Jet Club magazine has positioned itself as an extension of the company's community outreach efforts by publishing advertising-free special supplements that tackle pertinent issues in a practical way.
When the HIV/Aids supplement was published for the first time last year the response was overwhelming. Publisher Tammy Gardner, explains: "The supplement was met with an incredible response from readers, with HIV counselling organisations and churches requesting many more copies to distribute to their respective organisations. The demand was so big and heartfelt that we had to respond."
To meet the demand for practical information from other organisations, Jet will be printing an additional 60 000 copies of the annual HIV, Social Grants and Bursary supplements, besides the 1.3 million club magazines and supplements going out to members.
The first supplement with wider distribution will be next month's HIV/Aids special focus. The 16-page supplement carries no advertising, so all available space is dedicated to information for those infected with the disease, their caregivers, and how to remain disease free.
Readers are polled regularly to determine their primary needs, and the editorial recipe is clearly paying off, bringing in 1834 million (Amps 2004) readers off a print run of 1 070 000.
Gardner concludes: "It is this kind of readership engagement and response from the marketplace - the evidence that you are meeting a real need - that makes working on the Jet Club magazine an incredibly rewarding experience."
