ABSTRACT
SUMMARY. Maxim features a scantily dressed woman on its cover each month, persuading readers to buy its erotically branded magazine with a repetitive cover formula. Based on descriptive and ethnographic analyses, this exploratory case study addresses Maxim’s cover formula and the competitive response from other men’s lifestyle magazines. The formula has influenced several new men’s magazines, and Maxim’s success tempted at least one existing men’s magazine to switch its own 112identity to the lad-mag style, but without Maxim's success. The predictable formula presented complex challenges for men's titles, in terms of creating brand identity, building circulation, and maintaining advertising revenue. doi:10.1300/J057v13n01_08 [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com> Website: < https://www.HaworthPress.com > © 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]
