• The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 9:18 AM

Sports Illustrated is trying to turn its iconic swimsuit edition into a revved-up marketing machine. The magazine always tries to create lots of buzz for the issue, but this year it has turned its promotional efforts themselves into moneymakers, generating about $3 million in revenue.

Among the deals struck by the magazine: PepsiCo's SoBe brand is sponsoring YouTube videos of the swimsuit models frolicking on the Canary Islands and in Naples, Italy. Also, as part of a days-long Vegas celebration, stunt drivers sponsored by Nissan Motor will race cars on a lot adjacent to the Luxor hotel, with swimsuit models as their passengers.

Sports Illustrated, which is owned by Time Warner, is using the grab for nontraditional marketing dollars to diversify its annual haul from the swimsuit edition. This year, about 40% of revenue generated by the issue -- which accounts for about one-tenth of the magazine's total annual revenue -- will come from digital and event-marketing efforts. Four years ago, just 4% of the issue's revenue came from sources other than print advertising, executives say.

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