• by Larry Dobrow , June 13, 2003

Biography magazine might be one of the two or three consumer titles that can make an honest case that it lacks direct competitors. People or Us Weekly? Too gossip-driven. The New Yorker? Too erudite. Vanity Fair? Too shiny.

This isn't lost on vice president/publisher Tom McCluskey. "We don't fall into a hard and fast category," he says. Because of this - or perhaps in spite of this - the magazine has slowly picked up momentum over the last 18 months, settling into a cozy niche of its own.

McCluskey seems torn about his magazine's place in the consumer-mag universe. On one hand, its relative individuality is a natural selling point for advertisers. On the other, the publication's sales reps don't precisely pinpoint its appeal to a certain demographic or psychographic.

"We don't skew that heavily to women or men," McCluskey notes. [Biography's readership is approximately 60 percent female; the average reader is 42.] "I understand why media buyers sometimes don't know what to make of us - we're not just a thought-leader book, not just an entertainment book, not just a history book. Our challenge is to tell each particular advertiser why Biography is the right place for them to be."

Competitive position aside, Biography has performed well despite an economic climate that has sent many of would-be advertisers - especially those in the travel and financial sectors - scurrying to the sidelines. According to the most recent Publishers Information Bureau statistics, for the year-to-date period Biography is up 22.9 percent in ad pages (to 143.2 from 116.5) and 24.6 percent in ad revenue (to $7.4 million from $5.9 million) over 2002. Granted, the magazine's total number of ad pages is dwarfed by lesser-known titles like Heart & Soul and Spectrum, but a 23 percent page gain can't be shrugged off.

"Our audience is loyal and very involved with the magazine - and they pay a premium for it," McCluskey notes. "They respond to the editorial and they respond to the advertising, "

Biography's biggest ad category remains home entertainment, with DVDs, consumer electronics and the occasional cable network ad leading the way. Pharmaceutical companies like Schering-Plough, Johnson & Johnson and Merck have also been big supporters of the mag in recent months, though former sponsor Pfizer dropped out this year due to budgetary constraints.

Like most other publishers, McCluskey is "eager to do much more" with the automotive category, despite the presence of Lincoln and Mazda on Biography's pages. He has also set his sights on wine and liquor companies, and hopes to increase the presence of apparel manufacturers. "There are any number of reasons why [these categories] should be in Biography," he stresses.

Looking forward, McCluskey anticipates a slow summer for the magazine business as a whole ("We're not recovering as fast as broadcast, but there are signs of positive movement"), though he remains confident that Biography will continue to buck industry trends. Look for the magazine to hype its exclusive sponsorship of the National Board of Review film awards and, possibly in 2004, push its rate base above the current 700,000.

"It's a matter of getting out there and telling our story," McCluskey says. "There's no greater brand-building effort than the sales call."