In the summer of 2004, DrivingWheel was retained to do an initial editorial audit of The Scientist, a controlled circulation publication aimed at professionals in the life sciences. DrivingWheel presented its conclusions at an annual editorial summit held by the magazine’s management. At that meeting, DrivingWheel offered three key conclusions:

1. •the magazine’s target (graduate students in the life sciences) was not influential enough. To succeed, The Scientist needed to aim higher: at a target audience of influencers, including lab chiefs in university and corporate labs and top management in pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
   

2. •the magazine’s editorial tone and design, intended for graduate students, would not work well for an audience of influencers. The Scientist needed a more substantive look and feel—more gravitas. It also needed to better writers, including writers drawn from the very audience of influencers that the magazine needed to attract.
   

3. •in particular, there was a whimsical, cheeky tone about much of the publication, in both design and content, that would be offputting to the new audience the magazine needed to attract to thrive. A new design and new table of contents had to eliminate this tone.
   

Although these conclusions were difficult for some members of the editorial staff to accept, the publication’s owners and top editors agreed. DrivingWheel was hired, on a retainer basis, to work with the magazine’s Editor in Chief, Richard Gallagher, to implement a plan of action.

From its network of associates, DrivingWheel drew an expert in advertising sales. Together, DrivingWheel, the ad sales expert, and The Scientist’s owner and top editors, worked out a plan to relaunch the magazine. Among the key features of the relaunch plan were:

1. •a change in the publication’s frequency, from every two weeks to monthly
   

2. •a complete graphic redesign, which, along with the changes in editorial content, gave The Scientist a much more substantive appeal to opinion leaders in the life sciences
   

3. •an increase in the magazine’s pagination, equivalent to more than double the number of pages in the previous version
   

4. •a new table of contents, including a new suite of departments
   

5. •new writers, including well known scientists, policymakers and executives in biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry
   

6. •the hiring of a new advertising sales staff and coaching of them to sell the relaunched Scientist
   

7. •a redesigned and relaunched website, focusing on rapidly changing news in the life sciences, while the magazine concentrated on deeper, more analytical articles
   

Rather than giving advice and then departing, DrivingWheel worked for 18 months, on a retainer basis, with The Scientist to implement these changes. A graphic designer recommended by DrivingWheel was hired to redesign the print publication. DrivingWheel’s principal, John Benditt, attended regular staff meetings at The Scientist’s offices, giving advice on every aspect of the relaunch. DrivingWheel offered The Scientist’s two top editors advice on personnel and coached them through the relaunch process.

The relaunch of the new, monthly version of The Scientist took place in 2006, and has been a dramatic success.

The redesigned magazine has won a hatful of top awards, including:

1. •2007 ASBPE Top Ten Magazine of the Year (under 80,000 division)
   

2. •2007 ASBPE Gold Award in the Best Publication Redesign category (under 80,000 division)
   

3. •2007 Silver Award for Best Individual/Company Profile (Northeast regional award, under 80,000 division)
   

4. •2007 Gold "Eddie" Award from FOLIO for Best B2B Science Magazine
   

5. •2006 Gold "Eddie" Award from FOLIO for Best B2B Science Magazine
   

Even more important than critical praise, a survey DrivingWheel carried out after the relaunch among opinion leaders in the life sciences showed that the new version of the magazine is being taken much more seriously than the old one. Opinion leaders (including lab chiefs, biotech executives and policymakers) are spending much more time with the new publication than they did with the old one, and take its views much more seriously. This is, of course, excellent news for the magazine’s advertisers, and the volume of advertising has grown at a healthy pace since the relaunch.