Promotional image for Tag Heuer content on NYT VR
Publishers have uncovered insightful tactics that work to entertain readers while subtly pushing goods or services without obvious force.
In the first half of 2016, despite fears of ad blocking softwares and consumers’ fatigue of the never ending barrage of marketing content, among other woes, publishers incorporated native advertising into their arsenals to great success. Also, video triumphed as a media brand’s best accoutrement to print as newsstand and subscription rates continue to decline as consumers opt for digital content.
Here are the top 10 media and publishing efforts of the first half of 2016, in alphabetical order:
Alicia Vikander, W magazine April 2015
#TheLookIs
Media conglomerate Condé Nast has developed a new beauty franchise that will tell its readers what #TheLookIs.
Condé Nast’s #TheLookIs will be a socially-led beauty offering to help the conglomerate’s titles speak to next-generation consumers in the cosmetics and personal care space. Beauty has found a niche in the digital space, thriving on YouTube tutorials, personalization applications and user-generated content to propel new products and introduce countless users to sector leaders and up-and-comers.
Set to launch in September, #TheLookIs will connect Condé Nast publications with a new generation of beauty mavens. The concept will create a vast beauty network aggregating the content and audiences already available to Condé Nast through its beauty knowledge found at titles such as Vogue, W magazine and Vanity Fair, among others (see story).
Condé Nast magazines
Condé Nast points to data
Media group Condé Nast is connecting the dots between readers’ content consumption and purchase behavior through the launch of a new data product.
Condé Nast Spire leverages proprietary insights from 1010data, looking to better target campaigns for advertisers. With today’s fragmented media landscape, it can be difficult for marketers to follow the purchase path back to the original point of inspiration, but by merging first party and third party data, Condé Nast is looking to pinpoint the right message to deliver to the right person at the right time.
Condé Nast Spire goes beyond the one trillion and more data points created each month across the media group’s titles. Condé Nast will use this information to develop micro-segments of its readership, giving advertisers a specific audience to target (see story).
Condé Nast Traveler June/July 2016 cover
Summer tracks with Condé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler used music to inspire readers’ summer travel plans in a collaborative effort with Pitchfork, an online music magazine.
For the June/July issue of Condé Nast Traveler, the magazine paired with Pitchfork, also in the Condé Nast stable, to prepare a Spotify playlist for summer vacations. Audio connects to consumer sentiment in ways similar to images, but taps more heavily into nostalgia and sense of place, causing marketers to curate soundtracks for stores and campaigns and to translate a brand’s message.
Each of the seven features, including pieces celebrating the 100th anniversary of national parks in the United States, why travelers should stick around after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics this summer and a motorcycle road trip diary, featured their own 15-song soundtracks (see story).
Fendi’s Karlito on camera for Elle
Fendi flaunts pre-fall with Elle International
Italian fashion house Fendi took consumers on a jetset tour of pre-fall’s biggest trends through an interactive sponsored video created by Elle International.
“Elle Invites Karlito To Globetrot the Trends” sees the furry bag charm modeled after Fendi creative director Karl Lagerfeld traveling to destinations including Shanghai, Rome or New York, with each city corresponding to a certain look of the season. This exclusive sponsored content program put Fendi in front of Elle’s fashion-hungry audience around the world.
The campaign was conceived by Elle International, with collaborations from Elle China, Elle France, Elle Italia and Elle U.S., as well as Hearst, Lagardère Global Advertising and Fendi. Giving Fendi a global audience are the 10 participating online titles in China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and the U.S. (see story).
Lou Doillon in “The Legend of Orpheus and Eurydice”
Gucci’s Greek myth across Condé Nast titles
Italian fashion label Gucci took a cinematic approach to sponsored content through a collaboration with Condé Nast.
Working with filmmaker Gia Coppola, Gucci produced a series of four short films that told a modern interpretation of the myth “The Legend of Orpheus and Eurydice.” This first-of-its-kind partnership for the brand and media group premiered exclusively on June 6 across six Condé Nast titles and Gucci’s Web site.
The four-part story, directed by Ms. Coppola and produced by 23 Stories x Condé Nast studio, took place in modern day New York. The films premiered alongside text catering to the specific audience of each of the publications.
