Lifetime Magazine Gears Up For Launch With Promo Push

By BRIAN STEINBERG

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -- Lifetime, the widely anticipated magazine based on the women's cable network, is offering a sneak preview in advance of its April launch on newsstands.

Starting Monday, magazine-publishing giant Hearst Corp. (X.HRS) will give potential readers a sense of Lifetime's attitude and positioning in a targeted national print-ad campaign slated to appear in trades like Advertising Age, AdWeek and WWD as well as in large newspapers such as New York Times Co.'s (NYT) flagship publication and Tribune Co.'s (TRB) Chicago Tribune.

The new magazine's tagline, "Real Life, Real Women," will anchor the new blitz, while copy will tout the title as "the guilt-free splurge for her me-time." in at least one of the ads.

"We have been very low key. We haven't even been on air yet to let Lifetime's most devoted followers know that there's a magazine coming," says Renee Lewin, associate publisher of Lifetime, which Hearst is publishing as part of a joint venture with Walt Disney Co. (DIS). The two companies own the cable operation as well. The ads, she says, are supposed to tell potential readers "to be on the lookout."

Dow Jones & Co. (DJ), parent of this newswire, publishes SmartMoney magazine as part of a joint venture with Hearst.

Challenging Atmosphere
Lifetime is getting a great deal of scrutiny from potential advertisers. During a difficult time in the magazine business, many wonder how a launch of a popular idea by a major magazine publisher will fare.

Additionally, so-called celebrity concepts - magazines and other media platforms based on a famous person or well-established brand rather than an organic idea - are quickly coming into vogue. But for every O: The Oprah Magazine and ESPN: The Magazine (both published by Hearst with partners), there can be a Rosie, the now-defunct title that backfired on Bertelsmann AG's (G.BRT) G+J USA when celebrity comedienne Rosie O'Donnell stopped getting along with magazine executives.

Since Hearst is also said to be considering the launch of an MTV magazine with Viacom Inc. (VIA, VIAB), Lifetime could be considered a very important test for the burgeoning technique.

Bids For Buzz
At Hearst, the new promotions are designed to spark buzz. Lifetime magazine, set to debut with a guaranteed circulation of 500,000, will soon meet its cable cousin. "You're going to start seeing subscription solicitation on the channel in March," Lewin says. "There is also going to be, when the issues actually start coming out, you're going to start seeing, 'Pick up this issue of Lifetime on your newsstand.' It's a point of differentiation from most launches."

Later on, as Lifetime continues its publishing schedule, cable viewers may be urged to pick up the magazine for more information on a specific topic or issue discussed on the tube.

Aimed at women in their 30s, Lifetime aims to compete with lifestyle publications such as Hearst's own O: The Oprah Magazine, AOL Time Warner Inc.'s (AOL) Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.'s (MSO) Martha Stewart Living. Lewin declines to name specific advertisers, but says the first issue looks "healthy," and includes pages from automotive clients as well as marketers in the beauty, fashion and packaged-goods categories.

While Hearst is trying to keep a lid on the content of the first issue, Lewin says readers can expect three main themes.

Storytelling will echo the various emotion-revving movies that the Lifetime cable channel shows (One such film, "Hunger Point," tells the story of the all-American Hunter family, who live in a household where "food is the enemy, extra body pounds are ridiculed and everyone is hiding something.")

Advocacy of issues such as building female self-esteem, stopping domestic violence and other issues will likely play a big role. Lifestyle issues will also be featured, says Lewin. "You're going to see beauty, and entertaining. You're going to see food, but you're not going to see a lot of recipes. Thirtysomething women are not cooking. They are putting food on a table, and they are doing it differently from their mothers and grandmothers."

Hearst has already announced some other editorial features, including a sex and relationship column by sociologist Pepper Schwartz and a regular feature by stress-reduction specialist Richard Carlson. Astrologer Sally Brompton is set to write a regular horoscope column.

Lifetime should appear six times in 2003, Lewin says, then go monthly in 2004.