April 12th, 2012
Maybe it’s just the spring weather here in New York, but we’re beginning to see a sunny future for the media as new titles and property extensions are cropping up across the luxury landscape. The economy is starting to show small signs of recovery, luxury media ad page counts were up in Q1, and we think the emergence of these new print titles may just be more indication of good things to come within the luxury sector.
A few titles we’re taking note of include:
- The re-designed ForbesLife is debuting with its April issue, which is appearing on newsstands in New York, LA and Las Vegas (in addition to being mailed directly to 800,000 Forbes subscribers and being available on Kindle, Nook and iPad).
- Bloomberg announced the launch of new luxury magazine, Pursuits, which will be distributed twice annually to customers who subscribe to the company’s financial data terminals and receive Bloomberg Markets.
- Jason Binn, in collaboration with Gilt Groupe and Hudson News, is planning to launch Du Jour, a new quarterly digital and print magazine which will be mailed to 235,000 highly targeted readers. The digital editions will allow readers to click and buy products featured in editorial spreads, significantly blurring the line between paid and earned.
Meanwhile, although Europe is still weighed down (financially as well as emotionally) Euro Crisis consistently front page news, there have been several platform extensions aimed at providing access to BRIC and Asian luxury markets.
- The Art Newspaper Russia has been launched in a partnership between TAN and a high profile collector and patron of the arts. It provides a monthly opportunity to appeal to one of the key BRIC regions.
- Another interesting one is in Paris, where Le Figaro has announced a Wines & Spirits special edition of Paris Chic (which it launched last year) aimed at the wealthy Chinese visitors both in China (pre travel) and in Paris itself.
Chiming in on the implications for brands in this space are members of our creative, media and PR teams, below:
MEDIA
Clearly these new publishers believe that luxury brand ad spends will follow suit. We do too, but recommend to our luxury clients that “while they should fish where the fish are, its best to get there early (for the better/introductory rates and positioning) and to employ the best hook (e.g. creative that aligns with editorial) to avoid the inevitable rate hikes and saturation that follow publisher success.
“The emergence of new titles in the luxury space is an indication that magazines are not going away anytime soon. As we go into planning for our clients, print is still very much a part of our consideration set.
One of the things that we like about being in such titles is the certainty of knowing that we are keeping our brands elevated by both the editorial environment and the accompanying brands. It is truly unique to any other medium-with perhaps the exception of tablet versions. It’s exciting to see that some of these titles out at launch are already planning a tablet version, which is something telling about the future of the magazine format.” – Kim
PUBLIC RELATIONS
“The new influx of luxury lifestyle publications indicates that Americans are not as shy to discuss their lavish lifestyle as they were in the heart of the recession. Reality is that those folks didn’t disappear, but they scaled back significantly whether for perception or actual changes in their income.
For our luxury clients, it’s fantastic to have a platform reporting through the “luxury lens” with an inherent understanding of the audience and their lifestyle. Our campaigns often translate into increase brand awareness and sales when the right target audience is effectively reached.” – Nicole
CREATIVE
“I was thrilled to see that Forbes Life getting a refresh this month. They always seemed, similar to Malcom Forbes himself, to touch upon passion points for influencers whether it be collecting, bespoke travel or the latest in tasteful (gentle)men’s fashion. The latest, “new” issue is no exception what with cool pieces on private train travel (The Patron Express), the boom contemporary art market (our client, Sotheby’s Clyforrd Stills), and the finest rye whiskeys (yes Michters was there). It’s the type of read that gives you a bit of knowledge to pass along to a like-minded peer or colleague, so yes valuable information you might say.”
“The re-emergence of luxury titles like Forbes Life, the staying power of Garden & Gun, WSJ and FT How to Spend It as well as the new launch of Bloomberg Pursuits means nothing but good things for the advertising community, especially creative directors. For me, when I need create a campaign for a luxury lifestyle brand I like to know that the readership aligns with the product and the idea behind it. Having a robust selection of super affluent tiles in print and in digital not only affords us the opportunity to do great work but inspires us to make our Clients brands shine because we know they will be right next door to other opinion leading brands. It’s a challenge but one we relish. So keep them coming.” - Bob