• by March 9, 2006

Meredith Corp.'s Midwest Living magazine is teaming with Publishing Group of America's American Profile newspaper magazine to launch a new travel-oriented supplement in hundreds of small-market Midwestern newspapers.

Dubbed Go! Travel Ideas, the four-color supplement will appear three times this year with an eye toward increasing frequency in 2007, according to Midwest Living Publisher Peter Gross. The first issue will appear the week of March 26; subsequent issues are planned for May and August.

Go! Travel Ideas will be stitched inside copies of American Profile and distributed in 360 newspapers in 12 Midwestern states with a circulation of 2 million. Editorial content--to be created by Midwest Living staff--will offer family-oriented trip planning advice and include articles on weekend getaways, restaurants, special deals, and outdoor activities. Unlike major Sunday supplements like Parade, USA Weekend, and Life, American Profile is distributed only in small, local newspapers--most of them weeklies. It has a total circulation of 8 million and is distributed in 1200-plus small-town newspapers nationwide, but this project is focused only on the magazine's Midwest distribution.

It is that targeted distribution in hard-to-reach areas that made the deal attractive to Meredith, Gross said. "American Profile offers a better penetration in smaller counties throughout the Midwest than we could get anywhere," he said.

Tracey Altman, vice president-group publisher of American Profile, said her magazine benefited from the deal because their readers and their newspaper partners will benefit from being connected to "a great brand" like Midwest Living. "It's also a powerful reminder that American Profile is different from the other supplements because we offer a unique, untapped audience."

Advertisers in the first issue include state tourism offices in Missouri, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Kansas, as well as Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and the Henry Doorly Zoo and Wildlife Safari, both in Omaha.

Gross said he plans to target national advertisers for inclusion in future issues, such as hotel chains, car rental companies, and cruise lines, among others.