Life sections now carry a minimum of two to as many as four themes each edition instead of the previous single subject.
Winnie Chung, assistant editor for features, said: "We want to make the paper more navigable. In the past, we got a lot of information on the page. Now we want to have a more interactive relationship where people don't just read it, but they can get information and go and act on it."
The biggest change will involve the Thursday edition, with the previous film feature section expanded to include a page each for 'screen', 'gigs' and 'food' as well as a four-page 'going out' pullout , containing edited highlights of films, gigs, dining and the arts.
"Thursday is the new Friday. What we are trying to do is provide enough information for readers to really plan what they are going to be doing over the weekend," said SCMP's director of marketing and communications Amanda Turnbull.
Other changes include the launch of a 'beauty' section on Tuesday, 'home' on Friday plus 'living' and an expanded 'people' department on Saturday.
The 'self' feature, previously published on Monday, and which covered a wide range of topics from health to diet and new age treatments, has been split into two distinct areas - 'health', running on Monday and 'self', focusing on indulgent beauty treatments and alternative therapies on Friday.
Turnbull believes the segmented offers will provide greater choice to advertisers, while allowing the daily to expand its appeal with younger readers in the 25 to 35 demographic. "We now have fashion over three days and Wednesday is now looking very strong as fashion and travel are our two most requested topics; hopefully we will see a mid-week spike."
The changes are supported by a print push in the paper, featuring content-specific ads, as well as POS support to target impulse buyers. A viral campaign is planned for April.
LIFE'S NEW SCHEDULE
New daily line-up
Monday Health + Style
Tuesday Arts + Beauty
Wednesday Travel + Fashion
Thursday Screen + Gigs + Food + Going Out
Friday Indulge + Home + Society
Saturday Living + Motoring + People