Frankie becomes fastest-growing magazine in Australia

MELBOURNE - Frankie, an independent women’s magazine, started by a couple of 25-year-olds in their one-bedroom flat in Brunswick, has become the fastest-growing magazine in Australia.

According to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations’ figures, the bi-monthly magazine produced in shoe-sting budget has grown by 31.6 per cent in the year to December.

Marketing and online editor Louise Bannister and creative director Lara Burke had launched the magazine in September 2004.

Jo Walker, the Melbourne-based editor of the magazine, who does the job from her shoebox apartment, credits the magazine’s “smart, grounded” content for the success.

“I think last year, with the GFC, people started looking for things that were a bit more genuine and real. That’s something we’ve tapped into with the type of stories we write and the products we feature,” the Age quoted him as saying.

He added: “And, of course, we’ve also tapped into this whole new craft movement with a lot of emphasis on handmade and DIY, which people are loving right now.”

“It’s run on what I would call a happy shoestring. I don’t want to go too far behind the velvet curtain but our budgets aren’t huge and people are sometimes paid in hugs and six-packs.

“We don’t do diets, beauty or orgasms because that’s already well and truly covered and also because we think there’s more interesting things to talk about. We assume that our readers are fairly well read, probably watch The 7.30 Report and know where Afghanistan is … Believe it or not, women are interested in more than just the way they look.”

Erica Bartle, creator of magazine and media blog Girl with a Satchel, insists youngsters look for celebrity gossip more on the web these days.

She said: “That’s why you are seeing falls in the weekly categories … but they [young people] are also increasingly looking to indie titles like Frankie for an alternative point of view.

“They’re not following the standard glossy formula of putting a blonde, Hollywood celebrity on the cover and hope for the best.

They’re going against the grain and that appeals to a lot of people. It’s a bit subversive, which makes it cool.” (ANI)