Magic buys magazine client

Magic Studio, the Northants-based marketing and design studio, is taking over a local tourism and leisure magazine that it has handled as a client for the past two years.

Explore magazine is a quarterly publication focusing on tourist destinations and events in Northamptonshire, and Magic has overseen its design and marketing since it was launched two years ago. Run by the East Midlands Development Agency with public funding, the title is part of a remit to boost tourism and investment in the region.

Magic is changing the title’s distribution network, and planning to boost its print run of 15 000. The design group will handle the management of the entire project, including editorial as well as advertising and design.

Northamptonshire Enterprise (NE), the magazine’s former management company, is increasingly focusing on activity outside of the county, according to head of sales and marketing Mark Cousins, hence its decision to offload Explore.

‘On paper, Explore magazine doesn’t really fit directly with any of NE’s core activities, so as funding tightened, it was getting harder to find the money for it, even though the magazine was very popular,’ he says.

The summer edition is due out at the beginning of May and will be produced entirely by Magic, under the editorial leadership of local communications expert Jane Brodie.

‘This county has some of the most fabulous scenery and events, and we want to make sure they’re included in a definitive guide for residents and tourists alike,’ says Brodie.