• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 19, 2011

The way to a prospective luxury automobile-buyer's heart may be through their stomach. With that in mind, Infiniti is partnering with Time Inc. and American Express Publishing to stage a series of "epicurean events" on the theme "Road to Inspiration," hosted by Cooking Light, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Sunset and Travel + Leisure.

In addition to the food draw, the events will feature customized experiences in the form of an "Infiniti Inspiration Lounge," where visitors can interact with the 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid in a suitably luxurious setting.

The "Road to Inspiration" includes interactive experiences at various festivals, including Atlanta Food & Wine Festival from May 19-22; Sunset's San Francisco Chefs 2011, August 1-7; Los Angeles Times and Food & Wine's The Taste, September 2-5; Travel + Leisure's Global Bazaar, New York City, September 16-18; Sunset Savor the Central Coast, San Luis Obispo, September 29-October 2; Southern Living Taste of Charleston, October 8-9; Food & Wine All-Star Weekend, Las Vegas, October 21-23; and San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival hosted by Cooking Light, November 16-20.

The series of experiential marketing events will be supported by a print and digital ad campaign, including promotions for the Infiniti Inspiration Lounge in the May issues of Cooking Light, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Sunset and Travel + Leisure. Consumers can also enter a sweepstakes sponsored by Infiniti, with the winners receiving a free trip to the U.S. city with their favorite restaurants.

Time Inc. and Starcom Expand Audience Guarantees

The push to transition magazine ad buying to an audience-based metric is getting another boost from Time Inc. and Starcom MediaVest, which are expanding their "Alliance for Magazine Accountability" to include audience guarantees for all major ad buys in Time Inc. titles by a Starcom MediaVest client.

Ad Age quoted John Muszynski, chief investment officer at SMGX, as saying: "Moving forward, all of our clients have the option to participate and replace their traditional circulation guarantee with an ad-audience and ad-performance guarantee."

GfK MRI, a leading magazine ratings research firm, is offering a variety of more specific data about magazine audiences, including audience accumulation for specific issues over time and the qualitative and quantitative effects of print ads on magazine readers.

Bloomberg Markets, Precision IR Launch Spotlight

Bloomberg Markets has announced a new partnership with the PrecisionIR Group, which will create a new multimedia platform for institutional investors called Bloomberg Markets Spotlight. Scheduled to launch September 1, Bloomberg Markets Spotlight will be a stand-alone site that will function as an investor relations showcase for public companies, including earnings reports, analysis and CEO interviews, allowing them to target and communicate with institutional investors.

Wenner Media Names Bloom Chief Digital Officer

Wenner Media, which publishes Rolling Stone and Us Weekly, has appointed Michael Bloom chief digital officer, replacing Steven Schwartz, who is leaving Wenner to become the global head of business development for Reuters Media. Bloom previously worked for Sharecare, a start-up interactive health and wellness Q&A platform. Before that, he also served as senior vice president of digital media for MTV networks.

Oxford American, NPR Produce "Southword"

The Oxford American is launching "Southword," a multimedia partnership with NPR to report on the people, places and trends shaping the modern South. Dave Anderson teams up with NPR's journalists to produce video and radio pieces on the region.