Celebrating 15 Years Of M2 Magazine
The Beginning
Like all good stories, M2 has a beginning – two guys and a dream. Also a gaping hole in NZ’s market for a Premium Men’s Magazine which wasn’t just an excuse for pinups.
May 2005, Getting Started
With prior experience in radio and magazines, Tim Lawrence with the help of one other, got the first issue of M2 out in May 2005. It was a case of having to wear all the hats and do all the distribution themselves.
February 2007, Giving Awards
The M2 Best Awards became an opportunity for Kiwi men to rate the world. Since then, the M2 Awards have evolved over time to become the M2 Man of the Year Awards, celebrating Kiwi talent, an activity our country has sorely needed. Our first “M2 Best NZ Man” (that title would need some workshopping later) was Marc Ellis.
October 2005, Winning Awards
It wasn’t long till M2 was winning awards. The October 2005 issue featuring the Rolling Stones won Best Cover at the Qantas Awards.
“The pointers are crisp and attention grabbing with a sly serve of humour, and above all, they have impact,” said the judges.
“We wanted our point of difference to be an all round magazine for men; including cars, gadgets, fitness, health, movies, music and fascinating in-depth articles,” says Lawrence.
2008 GFC
The naughties were trucking along until things half a world away went sideways and sent the world into recession.
October 2008, M2woman
Financial crisis or not, successful Kiwi women need to be celebrated, so M2woman was born.
Mar 2010, Dan Carter
The iPad was hot in 2010 and the app bubble was just getting started. M2 made the jump to also publishing the magazine in a digital interactive format. He wasn’t quite on top of the world with Richie McCaw just yet, but it wasn’t hard to see how this man’s career was skyrocketing.
Jan 2011, Teflon John
Love him or hate him, John Key made a big impact on NZ during his three terms as Prime Minister, getting voted in just in time to enjoy the GFC and sail NZ through it as best he could. For this, he became M2’s 2011 Man of the Year.
2011 RWC
It was a big sporting moment for NZ, smashing the Rugby World Cup on our own turf. Let us all take a moment of silence for Auckland’s Public transport system.
Jan 2013, Geoff Ross
The Lexus M2 Man Of The Year featured Geoff Ross as the 2012 Man of the Year. He’d brought 42 Below to the world and was just bringing Moa into the new and growing craft brew scene.
Jan 2014, Dean Barker
Our 2013 America’s Cup loss was a hard pill to swallow for many fans, but skipper Dean Barker still had a lot of public support and was voted as the M2 Man of the Year for 2013.
Jan 2015, Taika
2014’s Man of the Year was well on his way, but the rest of the world was not prepared for what Taika Waititi was about to bring to the table. What he brings is gold. Every. Single. Time.
Dec 2016, Liam Malone
He may be our youngest ever Man of the Year, but Paralympian Liam Malone smashed it at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he won gold medals in the men’s 200 metres
June 2017, Going Full digital
M2 was no longer shackled to the page, every single issue going forward now goes online alongside the print publication. As the digital space continues to normalise and grow, so does M2.
December 2017, Peter Burling
After their massive win, it was only right the Emirates Team New Zealand Helmsman and America’s Cup Winner, Peter Burling would land the 2017 Man of the Year title.
December 2018, Going to Space
Peter Beck wins Man of the Year for bringing NZ into the small community of nations that are developing technology for space. Revenue from this sector has been growing at a rate of knots ever since and gives talented engineers a place to work without leaving for fairer shores.
February 2019, M2 Summit
As the magazine continued to grow outside of the page it seemed like a natural progression to host live events that would encapsulate the magazine, but this time give a chance for readers and thought leaders to network. The M2 Summit was the culmination of that goal and is still going strong.
2020 & Beyond
Forget the 2008 GFC, Covid-19 sweeps through the world and disrupts all facets of life. You can forget the movie section in the last issue, they were all cancelled. Every Industry has been disrupted, but M2 is still kicking and will be supporting the success of NZ Business for years to come.