THINK!: Key Magazine - IHT and NYT property magazine

Tuesday 14 October 2008

Key Magazine - IHT and NYT property magazine

If you subscribe to the IHT or bought it at a kiosk last Friday (10th October, 2008) you will have received their new property magazine Key. Unlike with T magazine which arrives several days before the pub date, by mail, the Key magazine was in my letter box with Friday's edition of the newspaper, so some improvement there on the timeliness of these IHT magazines' distribution.

Most interesting about it for me was to see the '28 steps to the International New York Times' rendering of what looks like to be the first public glimpse of the new IHT masthead which will be rolled out next year as part of a wider re-design. The combined mastheads were run vertically on the cover of key but these photos I took strip out the elements individually.

(BTW: no one at the IHT/NYT is under any illusion that a re-design will transform the IHT's future. It is simply something being done to basically tread water. Tread water for how long and to what end?)

NYTCompany Investor relations team press release, dated the following press release 10/10/08 and I received it yesterday. Timely.

Here it is.

My main observation on Key, having now read it, was the complete disconnect between the types of property featured editorially (in terms of value) and the value of the mega-mansions being advertised.

My question is how many of the advertisers listed will still be in business this time next year?

The New York Times/International Herald Tribune Publish First International Edition of ‘Key’
Real Estate Magazine Attracts Significant Advertiser Interest
Paris and New York, October 13, 2008: The first issue of KEY: The New York Times/International Herald Tribune Real Estate Magazine, which launched today, attracted significant advertiser interest and has a total of 51 advertiser pages. The magazine’s theme focuses on the emotional attachment people have to their homes including a mix of articles ranging from managing one’s home from remote locations to relocating your entire family to a castle in Scotland.
Advertisers in KEY, International Edition include: Brown Harris Stevens; Christie’s Great Estates; Clarett Group; The Corcoran Group; Corcoran Sunshine Marketing, Dubai Properties; Extell Development Company; Glenwood Management; K. Hovnanian Homes; LandVest, O’Connor Capital Partners, Punta Cana; On Prospect Park; Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate; St. Regis Residence Club, New York; Stillman Development International; Stribling Marketing Associates; Swig Equities, LLC; Toll Brothers; Domaine de Terre Blanche; and Trump International Golf Club and Residences, Puerto Rico.
“Advertisers’ response to the first international edition of KEY exceeded our expectations,” said Denise Warren, senior vice president and chief advertising officer, The New York Times Media Group. “We are very pleased to see that there is a strong appetite for attracting new audiences and that KEY is seen as a new opportunity to reach our upscale international readers.”
“The launch of KEY, International Edition is providing advertisers with yet another way to reach the IHT’s affluent and sophisticated audience while enriching and expanding the content we provide to our readers,” said Jean-Christophe Demarta, international advertising director, The New York Times Media Group.
KEY, International Edition is distributed inside the IHT to subscribers, at hotels and on newsstands in major markets in Europe and the Middle East. The next issue of KEY, International Edition will be published in March 2009. For information on advertising, please contact Andy Wright at +1 212-556-1050 or wrighah@nytimes.com.