Stretch your editorial budget with brand extensions

Presented by Kim Pittawaykapittaway@yahoo.ca

Copyright Kim Pittaway. Do not forward, republish or distribute without permission.

What to expect

• A framework within which to brainstorm and evaluate brand extension ideas

• A focus on editorial-based extensions• Examples to prompt your own idea

generation• Feedback on what might work for

your brand

My expertise

• Magazine writer and editor• Developed multiple brand extensions for

Chatelaine, including web guide, recipe collections, health guide and radio show

• Worked with Torontolife.com on their real estate brand extension

• Editorial consultation with magazines across a range of sizes and budgets with a focus on editorial and brand strategy

Why extend your brand?

To generate additional income

To generate additonal income by…

• Getting more $$ from your existing audience

• Getting more $$ from your existing advertisers

• Getting new income from a new audience• Getting new income from new advertisers• Getting more use (higher income) from

existing assets

So the starting point is…

To know your audience, your advertisers and your assets

• Who is your target audience?• What do you deliver to them?• Who wants to reach them?• What does your audience want more of?• What do your advertisers want more of?

And you could ask yourself…

• Are there new markets we could be reaching?

• New advertisers we could be targeting?

But in all of this, the low-hanging fruit is…

…to maximize the content you already produce

Which leads to more questions…

• Do you have evergreen content that can be repurposed in new formats?– Recipes– Plans/how-to– Local history– Natural history

• Do you have specialist content that can be compiled for niche audiences?– Bird watchers– Antiquers– Family reunion

More questions, p 2

• Do you have seasonal content that can be collected and reused?– Holiday best– Pumpkin stencils– Turkey video

• Do you have content in one medium that can be reused in another?– Online– Radio/TV– Newspaper

More questions, p3

• Do you have content/contacts that can be turned into events/experiences?– Award programs– Editor/columnist/writers in-person– Exclusive events

Delivering more to the target

• www.bhg.com Décor Inspiration• Toronto Life real estate guide--online

and in print• Chatelaine Recipes/Good Health• CH&H SIPs--one more way to slice it

But does “more” have to be this big?

Small but smart

• Posters• Real Simple to go• Martha Stewart recipe cards• Up Here dog cards• Day time/night time maps

But does it always start with the magazine?

• The South Beach example

Does it always have to come from the editors?

• Reader photos in calendars and other content

• Reader involvement in voting for images

• Reader recipes• Reader stories

Our Canada and More of Our Canada

Why extend your brand?

To deepen your reader connection

To build reader loyalty

Why do readers affiliate with your brand? Why do they want to belong to your tribe?

The emotional life of readers

• Self-esteem• Nostalgia• Pride• Connection• Aspiration

So how…

…can your brand extensions deepen those emotional bonds and cement reader loyalty?

By meeting emotional needs

• What are your readers’ emotional triggers?– What emotional notes do they hit in their

letters?– What kinds of content do they already

respond to strongly?

And what extensions fit those triggers?

• “our best recipes” vs “your best recipes”

• “your best recipes” vs “best family reunion recipes”

• Regional iconography• Memories/stories/nostalgia• Competency tools (how-to, guides)• Dream enablers (r.e., plans)

Brainstorming

• What emotional note do you want to strike?

• What content do you have at your disposal?

• What extension could you create?

• How could you monetize it?