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The Wind-Up
Not long after Real Simple launched in April 2000 the magazine
started to face serious complications. The publication, born to
help simplify every facet of a woman's life, lacked editorial focus
and left consumers confused. Advertisers were puzzled. The press
pounced. "In the beginning it felt and looked really cold and
monk-like," says executive editor Tom Prince (ex-Allure/New York),
who was recruited to the magazine in January 2001. "People found
the services to be a little wanting and [the title] didn't really
reflect the life any woman wanted to lead."
But not for nothing is Time Inc. the nation's top magazine
company. Real Simple's first editor, Susan Wyland, was quickly let
go and replaced by Carrie Tuhy. She reconfigured the edit, warmed
up the content and soon established a solid editorial foundation
that Kristin van Ogtrop -- who replaced Tuhy last April -- has
built on. After the initial stumbles, "real women were added to the
layout, as opposed to hyper-artful shots," Prince says. "The warmth
in women's lives was more reflected [on the page] and the text
became a lot more service-oriented." Once Real Simple located its
"DNA" things began to fall into place. Circulation has grown
steadily to 1.55 million from an initial 400,000. The publication
won Advertising Age's Magazine of the Year in 2002 (in addition to
several other kudos from media trades) while its Barnes & Noble
newsstand ranking jumped to No. 10 in 2003 from No. 99 in 2001. Ad
pages increased 13% in March compared with March 2003, according to
PR NEWS sister publication min.
Real Simple's readers are now strongly wedded to the
publication. After being featured in the December/January issue,
for example, a product called "puppy muffler," a kid's scarf,
received 12,000 orders. So if you have a product you want to pitch,
be ready to back it up with volume. The magazine's demos are
nothing to sneeze at either. More than two- thirds of its readers
are women aged 25-59; the core audience is women aged 39,
professional, with a little more than half of them married with
children. Perhaps more important, readers' average household income
is $91,000, the highest among women's consumer titles.
The Pitch
Real Simple is published 10 times a year, with combined issues
in December/January and June/July. It has three main sections: The
"Life Guide," which runs in the front of the book, features tasty
pieces on food, fashion, life, beauty and health; the feature well
blows out the areas found in the first section, a piece, for
example, on a home that's been entirely refurbished or articles on
classic clothing. The back of the book includes "Priorities," which
offers advice to women who are embarking on new phases of their
lives and "Real Mission," contributed pieces by women who are
serving their communities through charitable organizations. Asked
how the magazine distinguishes itself from other women's titles
that seek to inspire, such as Martha Stewart Living and O The Oprah
Magazine, Prince says, "Martha teaches, O preaches and we're the
best friend with good advice.
"We're all about solutions," Prince adds. "We're not going to
tell readers to buy a $185 Hermes teacup. We're going to tell
readers what the health benefits of tea are and how to enjoy it.
Every story has got to be about saving time, space and money." This
means that if you are pitching a product that truly saves time -
and helps women organize their lives - you are likely to get a fair
hearing.
Reporters like to be initially contacted via e-mail (see
Contacts) and are reluctant to return phone calls unless they're
interested in pursuing the story. If you do send a press release
and weeks if not months go by without getting a response, don't
worry. The magazine has a sophisticated filing system for press
releases that may not be appropriate for the magazine at the time
you pitch but may work for a story down the road. Ditto for
physical products that are sent to the magazine. "We want anything
that saves time," Prince says. "And that doesn't necessarily have
to be a drawer organizer or stain remover but clothes, cars and
Internet-related travel."
For any magazine pitch, patience is a virtue; yet perhaps none
more so than Real Simple considering the reach it has cultivated
throughout the media. Segments on the magazine appear regularly on
network, cable and local TV outlets, with pieces having recently
aired on NBC's "Today Show," CBS' "Early Show," "The Food Network,"
"The View" and CNN while the "Dr. Phil" received its highest New
York ratings ever with the broadcast of a Real Simple home
makeover.
Real Simple Contacts
Tom Prince, [email protected];
executive editor (He handles press releases and products relating
to Organizing and any areas not covered below.)
Joyce Bautista, [email protected],
Beat: Home
Jenny Rosenstrach, [email protected],
Beat: Food
Mary Duenwald, [email protected],
Beat: Health, Nutrition
Elizabeth Graves, [email protected],
Beat: Beauty
Karen Kozlowski, [email protected],
Beat: Fashion
Lesley Alderman, [email protected]
, Beats: Technology, Money, Fitness
Sally Schultheiss, [email protected],
Beat: Profiles
Correction
In the "Media Insight" column Feb. 16 on InformationWeek, the
six technology areas mentioned are covered on the magazine's Web
site. The core sections in print are: Techonomics, Business
Processes, Software Tools, Infrastructure and Management. We
apologize for the error.