• by Larry Dobrow , August 29, 2003

When American Media acquired Weider Publications back in January, prexy David Pecker was quite vocal, even by his standards, about the potential to improve the overall performance of the acquired titles. Several months down the road, Men's Fitness has been tapped to receive the overhaul treatment - but the changes won't stop at the expected graphic redesign.

Instead, newly installed publisher Alan Stiles and editor Peter Sikowitz are planning to relaunch the magazine in November with a lifestyle focus. Men's Fitness will broaden its definition of "fitness" beyond muscles and meals, adding financial, fashion and entertainment coverage to the magazine's slate of health and nutritional advice. Think more worldly than Maxim, but less stodgy than Men's Health.

"Health and fitness mean so much more than working out at the gym," explains Sikowitz, who also served as the title's editor between 1992 and 1997. "Sports, personal finance, travel - these are as much a part of a man's overall well-being as anything else."

The repositioning seems somewhat of a risk. While ad pages and single-copy sales have slumped over the past few years (the former is down 8.2% in the first seven months of 2003, according to the Publishers Information Bureau; the latter is off 13.6% in the first half of the year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation), the magazine has developed in an enormously loyal, if not demographically sparkling, core of readers in its 13-odd years of existence.

Stiles concedes that some of the magazine's core audience might not love the changes - "there are likely to be a few of those people, of course" - but notes that American Media boasts several other books for the musclehead set, including Muscle & Fitness and Flex. Everything he's seen so far, he says, leads him to believe that most readers will embrace the tonal, content and design shifts: "There is clearly an audience who wants this magazine."

Right now, the average age of the Men's Fitness reader is 33.7, which Stiles believes will decrease; the relaunched magazine, not unexpectedly, has 25- to 34-year-olds in its crosshairs. Though Stiles has not conducted any research since taking over as publisher a few weeks ago, he thinks the magazine's new editorial focus will attract a more affluent reader. "I doubt we'll see our [average] household income drop $7,500 as we get younger, in any event."

Stiles has targeted the usual men's-mag mix of ad categories: automotive, fashion, accessories (watches, electronic gizmos, etc.) and grooming/fragrance. Partnerships with local and national health-club chains are highly probable, as are tie-ins with American Media sibling Shape. "A Men's Fitness/Shape combination buy - what a great opportunity for a Sony or a Panasonic or any other company that makes products and services for both men and women," he cheerily suggests.

As for competition, Stiles recites the refrain often uttered by publishers of new or soon-to-be-relaunched magazines: there isn't any. He expects to be competing with the laddie books, Men's Health, GQ and ESPN The Magazine for advertisers, but doesn't believe that any of them offer the comprehensive fitness/lifestyle fusion that the revamped Men's Fitness promises. "Young men who are really into fitness, there's really no magazine that attends to the other aspects of their lives," he explains. "Men's Health has a broad spectrum of readers, but its content is geared to a more mature male. In the last issue, there was a big piece about heart attacks. They use older models. I'm not sure it's exactly what a younger audience wants to see."

The new Men's Fitness isn't likely to click with advertisers overnight, given its muscle-first editorial legacy. Still, given American Media's substantial investment in the property - the company has handed Stiles the resources to assemble major-league editorial and marketing teams, and the relaunch will be touted in a $5 million promotional campaign - it would be silly to doubt the company's power to effect immediate change. "We are a company that tends toward moving quickly," he understates. The likely first battleground? Newsstands, where American Media's muscle is unmatched.

As for advertisers, Stiles doesn't doubt that they will be swayed by the revitalized product. "Nine months from now, when the RFPs for auto and pharma and fragrance/grooming companies for the 2005 cycle are coming out, I want to make sure we're getting them," he says. "If we are, that means we'll have done a great job articulating our brand during that period. That will tell us that we've reached contender status."