Set to launch officially in 2015, the network will only include designers who have been vetted by editorial representatives of both magazines. The magazines are recruiting and reviewing designers now. For their part, designers will receive exposure, as well as marketing support to help build out their businesses and raise their professional profiles.
Southern Living editor-in-chief Sid Evans explained the rationale behind the Designer Network: “This collaboration will allow designers the opportunity to connect with our consumers and bring the look of the magazines to life.” Coastal Living editor-in-chief Antonia van der Meer stated: “Our new Designer Network further strengthens our ties with the design community and showcases our unique roles as authorities on design to both the trade and consumers.”
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Home design and homemaking magazine publishers are forming various joint ventures to parlay brand recognition into additional revenues. Back in 2008, Meredith’s Better Homes and Gardens started a branded real estate network in partnership with Realogy, which is now contributing substantially to the magazine publisher’s brand licensing business.
In the merchandising realm, in 2012 House Beautiful joined forces with HSN, formerly known as the Home Shopping Network, to create a House Beautiful-branded marketplace for home furnishings, including online and mobile e-commerce platforms, and TV promotions.
Of course, not every deal ends happily: last year Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s licensing deal with JCPenney ran afoul of the publisher’s contractual relationship with rival retailer Macy’s, leading to a high-profile court case and the early termination of the JCPenney venture.