Ah, necessity. It really is the spark that innovates. Faced with a rather dysfunctional newsstand model, Hearst is not sitting idly by.
“In an effort to promote its all-important September fashion issues, Hearst is taking its consumer marketing strategy to the streets—literally,” writes Emma Bazilian in Adweek, “… the publisher is debuting the ‘MagMobile,’ a roving newsstand selling copies of Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen in and around New York City.”
Hearst president and publishing director Michael Clinton calls the MagMobile their “Super September” strategy.
“Through a partnership with Barnes & Noble, Hearst is using beacon technology to alert potential Elle readers to the September issue’s arrival when they pass a B&N store. And for the second year in a row, Hearst will be selling a 9.2-pound “Fashion To Go” box—containing issues of Bazaar, Elle and Marie Claire—and select bookstores and duty-free shops,” Bazilian writes.
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“Overall, the fashion group’s strong September showing can be linked to luxury brands betting on U.S. consumers,” says Bazilian, who quotes Michael Clinton as calling the U.S. luxury market “very robust.”
It’s a fantastic idea, especially in light of the fat September issues on tap for Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and other titles, and it gives the publisher real-time access to its readers, something that can only be a good thing for the brand.
So while others are wringing their hands, Hearst is taking this opportunity to innovate. We say well done!