More On Elle Girl: Embracing Change Early

In an update to my post from last week, Elle Girl To Transform Into Online Only Magazine, we get a little insight on why print version Elle Girl magazine is going away in May, despite the magazine's progress this year in increasing ad pages by nearly 50% and its paid circulation almost 20%. First a correction. Elle Girl is not a publication of American Media, Inc., which just shut down operations of Celebrity Living, Shape en Espanol and MPH magazines due to normal slump factors. Elle Girl belongs to Hachette Filipacchi Médias, who despite growth is getting rid of the paper mag and going to go online only, expanding its ellegirl.com web site. While no one seem to know (or at least no one is willing to tell) whether it was a matter of turning a profit, Hachette Chairman and CEO wouldn't Jack Kliger says the move is a matter of keeping up with the teen lifestyle Elle Girl was aimed at, and their moving a away from paper and toward computers and PDAs. He sees a move to more internet and digital content as extending his brands. Hachette is already making all its titles available on the Zinio digital distribution platform, and its forthcoming Shock magazine will depend in large part on Web and mobile content in addition to paper. - Why Jack Kliger Killed The Successful Magazine 'Elle Girl' (Advertising Age) MagMall.com