Magazines News South Africa

Booyens ry Weg! met PICA Editor of the Year

Bun Booyens, editor of Media24's Weg!, scooped the much-anticipated inaugural Jane Raphaely Award for Editor of the Year at the 2006 Magazine Publishers' Association of SA's Sappi Pica awards, announced at a gala event at the Sandton Convention Centre this evening, 2 November 2006. Longstanding awards sponsor Sappi also announced its sponsorship of a major magazine advocacy programme to be launched under the direction of MPASA during 2007.
Bun Booyens, editor of Weg!
Bun Booyens, editor of Weg!

According to Albert Lubbe, MD of Sappi Fine Paper South Africa, this advocacy program will promote the use of magazines as an advertising vehicle to marketers and advertisers with the aim of securing the sustained viability of the industry in South Africa.

Apart from Booyens, the evening's other big overall winners are

  • Men's Health Living (Touchline Media) - the Philip Tyler Award for Best New Launch;
  • Real Simple (8 Ink Media) - the Award for Excellence in Magazine Design;
  • Seventeen (8 Ink Media) - Rossi Trophy for Best Consumer Magazine;
  • Plascon Colour (New Media) - Best Customer Magazine;
  • The Dairy Mail (Agri Connect) - Watling Trophy for Best Business-to- Business Magazine.Thirty-three winners across the three categories of Consumer, Customer and Business-to-Business magazines were also announced. These included Popular Mechanics (Ramsay, Son & Parker), winner of the Men's General Interest category, Farmer's Weekly (Caxton), who won the Consumer Business Category and Women's General Interest winner, Cosmopolitan (Associated Magazines).

    Exceptionally healthy

    "All the winners demonstrate the exceptionally healthy state of the South African magazine publishing industry at the moment," says Ann Donald, the chief judge and former Fairlady editor. Of course they couldn't have anticipated the announcements of the closure of Style and Krew magazines this week!

    Whether they have the guts to launch a world-first décor magazine for men, the creativity to introduce specially-sealed "must read" sections into the main body or the savvy to embrace a society in transition by finding ways to write for emerging farmers without losing the readership of existing ones - the winners of this year's Magazine Publishers' Association of SA's Sappi Pica awards indicate that SA's magazine industry is thriving.

    During 2006, thirty-six titles have joined the Audited Bureau of Circulation. Many such as Lééf met hart & siel, which focuses on a providing a spiritually-based read for Afrikaans women, or American title Real Simple that aims at a clutter-free, solutions-driven editorial platform, are leading the trend toward new and viable niches.

    Increased competition

    "The increased competition brought about by the wider choice, is stimulating innovation and smart thinking. Winning editors and publishers are rising to the challenge by becoming fiercely reader-centric, which is of course the only sustainable way to deliver the audiences that advertisers expect," says Donald.

    According to Donald, examples of proudly South African magazine publishing are the launch of the Men's Health Living magazine, a world-first with its' focus on décor and lifestyle editorial for men and which the international partner, Rodale Press, is monitoring carefully with a view to an international roll-out, as well as the phenomenal success achieved by Media 24's Weg!.

    This outdoor leisure title has rewritten the publishing rulebook by securing a third of its circulation in subscriptions within two years of launching and against an industry norm of 10%. It has also become the market leader within 20 issues.

    Closely contested

    The success of Weg! secured editor Booyens the inaugural Jane Raphaely Editor of the Year Award against competitors such as Esmaré Weideman of Drum and Sumien Brink of Visi, who won highly commended in this category.

    "This was a closely contested race with three highly commended editors vying strongly for the top spot. Any one of them would be a worthy winner, in that, their strengths lay as much in their business savvy as their editorial capacity," Donald says.

