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Lifestyle magazines thrive in South Florida [The Miami Herald](Miami Herald (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 02--Digital era presents challenges for publications "To start a magazine this minute is an insane idea," says Jerry Powers, the CEO of Plum Miami, a luxury lifestyle magazine that launched in March. Plum Miami arrived at a time when more than ten South Florida magazines have folded or moved entirely online, waiting for print advertising to pick up after the economic downturn and the explosion of media alternatives luring audience and companies to websites, social media and cable TV. What's more, Plum has eschewed conventional wisdom, bypassing apps and websites. Yet already, Powers claims, the magazine is making a profit. Publications nationwide face the same challenges. Since the recession began, a number of well-known national magazines have closed, including Gourmet, Modern Bride, Southern Accents, Nickelodeon, Portfolio, Blender, Hallmark, Domino, Teen and Country Home. Others moved online, such as U.S. News and World Report, which stopped printing monthly in early 2011 but still promises a few special-topic print editions throughout the year. For magazines, 2009 brought a bottom. More than 425 titles stopped publishing, according to MediaFinder, a database of magazines published in the United States and Canada. Another 176 folded in 2010. Given the economy, it's no surprise that the Sunshine State has suffered as well. Since 2008, 77 magazines across Florida closed, according to MediaFinder. But even in good times, magazine churn is surprisingly common. Amid those ruinous years came 278 new magazines nationwide, with another 193 titles in 2010. Plum is among the 54 titles that launched in the first quarter of 2011, as 24 others closed. The magazines that have hung on have reported slight advertising growth over the past four quarters, according to an April report from Publishers Information Bureau. After getting "clobbered" in 2008 and 2009, national magazines saw a 5 percent increase last year in advertising pages, says Steve Cohn, editor-in-chief of Media Industry Newsletter. Marketing innovation played a large factor, according to Howard Polskin, executive vice president of the Association of Magazine Media. Plum is circumventing the 'insanity' by following a formula that other South Florida magazines found successful in the economic downturn: Target the wealthy, and go beyond the pages to push out your advertisers' messages. "It's not just digital platforms. It's creating books, creating events -- there are magazines even getting into e-commerce," Polskin said. Whether in Spanish or English, South Florida's survivors share an emphasis on luxury and affluence. Their approach is upbeat and inspirational, featuring fashion, home, entertaining, charity and cuisine. Most are free and are delivered via direct mail to homes believed to have a high net worth. Among them are Ocean Drive, Miami Magazine, Florida International Magazine, Cravings South Florida, Haute Living Miami, 944 Miami, Complot, Venue and Selecta as well as titles centered around the wealthiest towns, like Aventura Magazine, Key Biscayne Magazine, or publications from Broward's Gulfstream Media Group and Lifestyle Magazines. Business-to-business and trade magazines have fared poorly in digital times. Miami's business magazines WorldCity and Latin Trade have survived because they, too, cater to the same affluent audience, just in a business-focused way. Though circulation of most magazines is verified by an independent company, most are privately held, and don't release profits. Regardless of the specific topic or bent, the magazines that are still on the shelves have become powerful event organizers for clients, bringing together the communities they target. "Any monochromatic magazine that only has one dimension is toast," says Israel Kreps, president of Kreps DeMaria marketing agency. Marketing and public relations firms see the movement first hand, as they count on these publications to promote their clients. Kreps says clients look to do more than just place an ad -- especially since the recession. Relationships and added value through online promotions and events are the key, and can include a posh gala for a hotel advertiser, or a community gathering like the Bravo Business Awards, held annually by Latin Trade Magazine. Other marketing agency leaders agree. "Every magazine that is surviving is looking at every month to reinvent themselves," says Amy Zakarin, president of Zakarin Martinez Public Relations. WorldCity stopped printing a monthly magazine and moved all online in 2009. It found revenue by more than doubling its yearly events from 20 to 45 and limiting print publications to annual reports on industry trends. At Plum, Powers is counting on the established Plum television and online brand to give the magazine a power boost and offer advertisers cross-platform synergies. Plum TV is a seven-year-old cable television network that targets eight elite communities across the nation, including Miami Beach. Powers -- who co-founded Ocean Drive -- says the magazine made a profit after the first issue, earning $500,000 in advertising. (Another added plus: Piggy backing off the already existing Plum TV office space and supplies.) Events are a large staple of Miami Magazine, a publication of Modern Luxury, which publishes lifestyle magazines in a dozen metro areas across the country. It launched Miami in 2007 and brought in a new editor a month ago, Luis R. Rigual, formerly of Florida International Magazine. Partnering with Miami's largest events, like the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, Miami has forged a growing role in providing wide-ranging marketing services for its clients. "The economy started going South almost immediately after we launched," Miami Magazine publisher Anne Owne says. "The economy was so bad in 2008 that even luxury advertisers, for the first time in decades, were hit and affected. "Because we were new to market we had to go above and beyond from the get-go. We had to give more and offer more to our clients." Ocean Drive Magazine, reportedly a top-performing publication for parent company Niche Media, holds more than 100 events a year for clients. Even it hasn't been immune to the economy and real estate downturns; it has dropped about 150 pages per issue since 2007, now running at about 200 to 250 pages, on par with its competition. "When the economy collapsed... we had to get scrappier and go in front of our clients and figure out what would move the needle for them," says publisher Courtland Lantaff. To enhance its brand, Ocean Drive recently inked a deal with Miami International Airport to create a new shopping and newsstand destination called the Shops of Ocean Drive, scheduled to open this summer. It plans to use the area to also promote events featured in the magazine. Those events mean more to advertisers who want to see the physical results of their