Conde's Really Big Launch

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, March 1, 2004 by Robert Hirschfeld

Byline: Robert Hirschfeld

Cargo gets off to its much-anticipated, well-publicized and ambitious launch in the first week of March. It promises an upfront circ of 300,000 and what publisher Alan Katz proclaims "one of the strongest, if not the strongest, launches of all men's magazines."

Though Katz won't go into details about his marketing push, he says the launch will be accompanied by a campaign of outdoor and mall-based ad placements (ads began appearing in late 2003 in the ad trades and on Manhattan phone booths). And its Web site, Cargomag.com, was up and running in February.

As of early February, the best estimate of total ad pages for the March/April issue was 97 pages, according to Conde Nast, a number that is well ahead of the launches of other major men's titles, such as Maxim and Men's Health.

How exactly does Cargo plan to appeal to male readers? After all, there is still that behavioral hurdle: men and shopping. Editor-in-chief Ariel Foxman claims it's not that shopping and men don't mix, it's just that women and men approach it differently. "Men don't spend their day with a bunch of friends shopping, but they certainly buy things," he says. "If you define shopping as buying, or researching things you want to buy, or figuring out ways of rewarding yourself, men are actually big shoppers."

Foxman sees Cargo as first and foremost a service magazine. "Our editorial mission is to let our reader know what's out there, what's worthwhile and what's available." Cargo's Web site tells viewers that the new publication is about "finding the stuff you want," winnowing down options, examining pros and cons, and telling you where to get it, by providing 800-numbers and Web addresses. Get on it, pal.

Cargo is clearly the progeny of Conde Nast's runaway success magalog Lucky, which grew 80 percent, from 500,000 to 900,000 circ, in just three years. Like Lucky, Cargo relies on an advertiser-friendly formula that presents lots of images of wares with little editorial content (even of the effusive fashion-book variety) in between. "We share an enthusiasm and excitement for products," says Foxman of the two magazines.

And an enthusiasm for the products of advertisers? "Absolutely not," says Foxman. "Cargo will have the same division of church and state that any magazine with integrity and credibility has." It will review products without favoring advertised ones, he says. "Our edit is informed by our own testing, our own editorial credibility, our own selection. If something isn't worthwhile, it simply won't be in the magazine."

There are important differences between the male and female shopping mags, Foxman adds. Cargo will cover a broader range of items than Lucky does. "We're not just covering fashion, grooming and home, but cars, tech and gear," he says. And the two siblings provide different reads - or scans.

Cargo will be more selective and less encyclopedic - a nod to the shorter male shopping attention span. Instead of six pages of great loafers, says Foxman, the reader will get six great pairs of loafers. He also says content will go deeper where it's appropriate, for example, when showcasing technology products and cars.

Cargo's first issue will introduce "The Whole Shebang," an in-depth study of one category, which debuts with a look at smart phones. And in a nod to metrosexuality, there will be tips on room makeovers from Thom Felicia, one of the Fab Five from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," and a look at men's fragrances as rated (nosed?) by women.

With its ambitious launch, Conde is attempting to seize the lead in men's shopping, a new magazine genre, notes George Janson, director of print at WPP's MediaEdge. "Cargo isn't just another men's title devoted to booze, babes and gadgets," he says.

However, despite the Conde Nast parentage, Cargo isn't aiming exclusively at trendy, upscale readers. "There isn't just one Cargo guy," Foxman says; it's not, as often predicted, a metrosexual bible. Cargo's style section will share equal space with tech, cars and culture. Is there anything men buy that the editor won't load into his pages? "Off the top of my head, no," says Foxman.

The big buildup for Cargo has given competitors plenty of time to get ready. Certainly Conde's own GQ and Details will compete for fashion advertisers. And numerous men's books are pushing the gadget button.

A half-dozen dedicated gadget books from Ziff Davis, Primedia and others are out there on the launchpad, including Vitals from Conde's Fairchild Publications division. Meanwhile, Stuff, the Dennis title that co-stars Blackberries, baubles and boobs, is quietly beefing up its product coverage. The real risk to Cargo may just be that men will spend their limited shopping time at the newsstand, trying to choose the best shopping mag.