MK Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee Magazine is a quarterly publication for the music channel MK. The magazine comes in two flavours - Bruce for guys and Lee for girls.
Cap Town, South Africa
12 Spim Street, 8001
- Category: Music
- Periodicity: Quartely
- Language: English
- Format: 197 x 280 mm
- Web: http://www.thepresident.co.za
Exclusive Interview
Mk Bruce Lee
What is your magazine about?
MK Bruce / Lee is a magazine published for the viewers of the South African music tv channel, MK.
Who’s behind the project? Tell us about the founders, their backgrounds and their motivations!
MK Bruce / Lee is published by Cape Town design and publishing agency, The President for MK.
How do you produce one issue? How much time do you spend on it? How big is your team?
We spend about 6 weeks putting an issue together. Our team is really small and consists of a publisher, art director, designer and freelance editor and fashion editor.
What have been the important steps in the life of your magazine?
It's really important that each issue is better than the previous issue with new fresh ideas in order to keep surprising our readers and keep them interested.
Which are the key ingredients for the success of your magazine?
We change the format completely from one issue to the next. The first issue was in the format of a lucky packet and the second issue in the format of 8 cereal boxes fitting into one another.
What are the difficulties you are confronted with? What would be “the” thing to help the magazine to improve?
We are constantly competing against mobiles, websites, TV, books, games, etc for our readers' attention and therefore we need to be in touch with our market and what's out there. We have to offer them a product that can compete with the best that is on offer internationally at any given time.
Where do you want the magazine to be in five years?
It is important to us that we stay exclusive with a relatively small print run in order to retain our cult status.
Tell us about your audience! Who are the readers of your magazine?
The readers are 18 - 24 year olds that are passionate about local music.
Is remaining independent important to you? Is it part of the strategy?
It is extremely important to us to remain independent and have all the creative freedom we can have.
What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?
We have a unique advertising strategy in that we don't carry run-of-paper ads, only inserts. This creates a unique sampling opportunity for advertisers and added value for our readers. Editorial content is 100% independent from advertising, though.
What do you think of your issue 01, when you look back at it?
We are still waiting on the second issue to come from the printers, so at the moment we're still loving the first issue. I'm sure it will be different in a year's time!
Magazine favorite(s) that inspired you in your career.
At the moment we love the Dutch magazine Fantastic Man.
Do you keep old copies of magazines? If so, what is your favorite in your collection?
At the moment Fantastic Man. We're ordering all the back issues from the Netherlands.
How many magazines do you buy / get / read each month? Do you qualify yourself a maniac?
We definitely love magazines, but sadly there aren't many exciting magazines out there at the moment. Most magazines follow set templates and recipes and are quite boring.
We are compiling answers from some of the most innovative magazine makers around the world today. Who else should we ask?
The Fantastic Man team -- Jop van Bennekom and Gert Jonkers.
Answered by Hannerie Visser (Business Director)
Magazine: MK Bruce / Lee
Email: hannerie@thepresident.co.za
Date: 04-11-2008
- 2044
- 5180
- 2482
- 662
