Bauer Media is “responding to the changing demands” of readers and taking its Dolly magazine to a purely digital product, farewelling another juggernaut of its female youth category. It comes after Bauer shut the doors on renowned Cleo magazine in March.
At the time of Cleo‘s closure, Bauer had announced it was taking a “digital first” approach with Dolly magazine – which began in 1970 – with print editions published bi-monthly.
All full-time staff impacted by the change are expected to be offered other positions within Bauer. It comes off the back of the latest ABC circulation figures, which showed Dolly had dropped 26 per cent to 30,010 in year-on-year sales.
Nick Chan, CEO of Bauer Media said, “Dolly readers predominantly engage with the brand on digital and social platforms and they do so with greater frequency than is possible with a bi-monthly magazine, this means it’s no longer feasible to continue publishing the magazine on a regular basis.
“Dolly has played a part in the lives of many Australians over the years, which is why we’re delighted its outstanding content continues, but now exclusively on the channels today’s teens prefer to interact with most.”
The last bi-monthly issue of Dolly with three collectors covers featuring members of Aussie band In Stereo (pictured above) goes on sale from 5 December.
This month saw Dolly record its best month online to date, with the number of page views up 77 per cent year-on-year and users up by 18 per cent compared to this time last year.
More than ninety per cent of Dolly’s 14-17-year-old target audience interact with the brand via their smartphones, with the mobile first Dolly.com.au redesigned as a fully responsive on demand mobile site early this year.
Dolly’s website will carry on the tradition of its print editions, covering celebrity news, fashion, beauty and lifestyle content, and of course will continue the infamous Dolly Doctor, which last week was recognised in research from the University of Newcastle as providing the reliable health advice of all Aussie magazines.
