News Corp Australia’s Body+Soul will be debuting a brand new look from Sunday, February 12.
With a new editorial offering, fresh design, and rebranded with a new masthead, the launch is being supported by a multi-channel national marketing campaign that will run across digital, print, radio, social channels, and subscription TV.
With people more actively engaged in health in the post-Covid era, new research conducted by News Corp Australia in collaboration with strategic research agency The Lab, identified opportunities in the category, informing Body+Soul’s new direction.
The research shows that the collective definition of wellbeing has shifted dramatically and is broader than ever before. The mental, emotional, social and spiritual elements of health now loom just as large for a consumer in their interpretation of health as the physical.
The all-new issue of Body+Soul features an exclusive cover story with former world champion surfer Mick Fanning and his son Xander.
Body+Soul editor-in-chief Jacqui Mooney, who has spent more than 15 years in health and wellness publishing, said that the concept of health has become much more holistic and the new Body+Soul reflects this.
“Happiness, balance, resilience, longevity and strength are now considered key to living a good life, with mental and physical fitness an equally important part of the wellbeing mix for today’s health consumer. Whether we’re covering sex, strength training, superfoods or the latest sneakers, Body+Soul believes being healthy shouldn’t be hard, or feel hard.
“Our objective as a brand is to deliver trusted, credible service journalism from leading experts in health and wellness, with one simple but powerful mission – to help our rapidly-growing audience look better, feel stronger and live longer.”’
Mediaweek spoke to Mooney about the decision to relaunch the brand, and what the changes mean for consumers and advertisers.
“Having such a mass audience, we’re very much aligning our content next to these three new segments, and hoping to keep them through their whole lifecycle with us as a brand.” she said.
See also: Responding to a changing market: Behind the Body+Soul rebrand
Jacqui Mooney
News Corp Australia’s editorial director of Premium Food, Health and Travel Kerrie McCallum, said that coming out of the pandemic was the right time to relook at how the company was treating health content and address the shifting attitudes of people of all ages.
“In the pandemic we experienced major shifts in attitudes to mental and physical health, and we’ve responded by adapting the Body+Soul format and the masthead accordingly,” said McCallum. “Health has changed, and so have we, and our new masthead reflects the equal weighting we place on the Body and Soul.
“Body+Soul is also set to be even more multi-platform to meet the changing needs of our consumers and advertising partners. We have plans to expand the brand further off the page and screen by building out our audio, video, ecommerce and event offerings.”
The issue will also kick off a new always-on editorial content pillar, Body+Soul #BeStrong, profiling Australians who capture the true spirit of what health and wellness means today.