Weider Publications Inc. is not only about bulging biceps anymore.
The Woodland Hills-based publisher, once strictly known for its array of body-building magazines, is extending into the volatile teen category.
Its latest title, Jump, is billed as a self-esteem fixer-upper for young women and teenagers.
Its premier issue, which launched this month, features articles such as, “No Body’s Perfect,” a piece that stresses the importance of “learning to love the body you’ve got.” The article profiles six high-schoolers of various shapes and sizes who say they “know life’s not about how you look, it’s about how you live.”
That’s quite a switch for a company that publishes Muscle & Fitness, Shape, Men’s Fitness, Living Fit and five other magazines targeting the body perfect.
So why did Weider make the jump into the world of teen angst?
“Money,” said Michael T. Carr, Weider’s president and chief executive. “I’m on a mission to make this company profitable.” (The company does not release earnings.)
Since Carr joined Weider Publications in 1990, the company has rolled out six new publications focusing on everything from expectant mothers to the over-50 set.
Carr has also been striking licensing deals. Shape magazine’s name was sold to a company that produces fitness videos, and a Flex magazine cable television show was produced for ESPN.
Revenues have risen from $40 million in 1991 to more than $100 million in 1996, according to Carr. And in that time, the company’s staff has grown from a little over 100 to more than 260.
The company’s departure from body-building to more diversified publications is what Carr refers to as “shrewd marketing.”
“Body-building, while still popular, is a finite audience,” said Carr. “What we’ve done is expanded on that positive body image. It’s not really a departure. We started out as a core body-building company, now it’s evolving into a living well company. It’s what we know.”
“I think it’s intelligent,” said Steven R. Greenberger, vice president and director of print media for Grey Advertising in New York. “There may be some relationship that the teen will have with fitness and health. Good health, from a hip point of view, would be something worth investing in.”
Carr, former senior vice president at Playboy Enterprises Inc., acknowledges that the latest venture is a significant financial commitment. So far, about $10 million has been spent to market and start up Jump, and the magazine is expected to cost Weider another $30 million over the next three years, according to Carr.
“The success rate is one out of 10,” said Carr. “But if you hit a good one, you’re set.”
Shape magazine would be an example of “a good one.” The publication was launched in 1981, turned a profit within its first year, and has been profitable ever since, Carr said. It is now the company’s most popular publication, with 1.1 million subscribers almost equaling the circulation of Weider’s nine other titles combined.
Carr’s expectations for Jump are high.
“I believe this publication could be as high as 500,000 (circulation) by middle of next year,” said Carr. Jump’s current circulation is 300,000.
Lori Berger, the magazine’s editor in chief, says Jump stands out from the other teen magazines because of its focus on “real” girls as opposed to celebrity profiles.
“I do think it’s the only magazine whose focus is on increasing a girl’s self esteem,” Berger said. “A lot of teen magazines do a page on real girls, but I’d say 50 percent of our pages are comprised of real girls.”
Industry observers point out that one of the few areas of real growth in the magazine industry is in special-interest audiences, such as teenage girls.
“The demographics of the nation are showing that the next wave of baby boomers are going to reach teen-hood,” said Greenberger.
He said the “teen market is an increasingly important market for advertisers. Younger adults are having more say in the decision making of purchasing, and more disposable income, which is sought after by advertisers.”
Barbara Osbourne, a journalism professor at California State University Northridge who teaches a course on women in the media, suspects there are teenagers who want a magazine with a strong focus on real people they can easily relate to.
The privately-held Weider Publications was founded by Joe Weider, a Montreal native who began by publishing a fitness newsletter in 1939. Weider Publications’ sister company Weider Nutrition International, based in Utah, sells nutritional supplements, sports drinks and energy bars.
