Putting several weeks of rumors to rest, Fairchild Publications announced yesterday that it has purchased Elegant Bride from Pace Communications. The magazine, designed for upscale brides, will be relaunched in January on a six-times-per-year schedule. Fairchild said it would name a new publisher and editor-in-chief at a later date. For now, Fairchild chairman and editorial director Patrick McCarthy will oversee the publication. While Fairchild president and chief executive officer Mary Berner was unavailable for comment, she said in a press release that Elegant Bride would be a nice fit alongside Fairchild consumer titles W, Details and Jane: "This acquisition fits with our strategy to publish niche, upscale titles at the top end of the market. We also envision tie-in potential with many of our trade titles." Fairchild's acquisition of Elegant Bride sets up a potential sibling rivalry with fellow Advance Publications company Condé Nast Publications, which owns Bride's and Modern Bride magazines. While Elegant Bride is a good deal smaller than either title - its circulation sits just below 150,000 - the weak ad market means that the mags will likely continue to battle for ad dollars from the same fashion, cosmetics and luxury goods advertisers. It's a battle that many mags in the bridal category have been losing in 2003. While Bridal Guide is up 15.3% in ad pages over the year-ago period (to 1,410 from 1,223), Modern Bride has slipped 7.1% (to 1,220 from 1,313) and Bride's is down 8.7% (to 1,636 from 1,792), according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Only Modern Bride has seen an increase in ad revenue - and a scant 3.1% increase at that. There's no reason to think that bridal mags are enduring anything worse than a temporary slump, however, given the enormous - and demographically desirable - niche they serve. Every year, 2.4 million people get married in the U.S.; they spend more money in the six months before and after the big day than during any other 12-month period in their lives. The grand sum spent on U.S. weddings last year was $72 billion, with $8 billion more devoted to honeymoons and $19 billion on wedding gift registries. "With these titles, you're talking to people who are in the market - you're talking to the drunken sailor who has money to spend," former Condé Nast Bridal Group president Peter King Hunsinger said earlier this year (he has since moved to the publisher post at GQ). "People who are planning their wedding are looking to make it the best day of their lives. You don't scrimp on something like that." Elegant Bride debuted in 1988 as Southern Bride, a publication with a decided regional and cultural slant. It was relaunched as Elegant Bride in October 1990.
Business-to-business print advertising spending was slightly down in May, according to figures released by American Business Media. Ad dollars were down 1.1% compared to May 2002, while pages were down 5.9%. Year to date, spending was up 0.7% and pages were down 4.4%. "It's been a tough two-and-a-half years for our industry, but we do share some cautious optimism for the near future," said Gordon Hughes, President & CEO of American Business Media. "We expect an uptick sometime around September, and we are still comfortable with our projection of 3% growth in ad spending for the year. We're also estimating single-digit growth in early 2004." Five of the 12 categories showed improvement in ad spending in May compared to the same period the year before. Horticulture & Farming was up 94.1%; Automotive up 25.8%; Retail up 21.0%; Services, Direct Response & Classified up 10.6%; and Home & Building up 2.8%. The other categories were down: Travel by 32.1%; Telecommunications by 32.0%; Computers by 14.8%; Software by 14.4%; Finance, Business & Advertising by 4.7%; Drugs & Toiletries by 3.4%; and Manufacturing & Electrical Equipment, Materials & Components by 1.6%. Four categories saw an increase in ad pages in May compared to the same period last year. Horticulture & Farming was up 40.1%; Automotive was up 19.3%; Retail was up 8.5%; and Services, Direct Response & Classified up 3.3%. The remaining categories were down: Telecommunications by 35.4%; Travel by 27.3%; Software by 21.5%; Computers by 14.3%; Drugs & Toiletries by 10.5%; Finance, Business & Advertising by 8.5%; Manufacturing by 7.9%; and Home & Building by 2.7%.
For its return to television after five years, Russell Athletic is going deep into college football. The apparel maker is doing advertising's equivalent of the big drive toward the end zone, not only launching a major print, online and TV campaign but signing on with ESPN and ABC Sports for a major sponsorship of college football's Bowl Championship Series. The bowl sponsorship includes 30-second spots in-game on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 and during the bowl games in late December and early January. It also includes several branded opportunities, including the "Russell Material Player of the Game" on ESPN games beginning in September and regular "Road to the BCS" customized vignettes. Terms of the deal weren't announced. The deal came about after Russell came up with more money for the campaign and asked its creative and planning agency, WestWayne in Atlanta, for recommendations. Judy Popky, vice president and media director, said WestWayne and Russell wanted to explore opportunities that were in line with Russell's core strategy. The timing and Russell's interest in aligning itself with college sports led them to ESPN and ABC Sports. "They put together a customized package that really tied into our objectives," Popky said. WestWayne's campaign for Russell targets heavy sports-minded individuals, people who live and breathe sports. They may have played or coached high school and college sports, participated in intramurals and pickup games, or are just avid fans. Popky said the Russell brand pursues the purity and integrity of sports, avoiding sports properties where it's not about the fun. "Our whole campaign is about bringing the fundamentals back to sports. College sports has that pristine feeling left to it," she said. Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN-ABC Sports customer marketing and sales, said all the pieces fell into place on the Russell/BCS deal and most, if not all, of the networks' properties are being used. Russell has ads in ESPN: The Magazine, spots on ESPN Radio and an online segment that could include commercials using the new ESPN Motion technology. "For the right idea and the right concepts, we can do a very sophisticated, integrated marketing concept that is designed to achieve a variety of goals for both parties," Erhardt said. It's not just a media and marketing relationship, either. Russell and ESPN/ABC are partnering to sell BCS-branded merchandise. "We strive for that," Erhardt said. "The more that you can create a value proposition that ties the media entities and ties the customer into a relationship that is stronger, the better off you are. We felt the BCS brand was a brand that could be enhanced." Russell Athletic can't compete at the same measure as a Nike, though it wants its name and authentic nature in front of its target audience. So it's very excited to be able to embed itself into such a set of top sports properties, Popky said.