DENNIS PRODUCTS ANALYSIS

MONEYWEEK:

Moneyweek is the UK's best-selling financial magazine. since it launched in 2000, they have developed a reputation for independence, consumer focus and investment advice. It offers intelligent, easy-to-read analysis of the financial news, investment advice and tips. It was launched by Jolyon Connell and Merryn Somerset Webb and was acquired by Dennis in 2017. 

TA - upmarket, affluent investors who need market leading advice and information (ABC1)

It has a weekly frequency and has a consistently successful print circulation of 44,000 (Jul-Dec 2016) with over 45,000 active subscribers, 99% in the UK and Ireland. 

It's house style has a consistently red masthead with white serif text underneath a topical puff, very similarly laid out as if it's a newspaper. furthermore it has a running theme of one main image in the same artwork style across all of its covers that represent different members of it's target demographic in relation to the topics of the week.

THE WEEK:

The Week is the 'perfect antidote to modern media's overkill'. The appeal of it is completely different to other mainstream magazines both within the current affairs genre and outside of it, seeking to simplify and explain the world, providing context and clarity to complex contemporary issues. Globally, The Week is one of the fastest growing print magazines of the last decade. The print magazine’s success has been recently matched by the rapid growth of its digital edition and daily news website, www.theweek.co.uk, and its digital advertising growth.

TA - 50/50 gender split, 69% AB profile,35-54, at the peak of their profession and earning power.

74% of their readers do not read a daily newspaper, but on their daily news site, TheWeek.co.uk reaches 2.1m global unique users per month. 

It's house style, like Moneyweek, has a consistently red masthead with white serif text underneath a topical puff, very similarly laid out as if it were a newspaper, but satirical in it's main image. That uses the same artwork style across all of its covers that represent different celebrities and politicians in funny, yet thought-provoking scenarios.

THE WEEK JUNIOR:

The Week Junior is the UK's fastest growing children’s magazine, expertly designed to engage young readers and help them to make sense of the world. It features Intelligent, trusted and safe content, covering the news, science, animals, people, entertainment, books, sport, and puzzles among other things. their content is curated to inform, engage, entertain and empower young people to think for themselves and develop cognitive skills. It almost acts as a stepping stone between being a child and a functioning adult by delivering hard-hitting news to as younger audience, preparing them to read their adult-targeted issues like The week in years to come. 

TA - for curious, smart 8-14 year olds, often emerging from ABC1 families whose parents read, The Week. Also often distributed in schools

Their house style basically emulates The Week in it's layout and masthead, however lacks the appearance of intense subjects within the puff or satirical cartoons as the main image. Instead, the cover has a looser theme, often using attention-grabbing fonts and images not related to other issues of the magazine or it's typical house style, but still keeps with the red theming.

TAKEAWAYS:

In my opinion, Dennis needs to move away from this 'week' brand consistency and branch out into a new era of current affairs. not targeting Adults or Kids, but the politically proactive and technologically developed Generation Z, who are the starting their adult life. Instead of tying them to the other generations around them, they strive to be unique world-changers. And so in order for a current affairs magazine to be successful for their unique, forward-thinking demographic, they need a unique issue. This further extends Dennis' reach to all demographics whilst being successful in a modern political climate, not just appealing to Gen Z's social conscious but also to the immersive nature of entertainment media in how they understand the world around them. In today's pandemic-stricken climate, pop culture and social media have had an increasing influence over how social issues and current affairs reach the younger generation. This needs to be reflected in this new magazine for it's success to be ensured, moving away from the house styles we see above and towards a more editorial and modern look.