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Punch is believed to be preparing a TV campaign for this autumn

through Leagas Delaney to help boost sales. The spend is thought to be

in the region of pounds 500,000 but other details of the campaign, which

is expected to start in September, are yet to be confirmed.

Leagas Delaney was responsible for advertising the title’s relaunch last

year and its relaunch in May this year. It has also produced TV work for

Liberty 963 AM, the radio station owned by Punch’s parent, Liberty

Publishing, and for Harrods, the largest interest of Liberty’s owner,

Mohamed Al Fayed.

Al Fayed acquired the dormant title and launched it under the Liberty

banner in September 1996. However, sales soon fell well short of the

80,000 guaranteed to advertisers - and the title’s original target of

150,000 copies - falling to 35,000 a week.

The relaunch in May this year followed the arrival of the former

freelance journalist, Paul Spike, as editor. He was hired to make the

title more appealing to younger men. The relaunch, which priced the

title at pounds 1 instead of the original pounds 1.75, repositioned

Punch as a Private Eye/Loaded hybrid.

The publication day was changed from Friday to Wednesday to improve

weekly sales time and impinge on some of the readership of Private Eye,

also published on Wednesday.

Punch has had two editors and three ad directors since its first

relaunch but, despite initial problems, sales are believed to be

rising.

No-one at Liberty Publishing or Leagas Delaney would comment.