Seven Squared

Seven Squared gives Waterstone's magazine a modern makeover

07 July 2007

Seven Squared has relaunched Books Quarterly, the customer magazine produced by specialist bookseller Waterstone’s, following a refocusing of its brand.

The overhaul has introduced changes to both Books Quarterly's content and design to make the magazine more inclusive and gender neutral, whilst opening up the magazine to new advertisers by introducing more flexible spacing.

The new-look magazine works in tandem with the relaunched waterstones.com, with both media reflecting the on-line branding and driving readers to the web by flagging offer codes and pre-orders.

Following a readership survey, the June issue has broadened its range of book reviews by introducing titles from smaller publishers as well as providing a more balanced category range to reflect in-store categorisation.

Further changes have been made to give Books Quarterly a more modern look and feel. Together with a wider news section, there is now a full-bleed front cover, while a new boxout style gives feature pieces greater accessibility and variety.

Richard Parker, Publisher at Seven Squared, explained: “The relaunch of Books Quarterly keeps the magazine fresh and up to date, making it work harder for Waterstone’s, while creating some great opportunities for advertisers.”

On sale from 21 June and featuring author Khaled Hosseini, Books Quarterly will be distributed in-store at £2.50 per copy or free with purchases of £20 or more. Running at 100 pages, the glossy magazine will continue to have a circulation of 150,000 and will hit every one of Waterstone’s 327 stores.

“Seven Squared has done a great job of interpreting our refreshed brand guidelines for a magazine format,” said Rodney Troubridge, Marketing Planner at Waterstone’s. “The new Books Quarterly will be squarely aimed at our core customer and we look forward to increased response rates as a result.”

The magazine ? first launched in May 2001 - hits stores in January, April, June and September.

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