20 Power Launches FOR THE '90s

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Feb, 2000 by Susan Thea Posnock

And now that cigar-smoking is starting to lose some of its luster, Cigar Aficionado is preparing a subtle metamorphosis. The title's subscription rates have been steady, but a large number of cigar-shop closings have hurt single-copy sales. And to combat this leveling off, the title plans to reemphasize its lifestyle aspects, says Mott.

While smokers of cigars and other tobacco products are an important core audience for the magazine, "Seventy-five percent of the editorial has nothing to do with cigars--it's a cigar magazine within a men's lifestyle magazine," says editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken. As for the title's future, he says, "It's been profitable from day one and it will continue to be."

Wired

LAUNCH DATE 1993

AD PAGES 1993:217; 1999: 1,693

RATEBASE INITIAL DISTRIBUTION: 50,000; Today: 475,000

STAFF Launch: 12; Today: 135

FREQUENCY Launch: Bimonthly;

Today: Monthly When the Internet was still relatively unknown--before the dot.com craze and "e-" preceded most words in the English language-Wired started cultivating a new race of techno-zealots.

"Before any other magazine, Wired spotted an entirely new subject matter: the future," claims edtor in chief Katrina Heron. The magazine treated the Internet and developing technologies not simply as new tools, but as a cultural revolution, she says. We're not a magazine about technology, but about culture. We're really interested in how people can use the tools."

The Conde Nast title was also ahead of the curve in terms of presentation, says Al Penman, publisher and senior vice president of Inter@active Week. "They were so innovative in their approach to design and packaging."

But one of the challenges that comes with being an innovator is staying that way, says Heron. "When you're a hot, trendy magazine, inevitably that spark burns out. So by 1996, some people were already saying that Wired was 'post-cool,'" Heron says.

"We were so far ahead that we frightened people," adds publisher Drew Schutte. "Then other products came out that were easier to digest." But new competition has not slowed the title's growth, says Schutte. The magazine has broken ad page issue records for the last eight issues, and the December 1999 issue had the highest count to date, at 274 pages, he says.

"We're still sitting on top of the biggest story of the century. We were here first, and we still know the story better," says Heron.

Vibe

LAUNCH DATE 1993

AD PAGES 1993: 258; 1999: 1,242

RATEBASE Launch: 100,000; 2000: 725,000

STAFF Launch: 40; 1999: 77

FREQUENCY 10 times since launch

Vibe gave a growing industry and audience a voice just as hip-hop exploded into the mainstream.

"The audience that is interested in urban music and culture at large has grown so rapidly, says John Rollins, co-president and group publisher of Vibe, Spin and Blaze. "We've been able to capitalize on that marketplace."

But Vibe represents more than just the music--it spotlights the people and the force behind the music, says Rollins. It has, in fact, brought urban culture to the forefront, he says. "I take greatest pride in Vibe's ability and success in acting as the standard bearer for the urban music community at large," he says. "Vibe is a critical tool for the continuing education in this country, toward understanding urban America."