Ampersand Media Group, the firm behind free lifestyle and entertainment title Twice, has launched an audacious move into the fashion publishing market, with a new national magazine that it claims is the UK’s only free subscription consumer title.
Hunt and Gather launched to the market this week with a test copy that has been distributed predominantly to media and advertising agencies, with a select few finding their way into various boutique outlets throughout the UK.
The quarterly title is the brainchild of editor Amanda Greenwood, a former hair and make-up artist and freelance magazine contributor, who believes the time is right for a highly targeted assault on what has traditionally been a hard market to muscle into.
“If you look at the beauty and fashion market it can be quite intimidating for publishers,” she told How-Do.
“It’s sewn up by huge companies, with huge amounts of money, producing titles like Vogue.
“We feel there’s a different approach to the sector – one where we can deliver a unique, high-quality visual magazine to a targeted audience; giving advertisers access to consumers and reducing the wastage of unwanted copies hanging around newsstands.”
The launch issue
That solution is Hunt and Gather, which Ampersand is currently trying to build buzz for through social networking sites, targeted mail outs, a new website and word of mouth marketing.
Greenwood explained that while it will be publicised as a subscription title, Hunt and Gather is also set to be available at “boutique locations” located throughout the UK’s ten biggest cities, including Manchester (where Ampersand is stationed) and Liverpool.
“We’ll see how that balance works in time,” Greenwood noted, explaining that the nationwide distribution would help fuel the momentum of the subs drive, and as such the two channels would sit happily beside one another.
On the subject of launching a free subscription title, from a standing start, she agreed with How-Do’s observation that it was a brave – and expensive – way to enter a new sector.
However, she also restated her belief that advertisers and readers alike would be drawn to a premium quality product that delivered on its promises.
“Yes it is bold, it is a gamble,” she admitted, “but we believe that that gamble will pay off.”
Greenwood stopped short of revealing any of the ‘numbers’ involved in this latest launch for Ampersand – which also publishes free ‘foodie’ title Eat Me – but stated that early feedback from agencies and potential advertisers was “overwhelmingly positive.”
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