Cleo is an Australian monthly women's magazine. The magazine was founded in 1972 in Australia; the Australia and New Zealand editions were discontinued in February 2016. Aimed at an older audience than the teenage-focused Australian magazine Dolly, Cleo was published by Bauer Media Group in Sydney and was known for its Cleo Bachelor of the Year award. In June 2020, Cleo was acquired by the Sydney investment firm Mercury Capital.
History and profile
Launched in November 1972 under the direction of Ita Buttrose, the magazine's founding editor, Cleo became one of Australia's most iconic titles due to its mix of seemingly controversial content, including the first nude male centerfold (following American Cosmopolitan's nude centerfold of Burt Reynolds six months' earlier) and detailed sex advice.
According to the magazine's editorial philosophy, "Cleo gets women, and it also strikes the perfect balance, offers a bright, light-hearted tone and aesthetic without shying away from the more serious issues that are important to their readers.".
Audited circulation in June 2014 was 53,221 copies monthly. Readership numbers for September 2014 are estimated to be 173,000.
With a strong online presence of 300,000+ visitors monthly, the magazine successfully established its brand online. In addition, Beauty Bites, Cleos digital app, offered an interactive component to technologically minded Gen Y readers, including how-to video tutorials, expert advice and reader-generated content.
Cleo Singapore was launched in 1994, Cleo Malaysia in 1995, and Cleo Indonesia was launched in 2007 as an international license under the Femina Group. Cleo Thailand operated sometime before 2014.
Bauer announced on 20 January 2016 that the March issue of Cleo would be its last Australian edition.
Launch
In the early 1970s, journalist and editor, Ita Buttrose, and Kerry Packer, heir to what was then Australia's most influential publishing house, Australian Consolidated Press (ACP), created a new and bold Australian women's magazine which would become an instant sensation. Cleo was modelled in a large part on Cosmopolitan after the Packers lost the rights to the latter title to rivals Fairfax. The first issue was launched in November 1972, the same month that Gough Whitlam came to power in Australia.
In the original promotional video for Cleo, Buttrose observes "the rapidly changing personality of the Australian woman." In an era when hopes for social and political change were high, Cleo was a fitting and welcome addition for women aged between 20 and 40 who were looking for something more than the recipes, knitting tips and coverage of royal births and weddings that the Australian Women's Weekly focused on at the time.
Cleo was politically provocative (but not aggressive) with its journalism. Alongside articles on group sex, contraception, "happy hookers" and Jack Thompson as the first nude "Mate of the Month", the launch issue featured tips on "How to be a sexy housekeeper." In stark contrast to the lack of literary content in modern glossy magazines, Buttrose ran a short story by Norman Mailer, a prominent author at the time. This trend continued in subsequent issues.
In two days, 105,000 copies of the first issue were sold and by the end of its first year circulation reached 200,000. When the magazine conducted the first national readership survey in 1974, figures revealed that 30 percent of women aged between 13 and 24 read Cleo every month.
Cleo as a form of popular feminism
Through Cleo, feminism became a part of women's everyday lives and of their identity.
Ita Buttrose and her staff were committed to many of the ideas of women's and sexual liberation. However, it is important to note that Cleo'''s editorial agenda was that of liberal rather than radical feminism. In her first editorial letter, Buttrose described who she thought the Cleo reader was: "You're an intelligent woman who's interested in everything that's going on, the type of person who wants a great deal more out of life. Like us, certain aspects of Women's Lib appeal to you but you're not aggressive about it." (1972).
The feminist tone and ideas proliferated on the pages of Cleo throughout the 1970s. Every month, there were feature articles covering issues including: the work/life balance, the pressure to get married and raise a family, abortion, contraception, women's education, domestic violence and rape. "The celebrities Cleo chose to interview were women who had succeeded in politics, business and culture. There were also discussions of the Women's Liberation Movement itself, with writers for and against".