Face-Off: Food Fight!

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Dec 1, 2002 by Susan Thea Posnock

Byline: Susan Thea Posnock

Forget peace on Earth and goodwill toward men. 'Tis the season to eat. From Thanksgiving through New Year's, it's all about the food. And while there are tons of titles looking to help out with that holiday ham, it seems as though there aren't enough wannabe chefs to go 'round. Circulation for the top epicurean magazines was as flat as day-old bubbly in the first half of the year. With 1.26M readers, Bon Appetit leads Gourmet and Food & Wine. But media buyers say its dressed-down editorial approach is hurting its rep with high-end advertisers. Gourmet's luxe demographics have helped it win the ad-page race two years running. But Food & Wine - less than 20 ad pages behind - is hoping it can pull ahead by targeting younger, hipper foodies.

Gourmet

Ad pages through December: 1,243 Total circ: 934,778 (-2.3%) Newsstand: 97,371 (-2.7%) Subscription: 837,407 (-2.2%) New advertiser: Phoenix Financial

Gourmet is the "gold standard" of the category, says one media buyer. Editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl does a lot to boost the book's image. A frequent guest on television segments - not just doing cooking demos, but weighing in on the state of the culinary world on business programs like CNBC's "Power Lunch" - Reichl keeps the publicity coming.

"Gourmet has the editorial prestige the others don't," says Michael Neiss, executive vice president and managing director of Lowe. But, he adds, "There's a fine line between prestige and being precocious. There's still a velvet-rope aspect to Gourmet: You can look, but you can't touch. So it's not as tactile as the other two magazines."

On the Competition:

"Editorially, we're really hot right now. We've been nominated for five national magazine awards in the past two years. No other magazine in the category has been nominated." - Guilio Capua, publisher

Bon Appetit

Ad pages through December: 1,143 Total circ: 1,263,134 (-1.6%) Newsstand: 181,368 ( .4%) Subscription: 1,081,766 (-1.9%) New advertiser: Crate & Barrel

With its million-plus circ, Bon Appetit is the clear leader in terms of mass appeal. This magazine is all about access. It isn't the food magazine for people who call the caterer. "It's sophisticated, but it's not calling for exotic ingredients. The majority of our recipes are not by chefs," says vice president and publisher Lynn Heiller. "It's for real people with real lives."

Its editorial offices are in Los Angeles, so the magazine also has a less New York-centric approach to the culinary world, says Heiller. That attitude is the magazine's strength - and its weakness. One media buyer (who says he never uses the title) buys into food mags for the high-end entertaining lifestyle, not to reach someone who needs a stuffing recipe. "It's the Food Network of the print world," adds Neiss.

On the Competition:

"Food & Wine is veering in the celebrity-chef direction, and I'm not sure people can relate to it." - Lynn Heiller, vice president and publisher

Food & Wine

Ad pages through December: 1,226 Total circ: 957,838 ( 5.5%) Newsstand: 61,004 (-10.5%) Subscription: 896,834 ( 6.8%) New advertiser: Lexus

Neck and neck with Gourmet in the ad race, Food & Wine is working hard to heighten its profile, say media buyers.

"We've taken a more modern lifestyle approach," says publisher Julie McGowan. "We're really committed to covering what's next and who's next."

Advertisers have noticed. While Gourmet may have a slight overall edge, buyers looking to reach younger, upscale foodies turn to Food & Wine. And while its newsstand numbers were down 10 percent in the first half of the year, it does boast the highest average sub price - $28.81.

On a down note, Neiss says the magazine is the biggest offender when it comes to padding advertising with special sections - something he says all the magazines have been doing too much of lately.

On the Competition:

"We're younger, we've got more male readers, and we're more affluent." - Julie McGowan, senior vice president, publisher