Conde Nast Jettisons Cargo

Media buyers expressed surprise at Conde Nast's decision to fold Cargo, a shopping-oriented title aimed at men. Although he claimed initial readership and ad support was "encouraging, Conde Nast CEO Robert Townsend Monday announced the fledgling magazine would fold after its May issue because the "market will not support our business expectations."

"The ad pages seem respectable, but maybe it was lower than what they had targeted," speculated Debbie Solomon, senior partner and group research director for Mindshare.

Roberta Garfinkle of TargetCast echoed this sentiment, noting, "At least from what I've seen on the advertising side, it seemed to be doing well."

The move likely reflects a continuing difference along gender lines in shopping habits, Solomon and Garfinkle also agreed. "I guess the short version is: 'Men don't shop,'" Garfinkle said, laughing, before amending the statement: "Or at least, men don't shop like women do." Solomon explained: "The magazine is about browsing, and men aren't into browsing."

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As evidence for this, Solomon pointed to the success of other magazines targeting men that cover specific types of consumer products: "Part of the problem might be there are other magazines covering the specific areas Cargo covered but more in depth. There are gadget magazines and if you're into technology toys, you might be buying those. If you're into clothes, you might be buying GQ, or something like Details. And if you're into cars or PCs, of course, there are dozens of titles on that stuff."

By contrast, "It's interesting, because [the browsing magazine] idea succeeds with women," according to Solomon. "You just have to look at Lucky or Shop, where both draw products from a variety of categories."

Solomon also speculated the men's magazine market may be reaching saturation, especially with the proliferation of "laddie" mags. "There've been so many men's magazines launched: the laddie books -- the Maxims, the FHMs. I wondered if we were getting too crowded in the men's field... Men are lighter magazine readers than women. It starts in the teenage years: men just don't read as much."

Finally, the closing of Cargo indicates the arrival of a new management style at Conde Nast, according to Garfinkle: "Unlike the old days of Conde Nast, where they just kept supporting things until they found their market, they're now running it much more like a business." Asked for a basic cause, Garfinkle laughed again, returning to her earlier theme: "I still think it comes down to 'men don't shop.'"

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