Virgin Group are making a daring push into consumer titles, exclusively via the iPad, with the launch of a new title covering technology film and design in October. The iPad magazine will be called Maverick.
Maverick’s debut will be exclusively on the iPad, and is Virgin’s frst push into digital realms. Insider reports are stating that Branson wants to up his game and play with the big boys of the publishing world.
The magazine, Maverick, will be headed up by Holly Branson, daughter of Richard, and will be overseen by ex-FHM editor Anthony Noguera. Fingers crossed this isn’t just a classy iPad version of Peaches Geldof’s Disappear Here, a disastrous foray into magazine publishing that became sought after for its awfulness.
The magazine will be aimed at an international market, and is “ about creative people, for creative people”, which is getting dangerously close to a tautology: we can’t imagine a magazine that was “about creative people, for non-creative people”.
The iPad exclusivity will be fascinating to watch. In effect, the iPad launch means we’ll be watching how a magazine fares when it restricts itself to a device with a reach far smaller than a newsstand, but also opens itself up to a much broader geographical audience.
It’s a tough market Miss Branson is getting into, moving into direct competition with both the UK and US versions of Wired, industry magazines like Creative Review, plus the plethora of tech, film and innovation sites out there. A USP for Maverick is hard to pin down, and its not clear where in the market Miss and Sir Branson see this sitting.
