By Michelle Strydom
The quarterly magazine, which will be published as an insert to the Sowetan, is targeted at “future-forward-thinking women” as Zulu puts it.
“The magazine is aimed at our female readership of the Sowetan and we’re looking at future-forward-thinking women who are ambitious and looking to better themselves, their communities and their families,” she says
The magazine, although targeted at a specific readership, is an extension of the Sowetan and focusses on topics only briefly mentioned in the newspaper. The magazine will also implement the typical story-telling element that the Sowetan is known for.
“The newspaper is news-centred and has elements of lifestyle in it. With the magazine, we’re focussing more on elements of lifestyle and fashion,” says Zulu. “The Sowetan has always been a newspaper that has a big heritage vibe about it and that’s an element that we really want to extend in the magazine. The accessibility of the magazine really needs to feed into the magazine. Everything needs to be accessible.”
S Mag is a quarterly publication now, but as the magazine’s readership grows, Zulu and her team are looking to turn the magazine into a more common feature.
“The plan is to grow and to become a more regular magazine within a weekly paper. For now, we’ll come out strong with a quarterly magazine, which allows us to have seasonal issues.”
As digital platforms are becoming the prime location for getting news and information, S Mag are looking to one day become a digital platform and reach an even bigger audience.
“Realistically, digital is the prime location these days. So we’re definitely looking to go digital with the magazine. Digital support is a no brainer now with all print publications, so we’re hoping to have enough material one day so we can present ourselves in the online space,” Zulu says.
While the magazine’s aim is to approach more of the Sowetan’s female readers, the magazine could see a possible market for the men in the future as well.
“Something we’re thinking of is expanding the magazine for our male readers. Sowetan has a large male readership and it’s something we’re aware of, so we would want to incorporate our male readership into the magazine. Marketing shows that women tend to respond more to magazines so that’s the reason why we started it, but we do want to involve all readers of the Sowetan.”
The first cover features South African singer and actress Nandi Mngoma, who embodies everything the magazine aims to bring to readers. The South African beauty was chosen for the first cover to set the vibe and tone, as well as target the relevant audience from the first issue.
“Nandi is so natural in her approach and she has an easy-going energy about her. She’s popular but, as it says on the cover, she’s the anti it-girl and it speaks to the kind of readers we are trying to target. We’re trying to say to people just be yourself and Nandi is well aligned with the position we’re trying to place ourselves in.”
Apart from the glamorous cover and engaging content, the magazine is starting off with a diverse team, consisting of young and experienced people, which allows for a wide range of topics and discussions, drawing in all kinds of readers.
“We have a great mix of experienced and young people on the team and I think that speaks to our current readers and readers we want to engage. It’s not only going to be for young people, though. We want to mix it up so our older readers have something of interest to them and our younger readers have something that draws them in,” says Zulu.
With a unique team and stories that draw readers in, S Mag aims to become a force to be reckoned with in the print industry and beyond.