In with the new

“Step into the new” was the message on our February cover and, as it turned out, I have gone and done exactly that. When you pick up your March issue today you will notice that the magazine not only has expanded the vibrant new direction we presented last month but also has a new editor, Aspasia Karras. Yes, I have vacated the hot seat and jumped onto an even hotter one. I have transitioned to what a certain type of editor may call the “dark side” — a newly minted role on the commercial side of the business.

As Wanted’s first Strategic Revenue and Growth Manager, I am responsible for, the official documentation says, “[D]riving revenue growth and expanding market share by identifying, developing, and executing /implementing strategic initiatives. This role will focus on leveraging the brand’s luxury positioning to create new revenue streams, optimise existing ones, and build long-term partnerships/relationships with high-end clients and advertisers.”

In simpler terms, this means driving new content ideas, unique experiential opportunities, brand collaborations, and extensions. This is an opportunity to work closely with Aspasia, as well as the events, marketing, circulation, and sales teams — at Wanted and the greater Arena Holdings — unlocking an eventing ecosystem, increasing brand visibility, enhancing our existing audio and video offering, and developing our television projects with BDTV.

This is a natural progression for me, something I have been lobbying for internally for some time and for which I have previous experience. As indicated in my last ed’s letter in the February issue, the Wanted evolution will be ongoing, and this development is but one part of it. 

It has been pure joy to conceive of and mould ideas and then match them to the right storytellers, some of whom are world class in photography, styling, and writing, along with an internal team whose work is love in motion.

But the reality is also that I have worked, on and off, as an editor since I was 25 years old, and it feels like the right time to try something new. My career is not short of leaps of faith into unknowns that have positively shaped the culture and my own trajectory, and I think we are on the cusp of another one of those moments. Our business stopped being a magazine business when the smartphone turned the internet into gospel. Suddenly, we had to fight harder to break the story, to bag the interview, and to have our gatekeeping licence validated by the readers. As a traditionally print-first brand, Wanted is still a sound proposition, with unmatched reach as a luxury magazine — the latest ABCs attest to that. There is, however, so much more that can be explored in the digital and IRL environments, which are really where we need to be if we are to ensure our longevity and transition into a multi-platform luxury brand.

In the Year of the Snake, the conscious shedding of the old seems wholly appropriate as I embrace what is to come and look forward to showing up in this gleaming new skin. Thank you to everyone who has been kind and supportive of our work, we will continue to validate your faith. 

Best,

Siphiwe

P.S. To those who would like to work with us, I would love to hear from you MpyeS@arena.africa