They did with surprising ease by combining parts of life that men are interested in – women, music, sex, jokes & football. It was essential that they went about doing it tastefully, as they didn’t want the magazine to become a top-shelf magazine – that would defeat the object of the whole project.
It wasn’t just the content and style of the magazine that caused it to become a quick selling sensation. The fact that it was entering a niche market helped as well, as it kept it individual as the beginning (of course it did later become part of a large market with its success). Also, the strategy used when promoting & marketing Loaded had a lot to do with its success.
There was huge risk involved for IPC, however they handled it just right and as a result nothing went wrong, and their brand name definitely wasn’t ruined. In fact, some will say it was partly due to their handling of the magazine that Loaded succeeded the way it did. For example, the pricing strategy used was a key factor in the selling of the magazine. By having the low starting price, it drew the public in and then by raising it slowly it meant people would still be happy to buy it, with the company making more & more money.
I’ve already mentioned the content & style of the magazine, however one final important factor in its success was how it was presented to the public. The presentation itself was cheeky in its own way – this of course keeps in with the whole tone and aim of the magazine, and was right for its target audience – however it wasn’t really offensive to the majority of people – also important in this context (just releasing the magazine) – and this meant there sales opportunities were maximised. As a result of this the magazine blossomed.
Despite all these things, it didn’t’ mean the magazine was going to continue on like it started off. It did keep going well for a long time (about 6-8 years), however once we reached this point in time, sales started dropping and haven’t really stopped dropping since. There are many possible reasons for this, however it is very hard to pinpoint just one…
As time goes on, there are bound to be changing attitudes in the public, and different social views. Perhaps men felt (and still feel) that it was no longer cool to be ‘hopeless’. Maybe they assumed it was no longer ‘the thing to do’ – buying Loaded – and they’d be better off in other’s eyes if they weren’t purchasing the magazine. Not surprisingly, people began to say that this was the beginning of the end for the lad’s culture.
Despite all this, the magazine stayed by the same old tried & tested issues, deciding not to change its contents, and producing the same articles, the same jokes, and the same pictures. Maybe this is in fact the reason for the downfall of Loaded. Seemingly, some people just don’t want the same content as before as old cultures begin to change and new one start off.
Not only that, but there is/was new competition in the market. As Loaded became more popular, there were bound to be new magazine in the same style. In fact, due to the amount of the magazines like this now, the market is considered a large market, rather than a niche, which is what it was when Loaded entered the market. Now, not only are there all the other 10 or so monthlies, but there are now weekly magazines in the style of Loaded. They are aimed at the same type of market, but they are shorter, more concise, and (most importantly for some people) they are cheaper.
Despite all these reasons, the only likely reasons are that people’s views have changed since then, and there’s more competition now. Obviously not that many people’s views have changed (relatively). As the sales are still decent, you can’t say everyone has decided that it’s not cool to buy it anymore. Also, with more magazines available sales for one particular magazine are bound to go down. When people have more choice they are likely to start trying something else.
As a result, you could say they should try and respond to different attitudes, but they would be going into a different market and as a result would most likely lose more sales. However, some say Loaded haven’t done enough themselves to make people choose them over a magazine like FHM or Maxim, yet there is not really much they can do, as then they would have to change the style of the magazine completely and just enter a different market. Then of course, that would be unnecessary, as there is never going to be one product in a market that completely rules it 100%. Therefore, it doesn’t appear there has been much Loaded has done wrong, just that there is now more competition and certain people view’s have changed since when it was first released; and these are both things that are inevitable and could happen to any product in the world.