A new magazine from the company that built Mary-Kate & Ashley into a global brand for girls hopes to replicate its success with boys. “Sprouse Bros.: Code” will appear on newsstands July 18 with an initial press run of nearly 300,000 copies.
Tag-lined as “The Fearless Guide to Guy Stuff, Gadgets, Sports & Style,” the quarterly publication will target boys in the 8-14 age category. It features twin hosts, 13-year-olds Dylan and Cole Sprouse, who star in the Disney Channel sitcom “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.”
One of the magazine’s producers is Los Angeles-based Dualstar Entertainment Group, the company behind Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the kid actresses who spawned multiple lines of stuff aimed at ‘tween girls. The other company in the joint venture is Leisure Publishing, and both partners see space on the crowded magazine rack for what Dualstar calls “a complete lifestyle guide for ‘tween boys.”
The strategy goes against current publishing wisdom. Typically, demographic groups are broken down into segments and a magazine for each sub-group is created. But “Code” editor-in-chief Matthew Rettenmund, who holds the same title at “Popstar” magazine, sees the entire boy market as contrary to conventional thinking.
“In other areas, there are plenty of general-market magazines so publishers are segmenting it by focusing on a niche,” Rettenmund said. “In the boys’ market, all you have are niche magazines, so there’s a big hole in the middle. We saw a need for a general lifestyle magazine where you can get it all in one place. Boys are looking for a bargain and an engaging read.”
Rettenmund stressed that “Code” won’t feel like a fanzine. Instead, the Sprouses will act as hosts to introduce readers to a series of boyish adventures. The magazine’s title refers to “a code by which boys can discover new things,” the editor said.
Before launching the venture, Dualstar consulted with the Sprouse twins and focus groups to determine contemporary ‘tween tastes. “Kids watch other kids so closely, but we know this is authentic because it comes from the boys, not from adults,” said Diane Reichenberger, chief executive at Dualstar. “They will sculpt what makes sense for their demographic.”
The focus groups revealed that boys watch their money, and the get-it-all-between-two-covers pitch appealed to their values. “Code” will carry a regular cover price of $4.99 with the introductory issue at $3.99.
For distribution, the publishing team has contracted with Curtis Circulation Co. Rettenmund said the magazine will follow a newsstand business model during its early stages. Already the magazine has secured a presence at Barnes & Noble and Wal-Mart. Focus groups indicated potential readers hang out a lot in the gaming section of Blockbuster, where “Code” also has shelf space.
The first issue features the Sprouse brothers interviewing skating legend Tony Hawk and an article on how Nick Hogan handles his Hulk of a father. “Brain Candy: Weird Junk to Make Your Brain Smile” discusses a Lego artist who built a seven-foot model of the Brooklyn Bridge and a documentary film about one man’s obsession to reach 80 million points on the 1980s video game Missile Command.
Rettenmund reported that when the magazine “canvassed boys this age, they were extremely interested in animals.” Accordingly, the first issue carries a story with the headline: “Whose Poop Is This?” Sure enough, a conservationist explains her interest in matching “feces with the species.”
For advertisers, a four-color full-page costs $6,500. The first issue has only three ads, making it closer to a mock-up than a typical issue. “We launched quickly, and a lot of the advertisers took a wait-and-see attitude,” Rettenmund explained. With the first issue in hand, the sales staff plans to go after gaming, electronics, software, toy, clothing and candy companies.
One advertiser certain to appear in future issues is the Sprouse Bros. brand. Already Dualstar has licensing agreements for grooming products, calendars, posters and apparel, with footwear, camping gear and a book series in the works. On the entertainment front, the company plans to release direct-to-DVD movies and mobile content.
The boy-girl difference applies just as much to marketing as editing. “Young girls emulate girls, so it’s easy to put Mary-Kate and Ashley’s pictures on the hang tags and packaging. But boys want to live a lifestyle, so it’s the Sprouse Bros. rather than the Dylan & Cole brand,” said Dualstar’s Reichenberger. “The brand is based on an active young man’s lifestyle.”
Even before they conquer the boys’ market, the Sprouses might turn their attention to the other half of humanity. Rettenmund conceded that during focus groups, researchers asked would-be readers about the opposite sex. “They told us, ‘If you want it to sell, you’ve got to put girls in there,'” he said. “So we obliged them.”
The final page of the first issue shows Anastasia Ashley, aka “the Anna Kournikova of surfing.”
