Magazine Taste Test

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Jan, 2001 by Caroline Jenkins, Susan Posnock

Williams-Sonoma hopes that its new custom-published concoction will hook its own shoppers as subscribers.

* Skim the page-and-a-half-long product directory in the premier issue of Williams-Sonoma Taste and you'll see very little of two words: "Williams" and "Sonoma" The home-centered specialty retailer's hyphenated name bubbles up only 16 times, if you're counting.

Look again at that same page and notice that the names of some of the company's competitors--retailers like Calvin Klein Home, Macy's and Neiman-Marcus--appear with surprising frequency.

"There's absolutely no pressure from Williams-Sonoma to use any products," says Andy Harris, Taste's editor in chief. "When I get props for our shoots, I get them from everyone.

With funds from Williams-Sonoma that Taste's publisher describes as "substantial," access to the company's database of 20 million customers, and prime displays in the 205 Williams-Sonoma stores, the editor of the custom-published magazine can afford to be so clear about the separation of church and state.

But whether the combination of Williams-Sonoma's backing and Harris' editorial vision will enable Taste to differentiate itself from its competition and establish long-term footing in the category remains to be seen, say some competitors.

High hopes

The magazine aims to be an inspirational lifestyle magazine focusing on food, drink, travel and entertaining. Harris wrote in his first Editor's Letter that he wants to "redefine and improve on the accomplishments of many late-90s lifestyle magazines."

Idealistic aspirations, some say. But Taste's first issue, which appeared on select newsstands in November 2000, has received a lot of positive feedback, says publisher John Owen of custom publisher Weldon Owen Magazines Inc.

The premier issue features articles and recipes covering a wide variety of topics, but tends to focus on entertaining and the holiday season. The cover story, "A Chef's Holiday," details a dinner party at celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's home; "Cookie Monsters" provides recipes and tips for baking assorted treats with children; and "Royal Treatment" details one editor's visit to a spa in the Himalayas. The magazine targets an affluent, well-educated audience of 25- to 54-year-old Williams-Sonoma customers.

"We're really encouraged by a lot of the responses to the November issue, especially from the advertisers," says Owen. Half of the issue's advertisers, he adds, have already committed to full contracts through 2001.

As for magazine sales, Owen says that after three weeks on the newsstands, about 30,000 copies have been sold, and about 16,500 customers have subscribed. Right now, the magazine's circulation base totals 125,000.

Promotion blitz

Owen expects to sign on even more subscribers through Taste's extensive promotional campaign. "We've been hitting that database of 20 million customers about 19 million times in the past three months," he says.

Since August, customers opening catalogs and product shipments have been met with subscription business reply cards (13.7 million were printed and inserted); buyers telephoning in orders have been upsold over the phone; and customers accessing the Williams-Sonoma Web site have been and still are forced to click through a Taste splash page before entering.

Shoppers wishing to subscribe to Taste can do so right at the counter at any Williams-Sonoma outlet. "That gives us an edge that I don't think anybody else really has," says Owen.

Williams-Sonoma stores aren't the only places that carry the title; Taste is being sold in a select few "higher-end" newsstands like Borders, Barnes & Noble and B-Dalton Booksellers. "My strategy has been to move very cautiously and test areas first," says Owen as he describes his strategy to expand to airports and gourmet supermarkets. "We're very concerned with keeping our specific demographic."

For the most part, however, Owen s promotional efforts have targeted the purchasing power of Williams-Sonoma customers. Owen plans on upping the quarterly magazine's frequency to bimonthly in January 2002, as well as marketing travel guides, cookbooks and other spin-offs in the near future.

Advertiser interest

So far, advertisers have been fairly plentiful for the launch. Top advertising categories include kitchen appliances, automotive, travel, and wines and liquors. Owen pulled in 24 ad pages for the November issue, making the ad:edit ratio about 40:60.

"By agreeing to advertise in the first issue, I took a real leap of faith that Taste would be first-class," says Kathy Keltos, vice president of marketing for St. Supery Wines. "I think the magazine is terrific. The customer base that they're going after is perfectly aligned with ours in terms of demographics, disposable income, education and interest in culture and the arts."

"I do see a few parallels with some other magazines," continues Keltos. "But Taste does differentiate itself from others in that category. It's a bigger magazine, and I think it runs slightly more upscale and elegant photography. It's very high quality."