"Staging" has become an important part of selling a home. The term still may be unfamiliar to many, but the concept certainly is not. In the magazine business it's called styling, and simply put, it's about romancing. It's all those elements that are brought to a photo shoot to enhance a room, inside or out: flowers, bowls of fresh fruit, throws, spots of color in accessories such as pillows, collectibles. Retailers and manufacturers know just how important these "magazine worthy" touches are, and they spend a bundle to photograph their products in the best light, literally and figuratively, which is why some of today's relevant cues for making your home inviting come from retailer catalogs.

"Catalogs have become the new magazines," said Gale Steves, a former editor-in-chief for Home magazine and currently a home-design consultant based in New York. "They're lifestyle catalogs that merchandise in very interesting ways that catch the eye. It's up to you to interpret."

Retailer Ethan Allen, for example, produces a magazine distinguished by its large format and edgy graphic covers. They're visually compelling with tight, low-angled photography and packed with witty takes on design, such as the top 10 signs you need a design pro. Some examples: Your dining room makes you want to go out to eat; someone nominated your home for a TV makeover show; there's no decent backdrop for family photos, so you always shoot outside.

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MARKETING WEEK, 12 Mar 2009: The climate of gloom surrounding traditional print media is not shared by its digital and customer publishing counterparts which are embracing creativity to drive change. Creativity has always driven the growth of media brands, but the speed of change in recent years has left some familiar names reeling in shock. As nimble new players accelerate away from the pack, there is evidence that lumbering old timers are spluttering on their dust.

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JOHNS HOPKINS, 12 Mar 2009: A surefire way for a fashion magazine to make money is through the sale of advertisement space. Fashion magazines, while providing copious amounts of joy, are also businesses. Even the less commercial glossies need to finance their printing. Enter, advertisers. Now, to be completely redundant, times are tough. The fashion industry is not immune, and it is suffering from a lack of eager advertisers.

The New York Times reported recently that Vogue and Lucky's ad percentages were down 44 percent from January 2008 to January 2009, Allure had a decline of 41 percent and Teen Vogue posted a 29 percent decline. Some might think, "Well, that's rough for Condé Nast and all, but isn't that good for the reader? Ads are so annoying." Ah, what a na've musing in the face of the wonders that are fashion advertisements. A good ad catches the reader's attention in some way: humor, sentiment, sex appeal, bold graphics, et cetera. Fashion advertising has evolved to a higher level. They incorporate these qualities, and they incorporate them better. Fashion advertisement has become an art form, and at its best is comparable to the editorials they run alongside.

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NYTIMES, 11 Mar 2009: As tough times send some publishers running for cover, marketers are running advertisements on the covers of some publications. The April issue of Scholastic Parent & Child, scheduled to come out on Monday, will carry an ad on the front cover for the first time in the 16-year history of the magazine. The ad, for a company called Smilebox, will appear in the lower right corner of the cover and carry the label “advertisement” in small type.

The ad, a change in the magazine’s policy, came after discussions between the business and editorial sides of the magazine, owned by Scholastic Inc., as well as conversations about the concept with readers.

“There was a lot of thought put into it,” said Nick Friedman, the editor in chief of Scholastic Parent & Child. “We knew it was envelope-pushing.”

The appropriateness of a cover ad “was something that crossed my mind initially,” he added. “It has to work within the context of the magazine, otherwise it will be very outlandish.”

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MEDIAWEEK, 11 Mar 2009: Google is expanding its display offering by launching a behavioural targeting ad programme that will display ads across its AdSense content network and YouTube.
The service, Interest Based Advertising, which launches today (11 March) in test form, tracks online users' behaviour through their browser cookies as they visit one of the sites that show ads through Google's AdSense program. AdSense is an ad application under which website owners can enable text, image and video ads on their websites.

In turn, the new service offers users relevant targeted ads based on their online activity. Sensitive information, such as religion, sexual orientation, pornography, medical issues and political agenda will be not be captured. Google will assign users to categories based on their cookies. For example, a user may be labelled a sports enthusiast or potential property hunter.

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MSNBC, 11 Mar 2009: Tough economic times are forcing many companies to cut back marketing and advertising budgets. According to figures released by the Publishers Information Bureau in January, consumer magazine advertising pages dropped nearly 12 percent in 2008. While cost cutting may be necessary to remain solvent, forcing your marketing department to go on a crash diet can cause companies to lose the momentum and brand awareness they've built up through long-term campaigns.

Just because times are lean doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your hard-earned market share. Use this economic downturn as a chance to supplement your marketing and advertising activities with targeted public relations campaigns that capitalize on the brand awareness you've already cultivated.

So how do you do more with less?

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