloggers, friends and contributors who want to get up close to the trendiest event of the year and for those who want to know more about the IT BLOGS project. This new network of young and enthusiastic bloggers (grazia.it/itblogs) provides a space to find out more about the latest fashion and beauty trends and to identify the latest lifestyle (cooking, design, art) through the posts of some of the stars of the Italian blogosphere:

Beauty and the city – Sonia and Valentina Grispo (Beauty)
Blue is in fashion this year – Erica Baldi (Fashion)
Fashion Hall – Elena Schiavon (Fashion)
In the mood for love – BaiLing (Fashion)
Il cavoletto di Bruxelles – Sigrid (Food)
L’armadio del delitto – Cécile (Fashion)
Little snob thing – Alessandra Airò (Fashion)
Look and the city – Valentina Grispo (Fashion)
Rock & Fiocc – Giulia Torelli (Fashion)
The glam side of the life – Loretta Fossati (Beauty)
The old now – Laura Renieri (Fashion)
Trend and the city – Sonia Grispo (Fashion)

Grazia.it Pop Up is also the focal point for a series of activities organised exclusively for the bloggers of IT BLOGS: and three thematic meetings and workshops have been organised that will take place during the Fashion Week that will also involve the Fashion House in Piazzetta Liberty, White in Via Tortona, the fuori sfilate (fringe fashion shows) and all of the coolest locations of the social event par excellence.

For bloggers the workshops will provide an opportunity to meet their peers and develop contacts through an exchange of skills and ideas: Tamu McPherson, head of Grazia.it, will outline some of the tricks of the trade of streetstyler and guide bloggers outside the fashion shows to capture the most exciting moments and colours of the Fashion Week, while the beauty bloggers will demonstrate the techniques for writing a detailed report on the secrets of the perfect make-up. And finally, a chef will stimulate the taste buds of the IT FAMILY with a live demonstration for all present of some of the secrets of haute cuisine.

A week full of appointments for the bloggers of IT BLOG and all those who want to discover how the editorial staff of Grazia.it works during the Fashion Week.

The “Grazia International Network” continues to grow and has now reached 20 editions around the world.
Following the announcement of an agreement with the publisher Media24 to launch before the end of the year Grazia South Africa, from March the magazine will also be available in Slovenia, published under a licensing agreement by Videotop Color Media, a company of the Color Press Group, one of the principal players in the sector in the country.

Unique in the publishing industry in terms of the rapidity of development and the quality of the offer, Grazia brings to four continents – Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania – the very best of made in Italy luxury, in a unique and innovative formula that has allowed the title to become one of the international leaders in women’s fashion magazines.
Created in 2005, “Grazia International” is in fact one of the most dynamic magazine networks in the world and is already successfully published in Italy, France, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, Holland, China, Australia, India, the Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Indonesia, Thailand, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia.

And precisely because of its strong links with the world of fashion, the “Grazia International Network” will be present at the “Milano Fashion Week” with a “guerrilla” action that will have as its protagonists seven models who will “carry” the “Grazia International” logo at the most important fashion shows.
In addition, on Sunday 26 February, from 5pm to 6.30pm, and on Monday 27 February, from 4.30pm to 5.30pm, as part of “White Milano”, “Grazia International Network”, in collaboration with Campari, will invite the public at its stand to share in a fashion happy hour, during which they can flick through and enjoy all of the magazine’s international editions.

Sale&Pepe, the monthly edited by Laura Maragliano, is celebrating its 25th anniversary and for the occasion a special anniversary issue will be available at newsstands from Tuesday 21 February. Leader among upscale cookery titles – with over 924,000 readers (+4.6%, Audipress 2011/III) – Sale&Pepe is a point of reference for all women who love cooking and are looking for exclusive and refined menu ideas.

“I am proud to celebrate with this special issue the 25th anniversary of Sale&Pepe, a magazine that has been able to combine easy recipes with imagination and high quality images,” stated Laura Maragliano. “To celebrate the progress made from the first issue to today, we took a look at the features from the early days to reinterpret the recipes of the past with a contemporary twist and to show our readers what we do. It seems appropriate that our readers can see who is behind the magazine and who works to make sure that every month is special,” concluded the editor.

An issue that takes another look at some of the features, recipes and places that have made the history of Sale&Pepe from 1987 to today: 25 years of ideas, advice, smells and tastes.

To celebrate this important anniversary there are also a range of new features online: from 21 February a Facebook page dedicated to the anniversary; an iPhone and iPad app with 7,000 recipes, also with video, to share with your friends and the possibility to create your own shopping list; a section with the 25 most original covers; a special dedicated to cakes, complete with background and news on the Sale&Pepe web page.

Completing the offer of the Sale&Pepe system are the cookery courses of the “Cook&Books Academy” in Milan: on the third floor of the Mondadori Multicenter Duomo, loads of occasions for adults and children to try out their talent in the kitchen (www.corso-di-cucina.it ).
Sale&Pepe has also created Sale&Pepe Kids, the first magazine for parents and little chefs. Following the success of the first issue, another will be on newsstands shortly for kids who want to unleash their imagination creating new recipes and for adults who want to have fun while preparing simple dishes with their children.