For instance, Vogue’s sponsored post provided an overview of the main players involved, including the styling by Academy Award-nominated costume designer Arianne Philips, while Vanity Fair chose to do a Q&A with Ms. Coppola (see story).
Jim Chapman for GQ’s “Luxury of Less”
GQ invests in luxury staples
British GQ magazine explored the key investment pieces contained in men’s wardrobes through a series on its recently launched video channel.
“Luxury of Less with Jim Chapman” took viewers inside Savile Row tailors Gieves & Hawkes, Turnbull & Asser and watchmaker Tag Heuer, uncovering the reasons why their garments or watches cost more than those that can be purchased on the high street. For the luxury brands featured in this series, this may serve as an introduction to readers and also help to justify their price points.
GQ based the subject matter of the series on the most searched menswear items online, according to Google search insights. Suits, shirts and watches were gaining the most attention in search (see story).
Instagram post from La Mer
La Mer chats with InStyle’s readers
Estée Lauder Cos.’ Crème de la Mer helped InStyle readers gear up for their own big night with an Oscar-themed live chat.
On Feb. 22, consumers could tune in to InStyle’s Facebook page to watch the 20-minute conversation between the magazine’s fashion and beauty editor at large Kahlana Barfield Brown and La Mer skincare expert Clyde Johnson. In addition to the editor’s questions, consumers could ask their own questions to get specific advice from Mr. Johnson.
Both InStyle and La Mer promoted the conversation to their social followers before the live stream aired on Facebook.
After the conversation, consumers could still tune in via a packaged video, extending the potential audience (see story).
Cover of Robb Report March 2016 issue
Robb Report celebrates Italia with Saks Fifth Avenue
Lifestyle publication Robb Report brought la dolce vita to its readers by dedicating its entire March issue to Italy.
From automobiles and fashion to travel and food, the issue explores the people responsible for the country’s cultural significance. To kick off the issue, Robb Report and Saks hosted a shopping event at the retailer’s Fifth Avenue flagship, bringing together elements of the good life on the men’s floor.
The issue was a first for Robb Report, which has never dedicated an issue cover-to-cover to a single country. Features included a look at the makers of some of the past century’s most iconic cars and a look at idyllic Italian villas.
At the event, consumers could shop menswear labels as well as check out a number of installations scattered throughout the floor, allowing them to in effect tour Italy (see story).
Promotional image for Tag Heuer content on NYT VR
Tag Heuer races New York Times
Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer crafted a legend with the help of the New York Times’ virtual reality mobile application.
The NYT VR app puts readers at the center of New York Times’ content, including what is produced by its brand partners, through immersive 360-degree video experiences that allow for an interactive narrative. LVMH-owned Tag Heuer used the NYT VR app’s storytelling capabilities to share the heritage of its Carrera timepiece with New York Times’ audience, showing both its placement within the overall watch industry and its modernity.
The NYT VR app brings virtual reality to the everyday consumer through the use of their smartphone or Google Cardboard, a virtual reality viewer (see story).
Vogue’s July 2016 cover
Vogue’s Anna Wintour swaps careers with comedian Amy Schumer
With help from some larger-than-life personalities, fashion houses such as Gucci, Prada and Dior were among the brands to position the season’s standout styles in the July issue of Condé Nast’s Vogue.
Beyond its advertising pages, the July issue, which featured comedian Amy Schumer on its cover, was supported by digital content produced by Vogue and written by the comic. As the print and digital media industries continue to converge, it is becoming clearer that print titles will become more reliant on video features that bring their pages to life and offer consumers more than just written word and still imagery.
Being that Ms. Schumer is known for her stand-up and Comedy Central skits on “Inside Amy Schumer,” the comedian used her humor to celebrate her first Vogue cover.
In the “Amy Schumer and Anna Wintour Swap Lives” skit, the comic and editor in chief of Vogue do just that. In a take on the television series “Wife Swap,” the pair trade places with Ms. Schumer trying her hand at being Vogue’s editor in chief, while Ms. Wintour takes on stand-up comedy, a move that shows a very different side of the magazine’s head (see story).