Last weekend was the first Sunday without Stella magazine on our newsstands. Launching in 2005, the supplement was introduced to make The Telegraph appeal to more women. Before too long, it became a firm favourite amongst Sunday broadsheet readers. Our Frankie Stewart gives her take on the news.
Stella was the first ‘grown up’ magazine I read. As my parents read the paper, I started flicking through the pages every Sunday from the age of around 11. Pouring over its fashion and beauty pages and becoming a fan of Bryony Gorden’s How the Other Half Lives column (an admiration for the journalist that still stands today!).
14 years later and working in PR, Stella is [was, sob] one of my favourites. Not only for what we dub at the Coop ‘stardust coverage’ – Stella Loves – being the dream shopping page for most of our clients but for its thought-provoking pieces and lust-worthy interiors pages as well. The Sunday Times STYLE has long been the supplement bible for young professional women here in the UK, but for me, it’s always been Stella.
Marshall in Stella Loves by Charlotte Cox
The closure of the supplement came as a shock, and although our industry is aware of the print media’s tumultuous time, the nature of the newspaper (high subscription rates, affluent readership) lead many of us to think that, in comparison to many titles, the paper, and its much-loved supplements were safe.
Looking deeper into The Telegraph’s reasoning behind the closure of Stella, this is not a pandemic problem. Readership remains high and the love for the supplement remains. This change is one of several due to The Telegraph’s extensive reader research. It’s trying to reflect the needs of its subscribers and their “altered reading habits”.
The Telegraph’s Saturday magazine has been relaunched with a “bigger format with an improved quality cover”. It will include a food and drink pull-out, a new column entitled What Is 60 For?, alongside multiple writers and columnists. The Telegraph isn’t alone in these kinds of changes. The Guardian Weekend closed at the end of last year and was replaced by its new Saturday Magazine, The Sunday Times Dish went solely online. It seems change is in the air for the UK’s national newspapers.
Not all is lost for Stella – it will still exist as a brand within the paper, online, and as part of the Stella Live branded events. Titles choosing to become ‘brands’ isn’t completely new, but it has seen an increase in recent times. Stylist Magazine now hosts its annual ‘Stylist Live’, Esquire launched its exclusive pop-up members’ club Esquire Townhouse, and of course – GQ’s Men of the Year. Creating a brand cements the lifestyle attached to the title. It offers an all-encompassing experience for its readers which started with Instagram accounts and now sees itself in the form of events, social media collaborations – even ‘Soho House’ style membership clubs.
I am a great believer in change and shaking things up a little is never a bad thing. Titles becoming ‘brands’ brings with it employment, collective appreciation, and experience. Not that Stella didn’t do that in the first place…
