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New-look BRM!


SteveCole

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On a more practical level, yes your readers know what BRM stands for, but surely it is non-readers you want to attract and I don't think initials are the way to go. I picked up a copy of GT the other day and it was not what I was expecting!

 

Track plans!

 

 

I posted else where on here that the only model railway magazine I could find in New York Central Station was British Railway Modelling. I posted a picture of it in the transport section, but I also found it in another part of the shop between a ladies magazine and the magazine mentioned above.

 

post-6784-0-76379800-1373324182_thumb.jpg

 

 

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Yesterday I clicked on 'like' as I thought it represented a positive attitude towards change and taking readers' views on board, but having thought about it overnight, and following a glance down Tesco's magazine racks I must confess that I now agree with others above that it isn't the readers you need to attract but the non-readers, and removing the name and descriptions 'British' 'Railway' and 'Modelling' leaves the shopper with no idea of the content or subject matter without further examination, which is not always possible in situ.  If another magazine is positioned in front on a descending rack, which most are, what will the initials BRM mean to a potential reader...?!

 

Whilst the other magazines have updated their mastheads, they haven't dropped their titles in full or changed their description; we don't see MR, HM or RM on the shelves as they just don't mean anything to the passer-by; thus I think this rebrand will prove to be a retrograde step...

 

David

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"removing the name and descriptions 'British' 'Railway' and 'Modelling' leaves the shopper with no idea of the content or subject matter without further examination,"

 

(... difficult if the magazine is in a bag..).

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As long as the cover is visible, it is obvious what the subject matter is, so whether it is the full name or the initials on the masthead is of no real import.

 

When the mag is displayed in racks with the cover partially obscured, it will most of the time be grouped with the other model railway mags, so again the subject is obvious.

 

I can't see the change to initials on the masthead losing the mag much in the way of casual purchases.

 

BRM H16 !! mentioned in a earlier post , although one did finish 2nd in a GP in the back of a Lotus !!

One did actually win a GP - US GP 1966, Watkins Glen NY, Jim Clark, Lotus 43 with the BRM H16 monster in the back.

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"removing the name and descriptions 'British' 'Railway' and 'Modelling' leaves the shopper with no idea of the content or subject matter without further examination,"

 

(... difficult if the magazine is in a bag..).

 

Thanks for your comments everyone. It's appreciated.

 

The new 'BRM' masthead is exactly that... purely the masthead. It leaves us with a mass of space on the cover to include other 'messages'. We won't be revealing the full cover for a couple of months, but it'll definitely be saying 'British Railway Modelling'. Trust us, current and new readers will know 100% that it's a British railway modelling magazine!

 

BRM has changed a lot in the last 12 months and sales have reflected this improvement. A lot of these changes have been as a result of a lot of the great feedback we've received on this very forum. We could keep making small changes and see this progression continue, but we feel the ideas we have (many of which have come as a result of the recent survey and talking to hundreds of modellers at shows) are so good we ought to make a big, bold statement. We are really excited by this new-look magazine and the people in the trade that have seen it (some of which can be particularly hard to please) love what we have planned.

 

During August we'll start revealing a little more and showing you some designed pages and listing some of the content. We'll also start revealing how some of the current BRM/RMweb team will feature in this new-look magazine.

 

Please remember, when Warners purchased RMweb over 12 months ago I can remember a mass of negative comments about the magazine and what people felt that we (Warners) would do to RMweb. I would like to think (and I think it's fair to say that forum comments back this up) that people are still very happy with RMweb (if not happier!) and that BRM has improved dramatically. Yes, we're changing BRM but please keep an open mind that these changes 'could' be for the better! Trust us, we wouldn't be changing BRM if we didn't feel that we will be making it significantly better!

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"removing the name and descriptions 'British' 'Railway' and 'Modelling' leaves the shopper with no idea of the content or subject matter without further examination,"

 

(... difficult if the magazine is in a bag..).

Although the picture on the cover might give a pretty good idea of what it's about!i

 

I've been running this through my mind since we first saw 'the big BRM' emerge at the head of this thread and I think the issues involved need to be thought about a bit more clearly.  First of all if the mag is in a larger retailer with organised shelves it will be among the railway/model railway titles and should stand out among the crowd - so that's a plus (perhaps where Steve is coming from?).  

 

If it's on the shelves in Tesco - where it's more than likely to be a 'loner' in its subject area - it's going to giveaway nothing but at least it should draw attention and is as likely to be picked up as various other mags which are more into letters than full names so it might get folk drawn in that way and 'the big BRM' would help folk who are looking for it among the mass of other magazines.  So even in that marketplace it isn't necessarily a bad idea to go with the three letters instead of anything more.

