R.I.P. FHM
End of an Era
Earlier this year a staple of English pop culture was lost when Bauer Media announced the closure of men’s lifestyle magazine FHM, alongside fellow lads’ mag Zoo. Loyal readers have since expressed their regret in hearing of FHM’s demise, although such news has not surprised the vast majority, who have witnessed a host of rival publications including Nuts and Loaded recently cease publication too.
FHM started life in 1985 as a quarterly before switching format in 1994 to its more familiar monthly format. For years the magazine thrived by offering interesting content, advice on relatable issues and a bonus of scantily clad women. Consequently, FHM became the ultimate men’s lifestyle publication, averaging 700,000 readers at its peak during the late 90s, with record editions reaching over one million readers. Success continued into the new millennium, but soon emerging technology would impact heavily upon FHM, hence a dramatic fall in readership during the last ten years. To be precise FHM’s circulation fell from 500,000 to below 100,000 during this time. With so few people actually buying the magazine, keeping it alive was no longer a viable option.
Amy Willerton graced the cover of FHM for the second time in September 2015.
FHM’s publisher, Bauer Media, offered valid reasoning for the decline in readership, stating, “over time young men’s media habits have continually moved towards mobile and social.” By no means a groundbreaking revelation, men’s consumption habits have indeed steadily migrated online due to the ease of accessibility afforded by the rise of broadband and smartphones circa 2003. In simple terms, FHM was always vulnerable to fierce competition from online equivalents such as the Lad Bible, who offer similar content yet boast over 20million visitors per month. FHM’s record numbers now seem paltry in comparison. Bringing focus solely back to FHM’s operations, their traditional circulation sank to an all time low of 67,000 during its last six months, a twenty percent decrease from just two years ago. Alternatively, digital subscriptions were rising, but online circulation still only averaged around 3,000 readers, simply not enough to ensure profitability. Maybe Lad Bible had the luxury of starting up in the digital age, whereas FHM remained chained to a dated formula.
““Over time young men’s media habits have continually moved towards mobile and social.””
Too Little Too Late
It is interesting to note that FHM at least attempted to embrace digital trends following the end of its print run, via the continual addition of content to their website. However, at the time of writing, no new content has been published in over a month. Perhaps this signals a U-turn of intentions, but surely a complete shutdown is premature considering FHM’s digital audience is still over five million people. In addition, verified social media accounts show encouraging numbers, with over five million Facebook likes, 200,000 Instagram followers and 163,000 Twitter followers. Such numbers suggest a healthy audience does still exist, but other factors weigh more heavily. Of course, a large amount of FHM’s revenue was created by selling magazine advertisement space at top prices, but if readership was dwindling, the advertising space was becoming much less lucrative. In other words, marketing executives did not see value in buying traditional advertisement space because it no longer returned a profit on investment. To make things worse, alternative revenue streams created from online advertising pales in comparison to traditional print advertisement revenue. All in all, a lack of advertising power became a crucial factor in Bauer Media’s decision to shut down FHM.
Will Ferrell, one of FHM's few male cover stars.
An Alternative Approach
In the wake of the apparent death of lifestyle magazines, brand managers who seek alternative ways to market their brand would be best advised to embrace the digital trend and collaborate with upcoming brands such as Lad Bible, whose online influence and advertising pulling power is constantly growing. Their page offers much the same content as FHM yet amasses 250,000 new followers every week. Impressive growth of this kind does not go unnoticed, meaning large corporations are now queueing up to partner with the brand. Sony for example saw the Lad Bible as the perfect match when executives were eager to get their PlayStation brand in front of as many eyeballs as possible.
For Him Magazine will be missed by some, but ironically the writing was on the wall for some time. Crucially, traditional media can no longer compete with the digital revolution in terms of convenience, accessibility and most importantly, advertising pulling power. Gone are the days of a trip to the local newsagent to pick up your favourite magazine, instead, smartphones, tablets and laptops rule supreme. In a world now dominated by the internet, frankly it is astonishing that FHM survived for so long.