advertising dollars, says analyst and University of Mississippi journalism professor Samir "Mr. Magazine" Husni. "Now they're telling you they want to see that accountability," Husni says. "If you do an event, it's much easier to see the people at the event and count them." Smaller startup magazines have to strive further beyond events. Cravings South Florida, a women's luxury lifestyle magazine that launched in 2009, has reached into radio with a show on 790 AM in June and also offers a discount preferred customer card called the Cravings Card. Editor Sara Fiedelholtz also stretched the brand with a weddings section tested in the March/April edition and plans to release a stand-alone wedding issue in the fall. At the end of the year, her magazine will also have a guide for bar and bat mitzvahs. A single title isn't enough, says Fiedelholtz. Advertisers want the added value of being in multiple fields. "You have to provide them a lot of different opportunities to get their message out," Fiedelholtz says of advertisers. "They think in order to get their business, you need to give them more than just the ad." Many have also shifted emphasis away from real estate. "In the days of the luxury condo parties, that was a whole industry for these luxury publications," says Don Silver of Boardroom Communications. "That crashed and burned and fell off a cliff." The lifestyle titles found a savior in South Florida's burgeoning fashion, food and art scene. "I think South Florida has carved a nice in the last few years," Cohn says. "Fashion does relatively well in print because a computer screen can't match the quality of a glossy print." And getting creative sometimes means opening up to the idea of "advertorials'' -- paid articles and spreads, sometimes marked as "special advertising sections," or finding ways to mention a client within a feature. Analyst Husni says lifestyle magazines that depend heavily on ad dollars find advertorials hard to resist. "You don't bite the hand that feeds you," Husni says. "Whatever the advertiser wants, the advertiser is going to get." Lifestyle Magazines group in Broward created content designed to draw new clients -- such as listings of business awards -- and selling space for advertorials, says publisher Jim Norton. "It did help create a new form for us to gain advertisers we normally wouldn't get," Norton said. With versions for Parkland, Coral Springs, Weston, Las Olas and estate homes in northwest Broward, the 8-year-old company said advertising has picked up since November. With a circulation of 60,000 readers a month, Norton recently expanded his titles to the west coast of Florida. "At the end of the day, when a reader is making a decision walking into their home from the mailbox, the only publications that make it past the recycling bin are lifestyle magazines." The appeal applies as well to custom publishing efforts that create magazines designed to promote a specific destination or serve customers of a particular hotel or airline. Locally, that includes PPI -- whose offerings include Porthole, a cruise magazine -- and the Miami Herald Media Co.'s custom publishing division, HCP Abroad, prints 35 different magazine and book titles for hotels, airlines and tourism bureaus. "We're seeing these lifestyle brands come back," says Alexandra Villoch, The Miami Herald's senior vice president of advertising and marketing. "We saw it more in the in-flight magazines. There was so much more that was focused to the high-end consumer." Not every publication has survived to see better times. During the downturn, at least eight local magazines have folded, including South Florida CEO, Miami Monthly, Home Miami, Coral Living, Lincoln Road Magazine, Florida InsideOut and Ocean Drive Espanol. The victims include the high-profile SOBeFiT. Marta Montenegro started the health-and-fitness magazine in January 2008 with investors that would back her for five years, until she became profitable. When her Venezuelan investors suddenly pulled out in 2010, she didn't have financial muscle to sustain the award-winning publication. At its peak last year, SOBeFiT was growing by 120 subscribers a week, reaching a circulation of 100,000. An issue featuring Dwyane Wade and Serena Williams on the cover sold out. When it started, Montenegro said it cost about $100,000 a month to publish the magazine. Before it closed, she got the costs down to $25,000. The lesson: "The magazines that are going to survive are the ones that are not heavy editorial wise," because of the expense, Montenegro said. "I wouldn't advise someone to launch a magazine if it's not to show pure life and style." Hip-hop-oriented 305 Magazine hit the wall as well. Though it featured Pitbull and Rick Ross on the first covers, the magazine closed in 2007 after just two issues. "Gas hit $5 a gallon and everyone started ducking out as advertisers and clients," says founder Jorge Larrea, 33. "Everything that could possibly go wrong, went wrong." Larrea thinks a broader focus and a strengthening economy may make this the time to restart. The manager at the Kendall Gatsby's restaurant pulled together $15,000 from savings and friends to revive the 68-page magazine for a release this August. It will feature local artists from multiple music genres. "No one has filled the gap of the type of magazine we put out," Larrea said. Creating a digital platform to help market the magazine will be critical, he says, though expensive. Programming an iPad app runs from $25,000 to $100,000, depending on the level of sophistication and interactivity. But publications including Ocean Drive and Miami Magazine have invested in apps on the iPad and iPhone, as well as online sites and social media outlets to give advertisers more value to their investment. "The honeymoon is over, who is going to pay for the hotel?" says Husni. Miami Magazine, whose parent company invested in the app's programming, has seen 14,000 downloads so far between its iPhone and iPad versions. It also expands its reach through Facebook and Twitter accounts, and last month began weekly e-mail blasts to highlight happenings, feature stories and advertiser's events. "We could not ignore this digital revolution," says Miami Magazine publisher Anne Owen. "We would be missing an opportunity to connect with our readers if we weren't online." Analyst Husni says as publications have yet to find a way to profit off apps, the industry's love for tablets is waning. Plum's Powers agrees. His magazine won't go digital until the platform looks more profitable. Not one of Plum Miami's 240 glossy pages can be found on a website, e-reader or app. Powers said the industry thought the iPad would solve magazine's problems about six months ago. But reports on the user response from in-app ads, he says, are disappointing. "There will be a day when someone will make sense of digital and figure out how to monetize it," Powers said. ___ To see more of The Miami Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Miami Herald Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) |