5W Case Study

5W Takes RISE Magazine from the School Yard to Madison Avenue

Founded in 1997, RISE Magazine (formerly SchoolSports Magazine) is the leading publication covering high school athletics. Distributed exclusively in high schools, the magazine had already grown from its Boston roots to expanding into six regional editions when 5W was hired as the magazine’s Agency of Record in 2003. Realizing that they had a unique niche, the teen male, the magazine looked to the agency to both heighten its visibility within the sporting community as the authoritative voice of high school athletics, allow it to expand to new markets and reach new advertisers.

Despite being the first to cover such elite athletes as Sebastian Telfair, LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire, SchoolSports lacked name recognition among many consumers and advertisers due to its controlled distribution model. However, seeing as how there were no other true successful teen male magazines, the magazine felt that big brands, once they new about the magazine would make it part of their media buy. Through a targeted media outreach aimed at consumers and marketing communities, 5W Public Relations has helped the magazine grow from six markets in 2003 to its current standing of 25 markets across the country and an ABC audited circulation of 910,000. With each expansion, the agency helped introduce the publication to new markets making a local athlete appearing on the cover of SchoolSports a happening worth covering.

On an issue-by-issue basis, 5W Public Relations continues to garner top tier press coverage in each of the magazine’s local markets in outlets like The Philadelphia Inquirer, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Boston Globe, and The Dallas Morning News among others. This continued visibility has helped the magazine assemble an impressive stable of athletic related advertisers including Nike, Gatorade, Reebok and Under Armour among others.

However, the magazine realized that it needed to position itself as a lifestyle magazine if it ever hoped to open itself up to new advertisers beyond athletic brands. Besides its athletic coverage, the magazine covered the latest in video games, music and fashion, making itself “more than just sports”. The agency helped spread this core message and value proposition to the advertising community outreach with numerous placements in MediaWeek, Brandweek, Promo, Folio, and DM News reflecting both the growth of the magazine itself and its appeal to the teen male. As part of its 10 Year Anniversary in September 2006, the magazine sought to rebrand itself as a lifestyle publication, renaming itself RISE. The agency continues to work with the magazine and is now seeking to make RISE the premier name for reaching the teen male as it has done with SchoolSports.

Looking to strengthen its’ reach on the high school marketplace, in December 2007, ESPN announced that it had acquired SchoolSports Inc. and would make the magazine’s content and event platforms a vital part of its 12-17 year old demographic outreach.