Once again, the Philips Electronics North America Corporation is going the single-sponsorship route in a new project--this one with a popular epicurean magazine--that builds on its advertising theme
of "sense and simplicity." For the new initiative, Philips will spend an estimated $4 million to be the only sponsor of a 98-page, booklet-like supplement that will be distributed with the August
issue of
Gourmet magazine, a Conde Nast publication. It will come in a "poly bag," or plastic wrapper, making it what the magazine industry calls an outsert. The supplement is devoted to
articles that are meant to "provoke you into thinking about the act of eating in a richer and more interesting way," Ruth Reichl, editor in chief, writes in a note to readers that opens the
supplement. Previously, Philips was the sole sponsor of an episode of "60 Minutes" that carried fewer commercials than usual. The additional minutes were given back to CBS News, which lengthened each
of the reports on the show. And in April, Philips paid Time Inc. an estimated $5 million to sponsor a novel reordering of the insides of the issues of four magazines:
Business 2.0, Fortune,
People, and
Time. The sponsorship brought the table of contents in each issue forward to the first pages inside the covers. The goal of the initiative is to convince consumers that Philips,
part of Royal Philips Electronics, makes it easier for them to enjoy their favorite TV show or publication just as the products Philips sells--from light bulbs to neonatal monitors to body-grooming
shavers--are intended to make life easier
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