Isolezwe circulation just grows and grows

Selling an average 65 109 copies a day, (ABC Jul-Dec '04), Isolezwe's growth is driven predominantly by content as the daily tabloid package proves to be just what Zulu readers are looking for.

For Acting Editor, Thulani Mbatha, who has been a member of the editorial team since launch, it's a matter of keeping the focus firmly on what modern Zulu readers want from the newspaper. "Recent research has given us a few pointers on where we can improve but, overall, readers showed a positive, strong relationship with the title and a real appreciation for our balanced, unbiased approach."

Launched in April 2002, Isolezwe quickly established itself as an accessible, credible source of news. Put together by a young team of dynamic Zulu journalists, the newspaper is constantly evolving and looking for ways to better serve the reader.

"The introduction of isiZulu book reviews has proved very popular, we've added more humour, a cartoonist draws for us twice a week, we include good advice on health and personal finance and a new weekly cultural column is going down well," says Mbatha.

"We're extremely excited about our growing sale which has been driven above 80 000 by specific newsbreaks," says Mbatha. "But, watch this space, there's still a way for us to go on this growth curve!"

Isolezwe is distributed throughout KwaZulu-Natal with some penetration into Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Roughly half the sales are in the two metropoles of Durban and Pietermaritzburg, the balance being sold both up and down the KZN coast and inland.

Amps records an average daily readership of 391 000 and an unduplicated weekly readership of 1,1 million readers, making Isolezwe a powerful media vehicle for advertisers.

Read today's Isolezwe at www.isolezwe.co.za.