by Terena le Roux (@TerenaleRoux) Social media had hardly calmed down after the announcement of the closure of creative craft favourite Ideas/Idees when Media24 announced that the team would be continuing with publishing the magazine. This is the journey of a 37-year-old brand, now starting again as a small, independent magazine with a whole new lease of life.
September 1980
Naspers bought Checkers Value, a free magazine for Checkers customers. Initially just called Value, the name changed to Woman’s Value with the fourth issue.
September 2001
On the 21st birthday of Woman’s Value, the first issue of dit was launched — an acronym for ‘die idees tydskrif’. Ironically, the name Idees was the first choice, but at the time the board did not like it. This was also when I, the current editor and now owner, took over the reins as editor.
April 2003
Woman’s Value/dit became the first South African magazine to publish internationally when it launched in Hungary, initially as Woman’s Value, and later, when the Hungarians battled with the pronunciation, as Noi Ertek — a direct translation. The language issue made quality control difficult and the contract was not renewed.
2003–June 2004
A ‘win this home’ home makeover competition led to the launch of Tuis by the same team and editor. After the first issue, it was handed over to a new team.
April 2005–June 2007
A very gradual strategy was implemented to rebrand the magazines to Ideas/Idees, the name that is now associated with its creative offering.
August 2008
The team published Entertainment Ideas, the first of the myriad special editions we see now from numerous titles.
2009
February 2010–2016
The first Party Ideas for Kids was published in 2010. By the second edition, it was so popular that it was sold as a whole to publishers in Germany, England, China, Australia and Latvia.
July 2013
The magazine used its global appeal to collaborate with one of Holland’s most-popular magazines, Flow. The two magazines produced an article on the Rijksmuseum together and then sold the two titles as a pack. This started a long relationship of exchanging content.
November 2016
Media24 announced the closure of Ideas/Idees, together with four other magazines in the stable.
December 2016
The penultimate edition… not.
January 2017
While the final issue was on shelf, Media24 announced the transfer of the brand to me. The team continues to publish the magazine — now as a bi-monthly with a higher cover price (R80) and small print order (15 000).
6 March 2017
See also
- MagLove: The best magazine covers this week (25 November 2016)
- #MagLoveTop10: Best South African magazine covers of 2014
- MagLove: My Tyd times out with mission to Mars
- #MagLoveTop10: Best SA covers of 2013 & the stories they tell
- MagLove: Simple, fresh, perfect and creative
- MagLove: The billionaire mayor of New York
Terena le Roux (@TerenaleRoux) is current editor, and now owner, of Ideas/Idees. She started her career as a newspaper journalist at Beeld before becoming the first full-time researcher for M-Net’s Carte Blanche. She then moved to magazines as fashion editor at Rooirose and, after a short stint as freelance stylist, joined Woman’s Value as fashion and beauty editor and then editor from 2000. After she launched décor magazines Tuis and Home, she was appointed editorial head for Creative Living Magazines (WV, dit, Tuis and Home) and then became publisher on these titles for three years, during which she rebranded Woman’s Value and dit to Ideas and Idees. Editorial was her passion, though, and in 2009 she returned to the ed’s chair at Ideas/Idees. When Media24 decided to close the title at the end of 2016, she took over the trademark and has become owner-editor of the magazines.
“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.
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Thank you MARKLIVES and MEDIA SLUT for this fascinating information on such a BEAUTIFUL brand and magazine! CONGRATULATIONS to TERENA LE ROUX and may this unlock a new path for print media!