Lunar Dragon Publishing takes two leading youth magazines to new heights

Barbie, the successful children's magazine targeting girls between four and nine, became a monthly publication as of October 2004 and has crossed all cultural and language barriers to satisfy a wider audience of readers. This was demonstrated in the July - December 2004 ABC figures with a reported 16 728 copies sold.

"Through our intensive and continuous research with each of our publications, we concluded that moms and daughters would benefit from a monthly edition," managing editor Irene Oxley says.

"Our feedback from the research showed an overwhelming 94% of parents requesting a monthly edition," adds publisher Brian Oxley.

Barbie provides interactive activities for child and parent and combines features, stories and competitions for both the accomplished reader and learner. The magazine also believes in including educational projects.

Lunar Dragon Publishing's older youth magazine TeenZone, targeting teens between the ages of 13 and 19 years, has put on a bit of weight since it now boasts a bigger Perfect Bound format.

What makes this magazine unique is that it is a South African concept, which was established in South Africa with the South African teenager in mind and is the first choice of all 'new' teenager magazine readers.

TeenZone encourages South African teenagers to contribute to the content of the magazine by developing the youth to be contributing journalists, thereby creating a love for the profession and instilling a passion for publishing from an early age.

This concept is obviously agreeing with readers as the official ABC figures (July - December 2004) showed that the magazine reached an astounding 24 061 readers countrywide.

"Interaction with our readers is the key to our success. We ensure that the content is in line with what the youth want through our highly supported surveys," says Irene Oxley.