While many point to the digital age as the reason for the decline of readers in the men’s sector, others believe it is not that straightforward and instead say there has been a shift towards more content-specific and specialised magazines.

Publishing giants IPC and Emap have tried to pick themselves out of the slumps in the last few years with the introduction of weekly lads’ mags Nuts and Zoo, respectively. But the question remains, are the weeklies filling the gap or are gadget-minded males favouring towards interactive digital offerings?

Dennis Publishing made the decision to take a new approach to the market and launched a free stand alone digital weekly magazine, an “e-zine” in November 2006. It has similar content to its printed rivals Nuts and Zoo, but is delivered to readers’ in boxes every Wednesday.

Dennis, which publishes troubled men’s monthlies such as Maxim and Men’s Fitness, launched the weekly to keep its position in the market and it is a decision that publishing director of IPC’s Nuts and Loaded magazines Jo Smalley (pictured right) suggested was “the right thing for Dennis to do”.

Dennis Publishing’s bold, and in the view of many traditionalists slightly ridiculous, move has left both circulation auditor ABC and the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) stumped as to whether an e-zine is actually a magazine at all.

Martyn Gates, director of national newspapers and consumer magazines at ABC explains that Monkey will be included in this year’s report. The figures are based on how many recipients open their email and is therefore incomparable to any other magazine.

However, Dennis even bother argued for its position in the ABCs to illustrate it is a valuable asset for potential advertisers.

Monkey business development manager James Carter concedes one of the biggest challenges for Dennis has been creating awareness. “Being a unique product it is difficult to build facts on the market for advertisers. It’s not a big competitive market.”

One media buyer agreed that Monkey still needs to prove itself. “We haven’t invested in Monkey, we need to see more research out there as we are not too sure how it works.”

Carter explains the e-zine format has been used because “there is always pressure to create something like print as a web product is not as engaging”. He adds, “Users need to like the experience.”

“Monkey is consumed by the same readership as those who read men’s weeklies, monthlies, and men’s brand websites. It competes with the share of the media time those brands want to get from readers.”

According to Monkey, it has doubled its expectations at launch and has 265,000 registered free subscribers.  Judging by the success of new format, Carter is convinced others will follow suit and Dennis already has plans to launch other publications in the digital offering.

By comparison nuts.co.uk has 479,088 unique users a month and zooweekly.co.uk attracts 522,000.

Smalley said of Nuts and Loaded advertisers: “With print, we do well with all major brands, particularly the entertainment retailers, film and DVD distributors, mobile networks, handset manufacturers, apparel and male grooming. Crossover into digital is being spearheaded by film distributors, mobile networks and games publishers.”

He added that advertisers are also pushing for integrated platforms combining both online and print. “There is also an emphasis online from clients who are looking for direct response.”

Monkey’s unique selling point to date is the video streaming content it offers advertisers. So far a mix of entertainment and blue chip companies such as Lynx, Sony and Mazda have advertised in Monkey.

Like Nuts and Zoo, Monkey predicts around 50 per cent of its advertising revenue would come from the entertainment sector.

MindShare investment director Paul Thomas, who placed ads in the first six issue of Monkey on behalf of client Lynx, warns that Monkey’s content became more salacious than Nuts or Zoo and therefore it had to be careful of keeping the support of brands.

He adds, “Some of its video is more graphic. It pushes the boundaries a bit too much.”

Smalley stands by IPC’s decision to offer integrated platforms. “In 2006 Nuts developed a wider standing in both print and digital. We are in a prime position to capitalise.

“It’s all about engaging consumers. I think the thing that sets us apart is that IPC strives on innovation, competency and brand integrity and I think we apply that well. It’s what advertisers want.”

ZennithOptimedia group press buyer Nik Vyas believes publishers need to offer advertisers cross platform and multiplatform offerings including mobile.

However, MindShare managing partner of investment Vanessa Clifford warns that “publishers just putting the same content online won’t make a difference. It has to offer something more.”

The facts remain that younger men aged 18 to 24 who are the traditional readership of lads’ mags are increasingly ditching print for digital.

Vizeum head of press and digital UK Alex Randall (pictured right) explains: “Young men are consuming more of their media online. The titles that are declining are the younger men titles – it is the twenty something sector.”

Thomas agrees: “They get what they want from the digital arena. The future of the men’s sector is online and digital magazines.”

Media buyers are united in thinking that the reason for the decline in traditional monthlies lads’ mags is that they are stale and have struggled to come up with an original format. This is the same road they feel weeklies could find themselves going down in the future if they are not careful.

Randall says, “The lads mags don’t really have a core theme other than girls, and girls can be reached online and in weeklies, which are equally viable.”

Thomas cannot see anything unique about them either. “They all go down the soft porn route,” he adds.

Condé Nast’s style and entertainment magazine GQ is one title that has managed to hold its own, while other men’s monthlies plummet. GQ publishing director Jamie Bill agrees content is key to retaining circulation. “GQ thrives in a declining market through the quality and relevance of the editorial product. Our strategy of running supplements not only acts as an additional reason to purchase, but also encourages sampling from men who would not normally have considered buying into this market,” he says.

GQ also manages to attract a wider portfolio of advertisers than the traditional lads’ mags, with automotive and grooming proving to be the largest growth areas.

Bill adds: “We could not be more optimistic about the future of GQ, but I’m not sure that other magazines, which have shown such staggering decline, can recover. I predict there will be a number of quality magazines launched to take their place.”

Carter, who is also a director of newly merged sports publisher Action Sports agrees with Bill. “There will be further decline, but it will reach a point where it plateaus. They have all struggled with giving a strong point of difference. GQ has concentrated on its values and stayed strong.”

Randall says: “There will always be a role for men’s monthlies – it’s getting near to where it is going to bottom out. Only the man in the street is going to know where it is going to end.”

Smalley, however, is more optimistic. “I don’t share their gloom at all. We take great brands and engage consumers across all different platforms.’

Only time will tell whether e-zines are here to stay, but the questions remains whether a free offering that arrives along with bundles of spam in one’s inbox will develop the same kind of loyalty as a printed magazine, or as Clifford puts it, “How long before the novelty wears off?”