Who says size doesn't matter?

Loss of readership and consequently marketshare that can erode the bottomline is an ever present possibility and when faced with competition, it's time to up the stakes, if only for a bit of flag waving.

MediaCorp has launched one of the biggest marketing blitzes for two of its magazines, 8 Days and mandarin publication I-Weekly. After a few years without any major advertising campaigns for the two magazines, the publishing house is splashing out between $2 to $2.5 million to reinvigorate the entertainment weeklies.

This could be due in part to the changes in the local magazine scene. Last year, I-Weekly's rival publication, Singapore Press Holdings' UW launched a rebranding exercise (it used to be known as You Weekly) and resized the magazine into a larger format publication. This year saw the launch of Ink Publishing's Time Out magazine, which was described by Joseph Dorall, senior manager, marketing, MediaCorp Publishing as 8 Days' biggest competitor.

MediaCorp's marketing campaign for the two is in line with subtle changes that both will be going through - for one, the magazines will be launched in a smaller size and there will also be changes to the content.  

"The general consensus was the bigger tabloid-size format for a magazine is too cumbersome while the A5 format was deemed too small. Hence, both weeklies have been resized to 255mm by 177mm (similar to the size of a National Geographic magazine)," Dorall said.

Time Out marketing director Julian Peterson said while his publication does not view 8 Days as competition at all since content of both publications are mutually exclusive, a change in magazine size might be a good strategy for 8 Days.

"Any change in brand values should only be made after extensive research with readers and advertisers - not as a knee jerk reaction to another publication. Resizing was started by magazines such as Glamour in the UK. It was very successful for them and has now been copied by other magazines such as Marie Claire. A magazine resize can be helpful for celebrity gossip magazines such as 8 Days as the smaller size means that the magazine easily fits in a ladies handbag (or the bin!)," Peterson said.

While Dorall sidestepped the question on whether there was a possibility that the 8 Days and I-Weekly magazines were experiencing circulation decline due to increased competition and hence the changes, he said the new initiatives were not meant to be a rebranding of the two products, but were to reinforce and strengthen the position of 8 Days and I-Weekly.

"If you stand still, you are left behind," Dorall said. "Both magazines have been a part of Singaporeans' lives for so long, that at times they may have become a little ‘taken for granted', especially when readers know the magazines are released week after week."

MediaCorp claims a weekly readership figure increase of 42,000 readers for 8 Days and 33,000 for I-Weekly as compared to five years ago, which translates to a 39% and 17% rise respectively - 8 DAYS also claims last year, it registered an increase of 11,000 readers compared to the previous year, bringing its current total weekly readers to 150,000. Both publications are unaudited.