GWAS Media Musings

Hooking you up with what's happening on the glossy media beat...

- Pop star turned WAG and face of L'Oreal Elive hair products Cheryl Cole, 26, has made the November cover of U.K. ELLE. You may recall that girl-next-door Cole gave U.K. Vogue its best-selling February cover ever earlier this year.

Breaking from the Girls Aloud crew à la Beyonce and Destiny's Child, the singer has her first solo album, Three Words, coming out soon, but it's her comments about her marriage to footballer Ashley Cole and trust issues (alluding to Ashley's alleged infidelity) that have drawn The Daily Mail's attention:

"I think marriages are something you have to work at," she told ELLE. "Marriages are not rose-petalled paths that you skip down, they were never intended to be. It's not supposed to be easy, it's not supposed to be perfect... I don't trust anybody... you always hold that 20 per cent back for yourself. I think it's key. I think it's key for your own sanity. You've got to protect yourself... Love is real and the feelings of love are real. But the thought that everything is going to be rosy and there's never going to obstacles that come in your way, that there is never going to be any testing in life, I'd hate that. I want to experience life. I want to experience the bad to know what the good is." She sounds like an enlightened young celebrity to me.

- Meanwhile, Australia's hottest WAG, Lara Bingle, 22, has teamed up with her fiance Michael Clarke, 28, to promote an "amazing new energy drink" called Synergy, with pictures of the hot couple appearing in The Sunday Magazine. On being compared to Victoria and David Beckham, Clarke says: "We don’t see ourselves like that at all. I guess the similarity is that I play sport and David plays sport, but they represent a different market – an international market."

Writer Hannah Rand picks up on Clarke's reference to the "market", adding to her piece: "Like the Beckhams, Bingle and Clarke (nicknamed Pup) have ascended their mere model and sportsman personas and merged to form a powerful brand, which equates to double the media attention and double the bank balance...". Noting the couples' similarities, Rand concludes: "They’re two couplings made in promo heaven." You can watch a behind-the-scenes video of the couple getting primped for their photoshoot and read Rand's story here.

- Sally Jackson reports on the evolution of Woman's Day under new editor Fiona Connolly in today's Australian. "(My) vision (is) to bring more genuine exclusives and to focus more on our own backyard, looking more at our local celebrities, and trying to increase the pool of celebrities that are on the covers," says Connolly. "But it's a bit of a long hard road ahead to regain the credibility. Even when we have a really great exclusive there's an attitude of, 'Oh, I don't believe it'. Over the years (the trust) has been eroded and it will take some time to regain." This week's issue features a slew of local celebrities, including Grant Hackett and Candice Alley, former Big Brother housemate Reggie, actress Gigi Edgley and Jimmy Barnes.

- Meanwhile, Woman's Day rival New Idea has appointed former OK! editor Kim Wilson as editor-in-chief, joining Amy Sinclair (formerly of ACP) on the title. "Together Kim and Amy will make a powerful partnership, as New Idea lines up the best people in the business and sets the right foundation for future growth," said Pacific CEO Nick Chan in a statement. With two editorial supremos also ruling the roost at Woman's Day (Alana House + Fiona Connolly), the sales game is truly on for these competitor titles. Currently, Woman's Day is selling 407,644 copies per week to New Idea's 325,181, with both titles under pressure to win more readers.

- With Women's Health leading the segment and popular U.S. title Shape magazine due to make its Aussie debut in February, Weight Watchers (Pacific Magazines) has appointed Tongue to handle its digital media requirements (source: AdNews).

- The second edition of Pacific Magazines' Prevention is on sale today with Pacific CEO Nick Chan telling today's Australian Financial Review, "We've only got numbers for the first issue, which had a lot of marketing support, so we're not getting carried away or getting ahead of ourselves. But the response has been great and we're confident of getting to 70,000. People like the size of Prevention and – despite what our rivals say – people like the name. To well exceed our target is particularly rewarding given the challenges the economic backdrop has posed." The title, aimed at women aged 40 to 54, reportedly sold more than 90,000 copies of its launch issue (my own newsagent had to re-order copies three times), while the long-term sales target is 70,000 copies a month. AFR's Neil Shoebridge adds that 140,000 copies of the first issue were printed, with 500,000 copies of a 16-page sampler distributed through newsagents and some Pacific magazines, including New Idea. The launch was backed by a $2 million marketing campaign, while Prevention is competing with ACP's relaunched Good Health magazine (which is skewed younger).

- The Australian Financial Review also reports that ACP Magazines' planned printing and distribution centre is still in planning mode, though printing industry execs believe it won't meet its 2011 deadline despite the financial investment in staff to spearhead the facility. Currently, ACP's printing contracts are split between PMP (which handles 80% of the work), Michael Hannan's Independent Print Media Group and CHAMP Private Equity's Blue Star.

- The Monthly editor Ben Naparstek is in hot water with Penguin Books, reports The Australian, for publishing a book review of one of its titles written by a rival author putting objectivity at stake.

- Min reports that 71 new titles were launched in the U.S. in September. Long live print!

- And while Madison is embracing body diversity with its November issue, on sale today, Glamour magazine gives us more nude "plus-size" models to go ga-ga over. But, like Madison running with Kate Hudson, run-of-the-celebrity-mill Scarlett Johannson gets Glamour's November cover. The Cut's Amy Odell muses that Glamour's pledge to be more inclusive of "real" people is a little rich. Still, this is baby-steps progress, people! Or, should we be more demanding of a new glossy standard?

Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel