Quebec's Coup de pouce is still roping in new subscribers by the thousands following a recent redesign and rebranding, said Lise Paul-Hus, TC Media publisher and vice president, consumer solutions. According to a release last week, the mag's 173,945 monthly subscribtions was bolstered by 23,000. By the latest count, Paul-Hus said to add another 4,000.

New newsstand numbers for the TC Media publication are also noteworthy. Last week's release said almost 80,000 copies of the November issue were sold on newsstand, and Paul-Hus told Masthead that a reprint run to the tune of 12,000 copies was printed to compensate. "It was definitely a success," said Paul-Hus, noting that an average issue usually moves around 30,000 newsstand copies.


During the rebranding process, the mag enlisted CROP research agency to conduct a week-long consumer study. The results showed that readers wanted more realistic, less aspirational fashion advice, a wider scope of topics that took into account the reader's personal life in addition to her responsibilities at work and home, and longer, more in-depth reads.

"We added a bit for her," said Paul-Hus. "We added leisure, up-to-date fashion, a bit more beauty content. [The reader] has her family, but she has herself too. So we added a bit of 'dream' and 'relax' in our content," and lessened the dry practicality of how-to pieces, she said. According to Paul-Hus, the mag's voice is now "more convivial, like a friend."

Content is more clearly divided into sections for cooking, fashion, gardening, celebrity updates, and more. "We have modern editorial to reach their modern concerns," Paul-Hus said. New columnists include Francophone celebrity Catherine Trudeau, whose "Besoin d'air" column appears every issue and focuses on the need to take a breather from the hectic pace of life.

Paul-Hus said the new design uses fewer colours on whiter stock, while increasing the amount of full-page photos for beauty, fashion and decor pieces. Yellow boxes and screens appear throughout the magazine to highlight when more info can be found online.

The logo remains the same but the mag has a new tagline, "La vie, en plus facile," the gist of which translates as "Life, made easier."