Magazine appeals to Poland's new health-conscious man

Axel Springer Polska (ASP), publisher of the local edition of Newsweek, is working on a health and lifestyle magazine for Polish men, the Business Journal learned last week.

The German publisher is in talks with U.S.-based publisher Rodale to buy the rights to Men's Health magazine, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous. Florian Fels, managing director of ASP, declined to confirm the news. "We have no license from Men's Health so far and I cannot comment on this," he said. "For me, (Men's Health) is a very interesting title because it's been successful in nearly every market where it was launched. But I cannot confirm we're working on this title. If there is a chance to get this license, I would be interested."

Meanwhile, Marieanne Bekkedahl-Parent from Rodale's international department said her company plans to launch Men's Health in Poland in 2002. "We are talking to several publishers in Poland and I'd rather not at this point list them because we don't have a deal finished with anybody," she said. "But we feel we are very close in our discussions with several publishers, we hope to make a choice soon on who to work with.

"We've been very busy this year as we launched five new editions (in Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Indonesia)"

Men's Health, a monthly, is published in 21 countries and regions including the U.K., France, Italy, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia. The magazine's U.S. publisher is one of the leaders of information on healthy and active lifestyles. Its other titles include Organic Style, Runner's World, Backpacker, Mountain Bike, Rodale's Scuba Diving, and Rodale's Swimmer magazines.

According to Fels, the market for Polish men's magazines has still a way to go. "In Poland, there are already a couple of titles, such as Playboy, which is very successful, or CKM (published by JMG Magazine Publishing Company) so obviously there is a potential readership and I think there is also an interesting advertising market, which will, and has to, develop," he said. "And the men's market is very interesting for us because we have a lot of titles in the market, but not in the upscale sector."

ASP is not the first publisher to recognize that Polish men, like their Western counterparts, need guidelines on how to improve their lives, whether it is in careers, families, for stress management, sexuality, fitness, nutrition or style.

Last December, German publisher Motor-Presse launched Forma, a men's magazine focusing on a healthy lifestyles, careers and relationships. Motor-Presse is also the publisher of Men's Health in Germany. "We wanted to publish Men's Health in Poland, but it turned out that the German license cannot be used (here) and Rodale was talking to other publishers in Poland," said Rafał Stańczak, marketing director of Motor-Presse Polska (MPP). "In the end, Men's Health didn't start and we were very much involved in creating a similar men's magazine. Actually, we were preparing for both, launching Men's Health or creating a different magazine with a similar format."

Forma is aimed mainly at the wealthy urban male. According to Stańczak, the magazine's print run has stabilized at about 85,000-90,000 copies, though it sells some 57,000 copies a month. "Our goal was to sell 60,000-70,000 copies, so we're a little bit below plans, but on the other hand, our ad revenue is constantly growing," Stańczak said. The 130-page Forma averages about 20 pages of advertising per issue. "Of course, it's not yet satisfying; our goal is 45% ads," Stańczak said. "It's true that in Poland the attitude to healthy lifestyles is in its infancy, but if the bill allowing the advertising of prescribed pharmaceuticals goes into force, it could be a powerful stimulus for advertisers."

Meanwhile, Forma has few real competitors and competes for ads with Playboy, Maxim or CKM, none of which typically promotes healthy lifestyles. According to industry insiders, the Polish men's magazine market still lacks a strong segment dedicated to this. "It might be still difficult to develop men's fitness magazines," said Sebastian Fischer-Jung, president of Hearst-Marquard Publishing (HMP), publisher of women's magazines Cosmopolitan and Shape. "There must be a stronger development of fitness studios and gyms in larger cities," Fischer-Jung said. "However, we're seeing a good trend for fitness publications addressed to women. Shape, focusing on fitness, beauty and health, is selling well. We usually sell more than 35,000 copies per month."

Ewa Joanna Kafarska, founder and editor in chief of Super Linia, a magazine for overweight women, said the market for publications like hers is better than last year. "At such a difficult time for (the publishing business), we sell 70,000-90,000 copies a month from an average print run of 130,000," Kafarska said. Super Linia has about 14 pages of advertising out of 84 total pages. "Our ad revenue has grown by 13% in the last 10 months," said Beata Brzezińska, the magazine's advertising director. "The ad market is very absorbent, maybe because more than 60% of Poles are overweight. A healthy lifestyle has now become compulsory, at least in some groups of society. This trend means great potential in the future."