    The full list of MPASA Sappi Pica Awards 2006 are:

    TRADITIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS

    Philip Tyler Award for the Best New Launch
    Winner: Men's Health Living, Touchline Media

    Award for Excellence in Magazine Design
    Winner: Real Simple, 8 Ink Media

    PREMIER MAGAZINE AWARDS

    Best Customer Magazine
    Winner: Plascon Colour, New Media

    Best Business-to-Business Magazine: Watling Trophy
    Winner: The Dairy Mail, AgriConnect

    Best Consumer Magazine: Rossi Trophy
    Winner: Seventeen, 8 Ink Media

    JANE RAPHAELY EDITOR OF THE YEAR AWARD

    Winner: Bun Booyens - Weg!, Media24 Magazines
    Highly Commended: Esmaré Weideman - Drum, Media24 Magazines
    Highly Commended: Sumien Brink - Visi, New Media

    CONSUMER MAGAZINE AWARDS

    Home, Décor and Gardening
    Winner: Tuis/Home, Media24 Magazines
    Highly Commended - House and Leisure, Associated Magazines

    Men's General Interest
    Winner: Popular Mechanics, Ramsay, Son & Parker

    General Interest News and Entertainment Magazines
    Winner: Bona, Caxton Magazines
    Highly Commended - Insig, New Media

    Sport
    Winner: Kick Off, Touchline Media
    Highly Commended - Golf Digest South Africa, Touchline Media

    Leisure Interests
    Winner: Car, Ramsay, Son & Parker
    Highly Commended - Drive Out, New Media

    Travel, Wildlife and Conservation
    Winner: Weg!, Media24 Magazines
    Highly Commended - Africa Geographic, Africa Geographic

    Parenting
    Winner: Fit Pregnancy, Touchline Media

    Spirituality
    Winner: Lééf met hart & siel, Media24 Magazines

    Business
    Winner: Farmer's Weekly, Caxton Magazines
    Highly Commended - Finweek, Media24 Magazines

    Youth
    Winner: Seventeen, 8 Ink Media
    Highly Commended: National Geographic Kids, 8 Ink Media

    Women's General Interest
    Winner: Cosmopolitan, Associated Magazines
    Highly Commended: Fairlady, Media24 Magazines

    Women's Special Interest
    Winner: Shape, Touchline Media

    Annuals and Special Editions
    Winner: Huisgenoot 90 Gedenkuitgawe, Media24 Magazines
    Highly Commended - Eat Out, New Media

    Supplements
    Winner: WegSleep, Media24 Magazines
    Highly Commended: Elle Supplement, Johncom Media Magazine Division
    Highly Commended: Seventeen Diary, 8 Ink Media

    CUSTOMER MAGAZINE AWARDS
    Business-to-Business
    Winner: Accountancy SA, SAICA

    Retail and Consumer Goods
    Winner: Taste, New Media
    Highly Commended: Jet Club Magazine, The Publishing Partnership
    Highly Commended: Lewis Club Magazine, New Highway Publishing

    Hospitality, Tourism and Travel
    Winner: Good Taste, Converge

    Health, Fitness and Sport
    Winner: South African Paddler, Atoll Media Magazine Publishers
    Highly Commended: Heart, New Media

    Entertainment, Leisure and Lifestyle
    Winner: Obrigado, The Publishing Partnership
    Highly Commended: ClassicFeel Magazine, Desklink Media

    Annuals, Directories, Product Guides and Supplements
    Winner: Plascon Colour, New Media
    Highly Commended: Pezula/, New Media

    BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MAGAZINE AWARDS
    Farming, Agricultural Produce and Equipment, Irrigation and Horticulture
    Winner: The Dairy Mail, AgriConnect

    Civil Engineering, Building and Infrastructural Development
    Winner: IMIESA, 3S Media
    Highly Commended: Leading Architecture and Design, Primedia Publishing

    Electrical and Electronics Engineering
    Winner: Sparks Electrical News, Crown Publications
    Highly Commended: SA Instrumentation and Control, Technews

    Business Management and Communications
    Winner: B®and, Brand Africa Media

    Hospitality, Travel and Tourism
    Winner: Southern Africa's Travel News Weekly, Now Media

    Medical, Rescue, Safety and Security
    Winner: TLC, Picasso Headline

    Other Specialist Titles
    Winner: RB Magazine, Lindiwe Communications
    Highly Commended: Pursuit, Johncom Media Magazine Division
    Highly Commended: De Rebus, The SA Attorney's Journal, Law Society of South Africa

    Annuals, Special Editions, Product Guides and Supplements
    Winner: MIMS Guide to OTC Products 2006, Johncom Media Magazine Division
    Highly Commended: MIMS Desk Reference (MDR) 2006, Johncom Media Magazine Division
    Highly Commended: Digest of South African Architecture, Picasso Headline

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