Marie Claire magazine relaunches with 'injection of fun'

The women's glossy Marie Claire will relaunch this week promising a "fresh modern look" and an "injection of fun", backed by a £1m marketing campaign.

The changes are the first to be made under the magazine's new editor-in-chief, Trish Halpin, who succeeded Marie O'Riordan at the beginning of this year.

Marie Claire's complete redesign sees the introduction of new sections including Straight Into Style, on shopping; Heart & Soul, about sex and relationships; and beauty features including How to Look Expensive. The title's lifestyle section will regain its food pages.

Readers will get their first look at the revamped magazine when the September issue goes on sale on Thursday.

Halpin said the new-look magazine would have an "injection of fun" and a "stronger emotional connection with our audience" as well as a "fresh modern look". Marie Claire is also planning to broaden the scope of its features.

Marie Claire, which is published in the UK by IPC Media in partnership with French publishing company Groupe Marie Claire, sold an average of 314,259 copies a month in the second half of last year, down 4.8% on the same period in 2007.

Two key editorial staff left the magazine earlier this year after it confirmed that it was axing around six journalists, prompting a restructuring.

Marie Claire's latest changes followed research conducted by Human Capital and headed by the IPC editorial development director, Andy Cowles.

The publisher said it would spend £1m on marketing the magazine for the remainder of the year, including cinema preview evenings, sampling, point-of-sale advertising and covermounts.

Richard Johnstone, the Marie Claire publishing director, said: "All great brands constantly evolve and Marie Claire is no different. We've taken a longer-term view for Marie Claire and supported our new editor by investing heavily in the development of this new editorial proposition."

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