aniaheasley
20.02.06, 16:03
THE TNT GROUP LAUNCHES NEW MAGAZINE
FOR THE EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPEAN MARKET
The TNT Group has announced today the launch of Fusion Magazine, a brand new,
free weekly magazine
targeting Eastern Europeans living and working in London.
The new title will be available from 28 February 2006 and will target eight
Eastern and Central European
nationalities that joined the EU in May 2004. It is aimed at young, ambitious
English speaking readers.
The TNT Group has invested in the best possible, high profile editorial team
with Klara Smolova, ex-editor
in chief of The Prague Tribune being appointed Fusion’s editor. Jaroslav
Nejedly, also from The Prague
Tribune, has been announced as the new art director.
Initially, Fusion Magazine will have a 60,000 print run and will be A4 in
size and full colour. The content
will combine practical information about living and working in London with
lifestyle stories and news
from both UK and Eastern/Central Europe. Every week readers will find
interviews with interesting people,
feature stories on hot topics, articles related to recruitment and education,
cultural reviews and listings,
travel tips as well as sports.
MD of TNT Group Mark Goddard explains: “While we are aware of the potential
size of this market with
nearly 500,000 Eastern and Central Europeans in the UK at present, during our
market research we were
amazed by the true size and depth of English-speaking talent. The mindset of
English businesses has also
changed dramatically in the last six months and we have created a vehicle to
facilitate communication
between the advertiser and the Eastern and Central European audience. With
key reasons for Eastern and
Central Europeans being here cited as earning money and travel, we also now
know that this audience
has a high degree of disposable income. Fusion Magazine aims to bring these
communities in London
together”
The TNT Group is already well known for targeting niche communities within
London via its current
portfolio of free pick-up magazines, the most dominant being the TNT
Magazine. While Fusion will have
its own separate core team of staff, the successful formula of TNT will be
replicated, notably that the
magazine will be free and will use the existing TNT distribution methods with
the TNT-style distribution
bins throughout London.
The Eastern European market is expected to grow by 10% each year. From the
500,000 currently in the
UK, approximately 300,000 are Polish and the remainder are made up of other
key markets including
Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia and Slovenia.
Some 277,000 Eastern and
Central Europeans registered on the worker registration scheme from May 2004
to September 2005.
UK businesses are catching on to the sizeable pool of well-qualified Eastern
European talent living and
working in London with significant interest being generated by the
publication. Commitment has already
been secured from leading companies in the following areas — recruitment,
travel, telecommunications,
financial services, property and the catering industry.
