As Top Gear Series 10 DVD hits, BBC begins testing children's and travel-sized versions of magazine

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Filed under: Etc., Euro, Marketing/Advertising, Celebrities



Depending on where you call home, we have different news on the multimedia juggernaut that is Top Gear. If you live Stateside, the biggest news is that Season #10 of the series arrived on store shelves yesterday, so you can now relive Jeremy Clarkson terrorizing his BBC office mates with the diminutive Peel P50 or set the African Challenge in £1500 bangers on 'repeat' without fragging your DVR's hard drive.

Arguably the biggest news, however, comes via the marketing and advertising mavens over at BrandRepublic. According to the industry website, Top Gear is looking to grow its franchise with the launch of a new version of its magazine targeted at children, as well as a smaller "travel-sized" edition - both for the European market.

In Western England and along the Scottish Borders, Top Gear is test-marketing a tween-focused version of its magazine that targets eight to 12-year-olds. According to BrandRepublic's sources, the kid's edition will feature "collector car cards themed around The Stig." Call us crazy, but if and when a subscription version is rolled out, we can see Dads everywhere racing to the postbox in an attempt to hoard said trading cards before Junior makes it home from school.

Finally, an A5 "travel-sized" issue (roughly half the footprint of the current magazine) is being test-marketed at British bookselling chain WHSmith, with the first copies of their May edition landing in magazine bins today. The more Tube-friendly compact issue will be on sale all summer.

[Sources: BBC; Brand Republic]
As Top Gear Series 10 DVD hits, BBC begins testing children's and travel-sized versions of magazine originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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