• Folio, Thursday, January 19, 2006 12 PM

How does a magazine get its title and its focus? In the case of Time Inc.'s recent launch Cottage Living, executives in many of the company's lifestyle titles noticed a "blip in response whenever the word "cottage" appeared on their covers or within their pages," according to a case history of the magazine's debut in Folio. Once editors at Southern Progress' book division reported a similar "cottage" story, the company did some research, with the highest test result in recent Time Inc. history. (If you're wondering exactly what cottage is, it's a form of decorating and lifestyle related to country living.) The takeaway lesson for other publishers: "Be aware of quirky common threads that pop up across your divisions."

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