New recognition by readers of the titles produced by the Mondadori Group, Italy’s leading magazine publisher.

Figures published by Audipress (2011/III) show continued growth in readership for the Group’s weeklies and monthlies and that 82% of the readers of magazines in the country read Mondadori titles.

LEADERSHIP
In particular, according to the survey, every week Italians choose the magazines Tv Sorrisi e Canzoniand Chi: with a readership of 4,398,000 people, an increase of 3% on the previous survey (Audipress 2011/II), Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni confirms its position as Italy’s most widely read weekly; followed byChi, which is in the number one position among women’s entertainment weeklies, with a continuously rising readership (3,614,000 readers, +4.6% compared with Audipress 2011/II).

There were big numbers also for Donna Moderna, which once again is shown to be the most popular women’s weekly (2,710,000 readers, +3.6% compared with Audipress 2011/II).

With a monthly readership of 6,441,000 (+4%), Focus remains Italy’s most widely read magazine.

Moreover, according to the Audipress figures, an increasing number of Italians read Mondadori’s cooking titles, with the company holding 73% share in this market segment. Among the monthlies,Cucina Moderna, is the most widely read (+14% compared with Audipress 2011/II).

Meanwhile Starbene confirmed its absolute leadership (1,532,000 readers), also recording the best performance in the wellness segment (+7.5% compared with Audipress 2011/II).

BEST PERFORMANCE
There was great satisfaction at Mondadori also for the best performances recorded by other titles in the portfolio in the cooking and interiors.

Cucina no Problem recorded the best growth (+17%) in the cooking segment, in which alsoSale&Pepe stands out (+4,6%), appreciated by readers following the recent renewal.

In the consumer interiors segment, in which Mondadori has a 57% share, there was a brilliant result by CasaFacile (+15%), followed by the monthly Casaviva with an increase of +7.4% to reach a readership of 967,000, and recording strong growth particularly among women.

In addition, there was also significant growth by Confidenze (+23.3%), Economy (+20%), Ciak(+13.5%), Guida TV (+11.6%), Men’s Health (+10.1%), Pc Professionale (+8%), which was also the only IT title to be included by Audipress in the segment, and Panoramauto (+8%).

Jacopo Loredan has been appointed the new editor of the monthly Geo. Loredan, who will take over from the March issue, will also continue in his role as editor of the lifestyle monthly Jack.
At the same time Marco Casareto, who is stepping down as the editor of Geo, will concentrate more specifically on growing commitments related to the development of editorial initiatives based around Focus Storia and its system of brand extensions such as Focus Storia Biografie, Focus Storia Wars and Focus Storia Collection.

The new Geo, edited by Loredan, will be an even more international product, on the strength of a brand recognised for excellence in the international world of publishing thanks to the high quality of its images and reportage.

Jacopo Loredan, who was born in Venice in 1957, began his career as a journalist at ANSA where he became a professional journalist in 1982. Two years later he was hired by Lamberto Sechi at the newly-launched Nuova Venezia. In 1987 he moved to Epoca where he remained for seven years: first as a reporter and subsequently as a special correspondent and then as managing editor. In 1994 he was hired as a correspondent by Panorama. Two years later, in March 1996, he went to Focus, the Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori monthly, as deputy editor. In November 1999, having edited the first issue of the quarterly Focus Extra, he was asked to develop the project for Jack, of which he was to become editor.

Marco Casareto, 45, was born in Chelmsford (England). After studying physics at the University of Milan, he began to work with a number of different magazines including, from 1993, Focus. Three years later he joined the staff of the magazine and in 2000 was appointed section chief with responsibilities for the coordination of the brand extension Focus Extra. Managing editor from 2002, in 2004 Casareto became coordinator of the new Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori title Focus Storia, of which he became deputy editor in 2006 and editor in 2008. The same year he was also appointed editor of Geo, a position he held until November 2009, taking it up again in September 2010. He is currently the editor of Focus Storia and its related editorial offshoots, Focus Storia Biografie, Focus Storia Wars and Focus Storia Collection.

According to the circulation figures released by the OJD (Office de Justification de la Diffusion) for 2011, Mondadori France confirmed its position as a leading publisher with significant successes and excellent circulation results.

“Innovation and editorial quality are our strengths and the drivers of our performance,” underlined Ernesto Mauri, the chairman of Mondadori France. “4 re-launches since 2010 and three new titles in three years: Grazia in 2009, followed in 2011 by Auto Plus Classiques and Guerres et Histoire, which further reinforced our Science & Vie brand,” Mauri added. “These results have also been accompanied by an authentic success in advertising, thanks to which our advertising company has achieved a market share of 10.3% (+0.7% compared with 2011), positioning the company in second place, in terms of volume, in the magazine sector,” Mauri concluded.

