• by Larry Dobrow , August 5, 2003

On the eve of his magazine's 10th anniversary, Vibe president Kenard Gibbs doesn't sound like a man who has spent the day swilling champagne and holding staff pep rallies. Rather, a morning phone call finds him on the road, doing what he does best: preaching the Vibe gospel with equal fervor to would-be advertisers, pesky journalists and pretty much anybody else he encounters.

"Hey, that's part of the job," he says with a laugh.

Gibbs, who arrived at the publication in May 2000, could be forgiven if he took a few minutes to reflect on Vibe's success. Launching in 1993 with a rate base of 100,000, the title has evolved into one of pop culture's most powerful brands, one whose influence extends well beyond the music world. The magazine has grown its circulation to 825,000 and expanded its advertiser foundation well beyond entertainment; it now includes high-end fashion, packaged goods and car manufacturers (Mercedes-Benz recently came on board with a schedule that begins in November).

Along the way, Vibe won a 2002 National Magazine Award for general excellence in its circulation category, trumping The New Yorker and Wired to become what Gibbs calls "the first magazine with an ethnic sensibility" to bag one of the coveted trophies. "Not that we needed that as validation of what we were doing, but some people never thought we'd be anything more than a niche music magazine," he says. "Even our founders probably didn't think we'd become what we are: a pop-culture authority and one of the most efficient and effective places for advertisers to reach a young, multicultural audience."

Gibbs says this without a hint of swagger in his voice. Rather, he sounds more like a brand guru eager to protect and nourish what he's helped build. While he's quick to rattle off statistics about the Vibe audience - "Sixty-five percent African-American, median age of 26.1, household income around $42,000, 50/50 male/female split" - he also seems more attuned than most magazine prexies to the whims of the publishing business. While acknowledging that "right now, companies can't get enough of the multicultural audience," he stresses the need for the mag to "stay true to its editorial heritage, especially at a time when the economy has its issues. For almost anybody, things could fall apart real quickly."

Despite the recent addition of "Weekend Vibe," a syndicated weekend TV show reaching in 85% of U.S. households, Gibbs doesn't seem overeager to play the brand-extension card. "We revamped our Internet site and we're thinking about a number of other platforms, but we have to be very select and kind of stay in our lane," he explains. "We don't want to bastardize the brand by doing every licensing deal that comes our way."

Of course, Gibbs is not without his concerns. Given the 50/50 male/female split, companies whose products predominantly appeal to one gender or the other have been hesitant to hawk their wares on Vibe's pages. To that end, the magazine's sales staff have set its sights on male- (video games and consumer electronics) and female-skewing (health and beauty) categories.

Similarly, Vibe plans its first-ever concerted appeal to financial services advertisers: in the months ahead, Gibbs hopes to lure American Express (which has appeared in Vibe infrequently) and Citigroup into the magazine.

And while a publication that runs ads from 18 companies on Advertising Age's top-20 ad spenders list probably doesn't have a whole lot to complain about ("One of the ones we're missing is Home Depot, I think," Gibbs says), Vibe continues to trawl for new ways to broaden its brand and advertiser base. "The challenge is always to maintain the same level of growth," Gibbs says. "We've had double-digit growth over the last year or two, and to do double-digit anything in this [economic] environment is a good thing."

Clearly Gibbs does not seem the type to stop and smell the roses. When asked about his worst-case scenario for the immediate future, he responds almost drastically: "Being able to survive the fourth quarter. Well, not 'survive' survive, because we're obviously not going away, but I'm hearing that some marketers are cutting their schedules and writing off 2003, and focusing on 2004. If this is true, a lot of publishers are going to feel the impact."

On the other hand, through June Vibe is up 7% in ad pages and 19.4% in ad revenue over the year-ago period, according to the Publishers Information Bureau - and that's before the mag's 10th anniversary issue and its 200 ad pages are taken into account. If nothing else, the thump-worthy September issue should provide the company's sales reps with an alluring wand to wave in front of would-be advertisers.

"Ten years ago, I don't think anybody could have predicted this - we were, you know, just this little music magazine," Gibbs says. "Certainly nobody thought we'd be where we are today."