 

Now we come to the crunch of attracting new readers.  Magazines sell on their cover, that's what draws in the new buyer although the title might just help.  But to what extent does the title help?  'Railway Modeller' is probably the most obvious of the lot - it tells you it is about railway modelling, 'Model Rail' conveys a potential message to older folk that it is about the 'Rail' era of railways in Britain, 'British Railway Modelling' is either about the British prototype only or about people in Britain modelling railways, 'Model Railway Constructor' is (alas 'was') only about people who construct model railways, and 'Model Railway News' would be a near nonsensical title in the age of the internet, while 'Model Railway Journal' clearly sounds a bit different but doesn't really tell you much more than that or that it is primarily at the finerscale and more constructional end of the market.  

In other words when you think about it many of the titles of railway modelling magazines do little to convey what is actually inside the covers - they have simply been conjured up to help get the mag on the shelves near the 'Railway Modeller' and, in most cases,  to compete with it for sales (yes, I can be a tad cynical at times, but at least that's why MRJ trod a different course). 

 

So where does all that leave 'big BRM'?  My own view is that it will be more noticeable on the news stands and will be easier to find among the plethora of railway and railway related modelling titles that, for example, appear on shelves in my local WHS (provided the chap who is in charge of incoming magazines continues to put it in the right section of course).

 

Edited to correct out a couple of typos, and sorry I forgot 'Hornby Magazine', but similar comments apply.

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it'll definitely be saying 'British Railway Modelling'. Trust us, current and new readers will know 100% that it's a British railway modelling magazine!

 

We are really excited by this new-look magazine and the people in the trade that have seen it (some of which can be particularly hard to please) love what we have planned.

 

During August we'll start revealing a little more and showing you some designed pages and listing some of the content. We'll also start revealing how some of the current BRM/RMweb team will feature in this new-look magazine.

 

Sorry Steve, but that wasn't the impression left by your opening announcement; maybe if you'd 'trusted us' with a more comprehensive idea of what the changes entailed rather than have us wait another couple of months you might have received a different response...

 

Edit: Apologies if that came across a bit sharp, it wasn't meant to be, merely a reflection back to you of your own wording; it's hard to allow for voice tone and inflection when typing on a keyboard...

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"Trust us, current and new readers will know 100% that it's a British railway modelling magazine!"

 

 

I guess what is interesting, given the wide range of international model subjects covered on RMweb, that Warners have decided to continue with the 'British' only theme.

 

Maybe there will be 'guest' overseas layouts, from time to time ?

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If the title of the magazine was 'Jugs Monthly' I would be looking at more than just the title to ensure I got my favourite monthly read on the current trends in earthenware liquid recepticals. Heaven forbid I should have to explain to Mrs Woodenhead why I have mistakenly picked up the similarly titled 'Jugs Journal' on the altogether different topic of Pyrex.

 

Calling the magazine BRM, which is how we all refer to it anyway,won't detract from what it is or make it less visible. Like others have said it will still sit amongst other magazines of the same ilk and actually if it has a bold masthead it will stand out more than it does now which is the whole point of a masthead.

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Sorry Steve, but that wasn't the impression left by your opening announcement; maybe if you'd 'trusted us' with a more comprehensive idea of what the changes entailed rather than have us wait another couple of months you might have received a different response...

 

Edit: Apologies if that came across a bit sharp, it wasn't meant to be, merely a reflection back to you of your own wording; it's hard to allow for voice tone and inflection when typing on a keyboard...

 

I completely understand, but this new-look magazine is still a few months away. I'm sure you can appreciate that we don't want to 'show our cards' too early. We will definitely be revealing more over the coming weeks and months.

 

Thanks all.

 

Steve

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I think it looks a bit cheap. When British Railway Modelling started it had a touch of class, the new logo doesn't.

I regret to say that the whole thing has frequently lacked class in my opinion for most of the last two and and half years. It needs a traditional name and cover, not big bold letters like the aforementioned Currant Bun, plus content that concentrates on the best and most ambitious techniques, individual models, layouts etc. There are plenty of lightweight magazines competing to sell copy by repeatedly covering basic methods that appeal to those who only buy, decorate and weather RTR trains and run them on toy track from Beer. The hobby needs a magazine for the more serious finescale modeller, prepared by an up to date organisation and published on regular dates.

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The hobby needs a magazine for the more serious finescale modeller, prepared by an up to date organisation and published on regular dates.