Genuine circulation success
Among the haut de gamme (upscale) women’s titles was the continuing circulation success of Grazia France, which reached an average sale of 184,832 copies, an increase of +3.1%.
Meanwhile also the “success story” of Biba has continued, showing the strongest and most significant growth among the competitors in the same segment. In fact the monthly has grown by 80% since 2004 and in 2011 grew by a further 4.5% to an average of 326,339 copies.
Pleine Vie, following a redesign completed last June, saw newsstand sales increase by 54.5% compared with 2010, with an average circulation at 843,647 copies (+1.3%).


Additional leadership
Modes & Travaux, after an extensive reconfiguration is now, after 26 years, the leader in its market of reference with an average sale of 444,228 copies (+5.9% compared with 2010). In two years the magazine has increased average circulation by 70,000 copies (+19,3%), to become the women’s monthly with the highest growth level compared with the previous year (+24,859 copies).
Since 2009 Telé Star has achieved the best performance in the market for TV listings titles (+1,037,954 copies) and in 2011 became the second magazine among the titles in the weekly segment. Despite a general decline in the sector, Télé Star limited its fall to -2.5%.
L’Ami des Jardins is the leading gardening monthly, with an average circulation of 154,736 copies (+3.6%).

Confirmed leadership
2011 saw the confirmation of the success of Top Santé, the main point of reference in the health and fitness area since its launch, which recorded a 5.8% growth in sales to an average of 350,386 copies; while Closer which, with an average circulation of 414,174 copies, maintained its leadership among the “people” titles for women.
In a particularly difficult market, the car titles of Mondadori France continued to perform extremely well. Auto Plus, with an average sale of 297,667 copies, confirmed also in 2011 its leadership among generalist weeklies in the segment.
And once again, Science & Vie, with a circulation of 288,690 copies (+2.4%) and Science & Vie Junior, with sales of 168,533 copies (+2,7%), were the leaders in their respective segments.

This weekend sees the start of the second edition of weekend “Quota 101”, the winter tour that takes the sounds and voices of R101 to the mountains, on the snowy slopes of the most popular ski resorts, including San Martino di Castrozza (TN) on 28/29 January, Bardonecchia (TO) on 4/5 February, Ponte di Legno (BS) on 11/12 February and Aprica (SO) on 18/19 February, before winding up on 26 February.

The live shows
The musical stars of this year’s tour will be Luca Carboni and Enrico Ruggeri, who will alternate on the stage during the tour performing live, on the Saturday afternoon, their big hits and more recent songs.
Before them, at 2.30 pm, Cristiano Militello will be live on stage with an amusing and ironic show in the style of “Carica di 101”, the show he presents on R101 with Paolo Cavallone and Sara.

Live music at the “Quota 101” village
On Saturday, from 10 to 12 and Sunday from 10 to 1, R101 will broadcast live from the mobile studio alongside the ski slopes, providing music and entertainment for all the people present and in the company of Gianfranco Monti and Ugo Conti, and discovering what’s on in Italy this weekend.

Two days of fun
In addition to non-stop music, between the performances of the two big stars of Italian music and the selection of hits made by R101, each stage of the “Quota 101” winter tour will be an authentic party, with animation, entertainment and a host of gadgets for all those taking part.
And at 5 pm, keeping the temperature and good humour levels high, a warm drink will be offered to everyone directly from the radio truck.

“Quota 101” has been organised thanks to partnerships with Eolo, Glaming, Lichtena, Mitsubishi, Parah, Pharmentis and Vuarnet. The event is designed and produced by GM Communication in Milan, a company that has been successfully organising events for over twenty years.
To follow each stage of the tour and for photos and videos from the slopes, please go to www.r101.it.

Mondadori has signed an agreement for the publication of Grazia South Africa with Media24, the leading publisher in Africa in the business and consumer magazines market.
This launch extends the reach of the Grazia International Network for the first time with an edition also in this continent.

John Relihan, chief executive of Media24 declared: “Grazia has become a global brand and we believe it can have the same level of success in South Africa as it has had in other countries. We are delighted to embark on this new adventure with a partner like Mondadori,” Relihan concluded. Liezl de Swardt, general manager of Media24’s Women’s Interest division, explained: “The first edition of Grazia was published in 1938 and since then the magazine has become one of the key brands in fashion, and a leader in the women’s weekly market at an international level”.

“Grazia South Africa will be the first on the African continent,” declared Zeno Pellizzari, head of Mondadori’s International Activities. “We are very proud to be working with Media24 and with this launch we are sure that we will have a decisive impact on the competitive scenario in South Africa, just as we’ve had in France, the UK, Germany, China, Russia and Holland,” Pellizzari concluded.

The weekly Grazia South Africa will be characterized by the usual ‘easy chic’ formula that distinguishes the Grazia brand around the world: fashion, news and celebrities, enhanced with international trends and local style and tendencies.

Media24
Media24, is Africa’s leading publishing group, with its principal activities in the south of the continent. It is the biggest magazine publisher and one of the most important players in the newspaper sector, as well as operating as a printer and distributor of magazines and digital content.