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'Ser Padres' Will Absorb 'Healthy Kids en Espanol' in '08
October 15, 2007
By Nancy Ayala
Sometimes one is better than two.
Meredith Corp. announced today that Healthy Kids en Español, acquired by Meredith Corp. in 2002 as part of the American Baby Group, will be gone in the new year and merged with the Hispanic granddaddy of parenting magazines Ser Padres, itself acquired by the publishing house in 2005. The relaunched February/March issue will be available Jan. 11.
Ser Padres has been in the marketplace for 18 years, while Healthy Kids en Español has been published for the last eight, both seen in most pediatric offices.
"We had two magazines that were positioned against the exact same market, with the exact same business model," said Ruth Gaviria, publisher and executive director of Meredith Hispanic Ventures. After a lot of analysis, both quantative and qualitative, "the question [for Meredith] was can we then increase circulation to a point where we can eventually reach a million? And the answer was yes."
The merging of the magazines will create the largest Spanish-language parenthood publication, with a total controlled circulation of 700,000 (from 500,000), an increased frequency of eight times per year (up from six), a goal of 100 pages, and a new look and logo.
Controlled circulation is not a bad thing, Gaviria said. "I'm not going to say that we are not going to eventually explore newsstand [sales]. Right now we have pediatricians asking us for the magazine. We could distribute this magazine in more outlets and have a higher circulation, but it would be tough for me to monetize on a cost per thousand for advertisers. It's not going to be as palatable for them."
According to Meredith, Ser Padres is up 60 percent in ad revenue for the second half of 2007, compared with the same time in 2006. Also up by 47 percent are total advertising pages for the same time period.
The latest figures from Media Economics Group, a multicultural advertising consulting firm, pointed to $2.3 million in ad sales for the June/July issue of Ser Padres, compared with $1.8 million for the same issue last year. The quarterly Hispanic Kids en Español netted $2.1 million in ad sales for its 2007 fall issue, a 105.5 percent increase from the same time period in 2006, which brought in $1.02 million.
For the January relaunch of Ser Padres, blue-chip advertisers will include McDonald's, Clorox, Fisher Price and Publix.
Nutrition, safety and health will undergo expanded coverage in the relaunched title, as well as new sections on home décor, women's health, pregnancy news and shopping guides. In addition to the new emphasis on editorial, lead by editor in chief Alberto Oliva, Enedina Vega-Amaez, most recently from Essence, will oversee an expanded dedicated sales force as publisher of Ser Padres.
"It will be a focused sales force that can bundle Siempre Mujer, Ser Padres, Espera, 12 Meses," Gaviria said about the other Meredith titles. "That has given us an opportunity to offer clients better reach for their brand positioning."
Ad sales figures from Media Economics Group added 10/16/07.
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