 

The marketplace for a finescale-only magazine is somewhat smaller than the marketplace for the mainstream-modellers so it's probably not the case to say it would be viable to have directly competing mags in the smallest part of the hobby. The survey data has told us a lot about what modellers do, what they like and their aspiration/achievement levels. However it's perfectly possible to blend finescale and mainstream or achievable and aspirational content without pigeon-holing modellers or magazines as 'lightweight'.

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I don't like the new logo it reminds me of lad mags or red top news paper both which I avoid, Model Railway journal is known as MRJ but they have not changed the name of that although I must admit I didn't like the art deco style they used on the cover for a few years.

 

I never really like rebandings, as It sort of puts me off being loyal to a particular brand, I much prefer a gradual evolution. 

 

David

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I completely understand, but this new-look magazine is still a few months away. I'm sure you can appreciate that we don't want to 'show our cards' too early. We will definitely be revealing more over the coming weeks and months.

Why not just wait and launch the product?!

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 covering basic methods that appeal to those who only buy, decorate and weather RTR trains and run them on toy track from Beer.

 

If you look on my layout thread thats pretty much what I've done and it don't look too bad if I say so myself.'Toy track' can look decent when well ballasted and weathered. ;)

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Notice also:

Domain name: brmweb.co.uk Registrant: Warners Group Publications plc 

 

Surely, this is an enabling work before rebranding this forum. I am dreading seeing a notice telling us that the text and photos posted have become the copyright of Warners too.

 

EDIT: The two 'disagree' votes now received on the two sentences above show up some limitations of the new voting system. It is unclear what is being disagreed with; written responses wold work better - Richard 18 July 2013.

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I don't like the new logo it reminds me of lad mags or red top news paper both which I avoid, Model Railway journal is known as MRJ but they have not changed the name of that although I must admit I didn't like the art deco style they used on the cover for a few years.

 

I never really like rebandings, as It sort of puts me off being loyal to a particular brand, I much prefer a gradual evolution. 

 

David

 

FHM

v

BRM

 

I can see that the unsuspecting oik could well pick up a copy to browse by mistake...

 

*confession: I'd even sorted a lads mag meaning for the acronym. Decorum won the day, and I didn't include the idea in this post...*

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Surely, this is an enabling work before rebranding this forum. I am dreading seeing a notice telling us that the text and photos posted have become the copyright of Warners too.

 

I've said several times I support closer brand and content integration so it will happen in due course. On the latter I can, as I've done several times already, assure all readers that and material published via RMweb is owned by the contributor. If there's any material suitable for usage an approach is made to that member to enquire if they're interested in wider publication.

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I wouldn't say the new logo reminds me too much of a "lads mag"
And I think it should be obvious as to what the content of the magazine is...

Not all re-brandings are successful, of course
but if the whole ethos of change is in response to what modellers think and want
and is based on study / survey - then re-branding is surely a way of keeping things "fresh"
and hopefully adding interest?

As an example, I would say take a look at Railway Modeller from 20 years ago,
and from the last few months
Now, I'm not "knocking" RM - it was THE magazine for modellers for so many years
however, I think the format still has the same basic look as it did when I used to buy it in the 70's & 80's

Brian Monaghan was something of a role model for me,
but to my eye, RM still persists with that "taken from a helicopter" approach to photography of layouts
I always like a plan, and a few high-level photos
but much prefer the "lineside" type of eye-level view

RM and other mags often still tend to present articles which start with an essay in woodworking
I like to see different approaches from the authors of the articles, and from the publishers

We are spoiled currently IMHO with a lot of high quality railway modelling mags
and the last improvements in BRM were huge, compared to the look of the mag beforehand
It may not be to everyone's liking, but "good luck" with the revamping,
and well done, for trying to improve the quality & content :)

Marc

 

EDIT: I'm sure Warners won't be wanting to rebrand this forum
They certainly haven't detracted from it so far....

 

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and partly because if any of the proposed changes prove really unpopular, they can be amended or dropped.

Had crossed y mind! But instead of drip feeding us, why not just get on with it and allow readers to see the full effect?

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Had crossed y mind! But instead of drip feeding us, why not just get on with it and allow readers to see the full effect?

 

May be because they want to measure the reaction to the changes?

Nothing wrong with an approach that adapts itself to its customers....

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May be because they want to measure the reaction to the changes?

Nothing wrong with an approach that adapts itself to its customers....

 

Indeed, but maybe the issue here is that Steve's OP was a bit too gushing, although his enthusiasm is understandable if perhaps somewhat premature. In the absence of the "updated editorial strategy" (amidst the multitude of other promised changes), changing the masthead is about as important to the average RMwebber as changing one's socks.

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