• by Larry Dobrow , September 3, 2003

In the post-9/11 and SARS-panicked world, magazines relying heavily on travel advertisers haven't had an easy go of it over the last two years. Vacation destinations and hotels have funneled their few available marketing dollars into customer-relationship programs, while the few major airlines not on the verge of bankruptcy seem to have hermetically sealed their purses. And the outlook isn't looking any rosier now that the country has officially been taken off recession watch: according to the Publishers Information Bureau, the public transportation/hotels/resorts category took nearly 8% fewer ad pages in the first seven months of 2003 as compared with the year-ago period, though the percentage declines are stabilizing.

But while many execs at travel-centric publications have long since pushed the panic button, Smithsonian publisher Amy Wilkins remains relatively unbowed. "It's a cliché, but you have to look at the big picture," she says. "In travel, you're seeing more regional buys now - Canada is a prime destination for our readers, we're having great conversations with Mexico. The dollars will probably come from different places than they used to."

Smithsonian's navigation of the rocky travel waters seems almost a how-to for any publication faced with the loss of significant support from its top ad category. Wilkins concedes that "there was more than a little concern" when the industry's travel fortunes went from bad to worse, but says that the magazine's sales staff didn't sit around and feel sorry for itself. Instead, the title turned its focus to the cultural travel niche - which includes explorations of the Rajasthan region and its heritage but not, say, weeklong sojourns within the gilded gates of Disney World.

"We're trying to own this category," Wilkins notes, pointing to a Travel Industry Association study that highlights the emergence of the cultural traveler. "These folks take longer trips, which means they're spending more money in hotels and restaurants. It's a really attractive segment for the travel business to focus on." To this end, Smithsonian has closely allied itself with the United States Tour Operators Association, and partnered with the group's Travelers Conservation Foundation nonprofit arm for the Smithsonian Magazine/TCF Sustainable Tourism Awards.

Smithsonian has also dealt with the travel category collapse in more predictable ways, like examining more closely ad sectors that were largely ignored during the late-1990s boom. With travel and financial services flush, the magazine had little motivation to break new ground. But, Wilkins admits, "The times forced our hand, just like they did everybody else." So Smithsonian pushed deeper into food, liquor and electronics than it had before, emerging with new accounts like Nikon and Macallan scotch. "Cameras make sense for us - Smithsonian is all about images," she notes. "And hey, we drink a lot of scotch."

When Wilkins says "we," as she does many times over the course of a single conversation, she isn't just talking about her staff; she's talking about the mag's readers as well. And ultimately those readers are why Smithsonian has been able to weather a difficult climate for magazines in the two million circulation range ("We're kind of a 'tweener.' We're a 'mass with class,'" Wilkins quips). The Smithsonian reader boasts a level of education and affluence that is above the norm, and live what Wilkins calls a "cultural lifestyle." Furthermore, they tend to influence the spending and travel habits of their peers. "Nine out of ten are asked for advice about products and goods and services," she notes. "They don't share because they're bragging - they just want everyone to have the same great experiences they did."

And for those instances where favorable demographic data isn't enough to lure an advertiser onto Smithsonian's pages, Wilkins plays up the mag's emphasis on accountability. "A lot of our advertisers have response mechanisms in their ads," she says. "Some of them even track conversions. We put our you-know-what on the line every issue."

Of course, with the cultural and marketing muscle of the Smithsonian Institution behind it, the publication has an easier time than most in lining up multichannel ad deals. Rolex, for one, recently came back into the magazine to promote its relationship with the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is scheduled to open in December. "We have ways to bring our clients exposure that most other magazines don't have," Wilkins says. "It's hard to compare the Smithsonian to any other institution. It's the largest research and education facility in the world, so unless you go to some other galaxy we've got most things covered."

Looking ahead, Wilkins is hoping to provide added flexibility for advertisers hoping to buy a specific part of the Smithsonian audience. The magazine recently debuted a "Platinum" edition that is delivered to the 500,000 subscribers with household income in excess of $120,000. "It should open up other categories of advertisers that we couldn't get," she says hopefully.