Wired for sales – but not enough indie support?

It was Condé Nast’s Wired which had the most successful evening at the ACE (Association of Circulation Executives) Press Awards last night as it scooped two awards for launch of the year and most effective promotional campaign by a smaller magazine. When the magazine launched in April last year, it really did start with a bang. In London, particularly, ads were plastered everywhere, but perhaps where the magazine could have made more of an impact is through the independent channel. While some independent retailers were handed point-of-sale kits to promote the title, the majority went to multiples such as WHSmith, with many small retailers left out.

The title posted a debut circulation of 19,447 on the newsstand for the second six months of last year – certainly not enough to take on competitors in the men’s lifestyle sector straight away, but a sturdy start for a title which has quite a specialist subject.

However, with the continuing downturn in popularity of weekly and monthly lads’ mags, if Wired can stretch its reach to more of the UK and more retailers can include it on their shelves, it could be a valuable addition to the newsstand for everyone.