FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved

Media by FFWD Staff There’s a new breed of publication on the market that borders the line between magazines and catalogues – and their numbers are growing. From Holt Renfrew to WalMart, businesses are turning to publishing to spread their message to their target audience. Patrick Walsh, editor of Masthead, a publishing industry magazine, refers to the publications as customer magazines, or magalogues. "I don’t know whether it’s a passing fad or an emerging new marketing tool that’s here to stay," he says. "It’s only bad if these publications are pretending to be something they’re not." Some of the new products do appear to fall into that category. IKEA space, which launched in October, is one of the more obvious of the bunch. At first glance it appears to be a makeover of the catalogue, with a few stories inserted between the pages of products to add interest. But, no, it’s a separate publication that masquerades as a magazine devoted to design when it really just blatantly promotes the product – from the story about a woman who collects unusual items at garage sales (all displayed on IKEA shelving, of course) to a Swedish Christmas (with IKEA decorations) to transitional dinner parties (which aren’t complete without IKEA utilities, place settings, candles...). There are only a few stories not directly linked to the company and its products. Walsh says magalogues that try to pass themselves off as legitimate magazines bring the integrity of the entire industry into question. "It sullies the medium as a whole," he explains. "When it twigs that this is just to show off IKEA, or whatever, one wonders if this is what all magazines do." However, Walsh adds, that assumes ignorance on the part of readers, and he thinks most people are smart enough to recognize the difference between a magazine and a marketing tool. "If they aren’t fooled, maybe they’ll get pissed off." Not all of the publications are used to promote the product – a standout in the field is Benetton's Colors, perhaps one of the first magazines initiated by a retailer. A flip through the pages reveals a feature on sperm banks, a photo spread on street vendors who sell designer knock-offs, and no contrived stories on people who make or wear Benetton clothing. However, Walsh says one could argue that Benetton is using the magazine to market the company as socially conscious and forward thinking – they may not be pushing the products, but they’re still pushing an image. And the same could be said for Starbucks, which launched a new in-store magazine this summer. Joe runs articles that have nothing to do with coffee and everything to do with arts, literature and deep thought. Apart from an ad for the new travel Bodum – developed in cooperation with Starbucks – there is no attempt to promote the product. According to Starbucks spokesperson Karmen Johnson, Joe was never intended to be a marketing tool and is not funded though the marketing budget. Instead, she explains patiently, it was born out of a desire to create something for its loyal customers. "We’re always looking for new ways to enhance ourselves and the experience for our customers." The company chose to start a magazine inspired by the coffeehouse tradition of conversation, community and culture, which is produced independently under a joint agreement between Starbucks Coffee Company and Time Inc. Custom Publishing. Described as a general interest magazine, the editors state it will include work by top writers, poets and photographers (the debut issue featured an article by Douglas Coupland) as well as new talent. Walsh says Joe does not fall into the category of magalogue. "It’s a magazine. It just happens to be published by Starbucks," he explains. However, it was developed to appeal to a specific readership – the hip, young and educated who have enough disposable income to afford the price of a Starbucks coffee. And not only does Joe aim to appeal to the Starbucks customer, it also attracts businesses that want to target the Starbucks demographic – the magazine includes ads for Ralph Lauren’s Polo Sport, General Motors, Nokia, Yves vegetarian soy products, Eddie Bauer, etc. The catch is that Joe, unlike most general interest magazines, can only be purchased at Starbucks outlets – and judging by the coating of dust on the cover and the fact that our server didn’t know how to ring it in, customers aren’t buying into it. Within the industry, the general consensus seems to be that magalogues are not magazines in the sense that we’ve come to know them – the traditional publisher has been cut out of the picture by companies who want to go straight to the customers themselves. However, there’s nothing to stop any of these publications from calling themselves a magazine. "There’s no real person or authority to decide what is and is not a magazine," says Walsh. "All one can do is take bits and pieces of what’s deemed acceptable and what’s not." In the September 1999 issue of Masthead, Walsh wrote an editorial on the subject, referring to a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision to bestow magazine status on Point of View, published by Holt Renfrew. The case involved the B.C. government, which argued that the magalogue should pay the province’s seven per cent sales tax because, as it was primarily used to promote Holt Renfrew product, it did not quality as a magazine or periodical. Holt’s lawyers argued that the publication carried sufficient editorial to grant it tax-free status as a magazine – and it won. Mark Jamison, executive director of the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association, says the government has several definitions of what constitutes a magazine – but none of them are the same. "In the last week, I’ve seen seven different definitions of magazine based on different pieces of legislation." He points out that it’s becoming more and more difficult to determine what qualifies as a magazine because there is such variation in focus, content, frequency and publishing format. The association’s own guidelines draw the line at whether a customer chooses to pay for it – only magazines with a paid circulation base are eligible to be members. Jamison says the issue of magalogues has been discussed among the association’s members, but it hasn’t taken any position on it because several member are niche magazines published by contractors themselves. "We’re not in a position to pass judgement on anything – and we don’t," he adds. Jamison believes the emergence of magalogues reflect a new approach to marketing that society is seeing more and more of – from specialty channels to niche magazines. He adds that they may be evolving in response to the demands of a more sophisticated audience. "The consumer is not satisfied just to leaf through a bunch of ads." However, he also cautions that businesses can’t just rely on their own publications because they may be preaching to the converted and missing out on potential customers. Walsh offers another possible explanation for the emergence of magalogues, and says the publishing industry should take note. "The big question is: Why is this happening?" he says. "Maybe there’s a failure on the medium to offer appropriate venues to market their products." Regardless of whether publications are magazines created by publishers to attract a readership that appeals to its advertisers, or "dressed up" catalogues created by companies to sell a product to a specific audience, they do add to an already cluttered array of choices for readers and advertisers. "It’s an extraordinarily competitive business... and these (magalogues) represent another competitive stress," Jamison says. "And they’re facing as many challenges as anybody else."

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