And female mags makes three

Singapore - Viscion Media Group has announced the twin launch of two new female magazines called Project Smitten and Beauty Blackbook - the new mags will debut in August.

The two mags join Viscion's flagship bi-monthly publication, Lexean which was launched in January 2007, and brings the number of Viscion's locally launched publications to three.

"We've been looking at the women's market for quite some time and find that while there is no shortage of local and international women's titles, local titles tend to be very ‘mass' magazines with a little of everything. In our focus groups with women between the ages of 20 to 45, we've found that when reading local titles, they yearn for more depth in editorial content and focus. The shopping and beauty sectors are areas experiencing the most growth," Holman Chin, GM, Viscion Media Group said.

"We also do plan to have the magazines audited because we believe in transparency and accountability. Advertisers have a right to know the actual circulation numbers of any magazine because in many cases it can be misleading. We believe that it is a good practice which will become an industry policy in time," he said.

Both mags are monthlies and are being marketed as "risk-free", with advertisers who are not completely satisfied with the inaugural issue of the magazines offered a money back guarantee.

"By ‘risk-free’ we mean exactly that. If you are not happy with the first issue of either Project Smitten or Beauty Blackbook, then the advertiser will receive a 100% refund. ‘Satisfaction’ is subjective which it’s a no questions asked policy. If for any reason, they do not believe the magazine measures up to what was previously presented, then they are qualified to receive the refund. We do this because we firmly stand behind our titles and believe that our advertisers will as well," Chin said.

Project Smitten's dominant focus will be on shopping and will be designed as a shopping guide targeted at avid female shoppers aged 21 to 39. The magazine will be divided into three sections with features on fashion, beauty and home and décor.

Beauty Blackbook however, will target women aged 27 to 45 and content will include feature articles, reviews, trends and advice on beauty and health topics.

Donna Tang and Lisa Marie Tan helm Project Smitten and Beauty Blackbook respectively. Both magazines will have an initial print run of 50,000 copies and retail for $5. Distribution channels will be via major bookstores, newsstands, subscription drives and roadshows - Chin also said there would be a "ground-breaking" retail component but declined to reveal more at the moment.