#custom creative

One interesting thing about the ways that media consumption is changing is that while newspapers seemed to have less and less of a future, magazines seem to have more of one. I’ve asked a few millennials and younger folk about this and they have a visceral negative response to newspapers, they seem dirty, messy, and old to them. Magazines however with their shiny covers and slick surfaces still seem to be appealing. And yet magazines are struggling too. The market is shrinking and prices are rising to the point of ludicrousness.

Enter the content marketing magazine, a natural evolution perhaps of magazines that are mostly ads anyway. We see these now coming out from major department stores and luxury brands such as Ralph Lauren and Nordstrom. Some of these are magalogs but increasingly they are full blown magazines where the promotion of the brand or product is interwoven into the content. I have a friend who has an interesting business model—he creates custom mini magazines for luxury real estate firms. The magazines have the look of a shelter magazine with articles on décor and developments but they are also promotional vehicles. For real estate agents it’s all about staying top of mind. Newsletters and magazines that deliver articles that are engaging and attractive are ways to do that in a way that is less invasive and perhaps even welcomed. The bonus here also is that they may have more of a sticky factor than an email with the same content. In the endless quest for inbox zero, in the world of the quick scroll, I tend to ignore some of the absolutely stellar stuff that hits my inbox and social channels every day. However, the magazines I stack up and happily spend a Saturday or Sunday morning with my coffee reading along.

Our veterinarian sends reminder cards and emails but one new thing they are doing is content marketing. It’s not the most subtle of pieces. It’s a branded magazine put out by Vetstreet and then wrapped with a few pages of branding from our local animal hospital. They’ve taken the brandmag one step further, including the pet name not just on the cover but on the first two pages of the magazine. It’s gimmicky but it does remind the reader that the magazine came from the place where the pet gets checkups. Inside, the magazine is much like any other pet magazine with articles and ads. One interesting thing about the distribution of the brandmags is that you can customize your range. I don’t know the business model behind the VetStreet brand but I’m guessing that they both sell the ads to national advertisers as well as charging the local animal hospitals. The back cover of the magazine is branded to the hospital but also features coupons with items for sale so they may also be offsetting their costs that way as well.