Media Lifeline: Grazia

The women's weekly has gone from strength to strength. Now it has launched a TV channel.

February 2005: Grazia, the UK's first weekly glossy, priced at £1.50, launches with Kate Moss on the cover. Though it's based on an Italian fashion weekly that's been around since the 30s, the UK version leans more heavily on celeb tittle-tattle in an effort to hit an ambitious 150,000 sales target. Agencies like it, but worry it might not appeal to an upmarket readership.

August 2005: It's backed by a substantial (in excess of £10 million) marketing budget - which helps it to achieve a debut ABC figure of 155,157 copies, far exceeding the target. David Davies, the managing director, says: "Everyone is talking about Grazia."

December 2006: More than a year in and Grazia's continuing to push on, breaking the 175,000 mark in the Jan-Jun 2006 ABCs. And there's good news on the sales side, too, as the title scoops ±±¾©Èü³µpk10's Print Sales Team of the Year Award - thanks to its achievement in bringing in more ad revenue in its launch year than the likes of Conde Nast Traveller, Vanity Fair, Tatler, Red and InStyle.

September 2009: With Grazia's circulation now 227,156, it brings out its biggest-ever issue with 88 ad pages out of a total pagination of 196. It includes "the truth" behind Kate Moss storming out of the GQ Awards (she was offended by a joke made about her).

September 2010: It extends the brand by launching Grazia TV - weekly five-minute "webisodes" (the first of which is timed to launch in London Fashion Week) available on Grazia's website and YouTube. The initial series is supported by Estee Lauder, whose brands will feature in the programming. Paul Keenan, the chief executive of Grazia's owner, Bauer Media, says: "I can see this form of partnership extending to other brands."

Fast forward ...

April 2015: But the innovations don't stop there. Following a period of intense research, involving algorithm prototyping and paradigm evaluation, Grazia launches a social media strategy, with a page on MyFace, formed following the merger of Facebook and MySpace. The strategy also features Twitter content, which is to be imagineered in an innovative tripartite deal involving Kate "heading for the party now" Moss and Rimmel London.

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