• by Kristin Sidorak , November 28, 2005

DiversityInc, a magazine focused on diversity in the business world, has come up with an unusual strategy to drive more diversity in an important part of its own business: advertisers. And the strategy--offering advertisers a free pro bono ad for every three conventional ads they buy in the magazine--appears to be working. IBM has already signed up for the program, and several other deals are pending, says Luke Visconti, partner and co-founder of the publication.

The program, which went into action this fall, is designed to overcome the fear some marketers have that "they are not receiving the best possible deal" by investing in diversity-oriented media buys, says Visconti. He sees that "there is a great deal of interaction between corporate America and charities--such as with the United Negro College Fund and services for black MBA, both proven successful, and aided in corporate recruiting. "They do a lot of good for everyone," asserts Visconti.

The strategy isn't entirely altruistic. With a cost-per-thousand of nearly $100, Visconti claims DiversityInc reaps higher ad rates than most general business magazines, and asserts that premium is due to the magazine's philanthropic focus.

Describing the magazine industry's practice of discounting published rate cards as "counterproductive," Visconti hit on the pro bono volume discount as a solution for both DiversityInc and its advertisers, as well as the philanthropic causes their ads support.

Visconti is not alone in drawing a connection between commercial publishing. On Nov. 16, the Magazine Publishers of America hosted a so-called "town hall" in New York devoted to the subject. The forum, entitled "Engaging the Multicultural Audience," features leading diversity-oriented publishers, including Visconti as well as Alvaro Saralegui, vice chairman of Latina Media Ventures, and Cynthia Leive, editor in chief of Glamour.