News Corp’s Sunday magazine Stellar launched back in August 2016. Even though the title will from now on be published in the one book with Body+Soul from next Sunday, editor-in-chief Sarrah Le Marquand (pictured) is very adamant it remains a strong self-contained brand.
“It will still look like Stellar and the brand I have edited for four years continues,” Le Marquand told Mediaweek. “There are very few changes to the Stellar pages. It is not a farewell. The brand that readers know and love that is Body+Soul won’t be farewelling that brand either.
“They are still two self-contained titles with their own design elements with their own voice and their own contributors.”
Le Marquand suggested the change during discussions about the brands with The Sunday Telegraph editor Mick Carroll earlier this year. “I have always felt Stellar and Body+Soul are complementary brands. We rarely trod on each other’s toes. Even when we feature the same people, we are more about fashion while they look at wellness and mental health.”
What has changed is the two titles are physically combined in the one flip book, with Le Marquand the editor-in-chief of both titles plus bodyandsoul.com.au. “My fashion and creative team will be able to cast an eye over both titles. We will be shooting covers for both.” That change means Le Marquand and her team from generating 48 covers annually to 96. No pressure.
To emphasise the plan to keep both brands strong, Stellar is currently planning how to celebrate its fourth birthday next month. Next year Body+Soul will celebrate entering its third decade.
The first edition featuring the two brands runs to 32 pages, with the team managing to fit in the regular Stellar extra delicious. on Sunday as well.
The beauty page in Stellar now moves into Body+Soul and expands across three pages. Those pages are a little bigger than Stellar, and a little smaller than Body+Soul. For newspaper nerds, the paper stock is now Norstar 80.
Another change is that more readers around Australia will have access to Stellar as the new-look section expands on July 5 from just The Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Herald Sun into Sunday Mail (SA) and Sunday Tasmanian (TAS) with The Sunday Mail (QLD) retaining U On Sunday branding and containing Stellar content.
The Sunday inserts have had fewer ad pages since the impact of Covid-19, however Le Marquand said business is picking up. “We have seen some promising signs and we have been talking to clients again about the integration opportunities.”
Inside the first edition of the Stellar/Body+Soul flipbook:
• A candid chat with Stellar cover star Danielle Spencer•
• Revealing conversation with Body+Soul cover couple Matty J and Laura Byrne
• Not every distraction during lockdown was bad. In Body+Soul Wellness: the ISO habits that you should not break
• Body+Soul Q&A with Michelle Bridges: “Nobody wants to get up at 5am in the cold…”
• Matt Preston takes a look at some of the ways dining out may change forever in delicious. on Sunday
• “My kids often drop truth bombs. And, well… ouch” Carrie Bickmore in this week’s Stellar column
• Stellar Q&A with Marcia Hines: “I was at school during the civil rights movement. I was taught you’re not your colour, you’re who you are as a person”
• MasterChef star and SA restaurateur Jock Zonfrillo reveals how life on the hit show has affected him in Stellar How I Make It Work