Oct 5, 2009 10:24 AM
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The results of the Conde Nast Magazine Death Pool are in, stunningly early: the company announced this morning that it's folding Gourmet, Cookie, and two bridal magazines, Elegant Bride and Modern Bride.
This, then, is the fallout from McKinsey. The company had floated the idea that its turnaround could be accomplished without any magazines going under (if you're keeping score, Michael Musto's rumor of five mag deaths beat Keith Kelly's rumor of zero), but that was always impractical. Gourmet and Bon Appetit both had horrific recent ad declines; it was logical that one of them would go.
Cookie is a bit different—Conde boss Chuck Townsend actually honored the mag for being one of the company's few bright spots last year, ad-wise. But the parenting mag apparently wasn't well-established enough to weather the recession. And the bridal mags—brand extensions always disappear when times get tough. The brides of America will soldier on. Our condolences to the newly jobless. The full internal Conde memo, below.
From: "Townsend, Chuck"
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 10:16:52 -0400
To: Conde Nast Publications-All
Subject: Announcing Changes within Condé NastWe have now completed an extensive review of our business – an important undertaking given the dramatic changes in the U.S. economy. The review has led us to a number of decisions designed to navigate the company through the economic downturn and to position us to take advantage of coming opportunities.
Condé Nast's success comes from the ability of our publications to attract readers with a wide range of interests, as well as advertisers who value them. But in this economic climate it is important to narrow our focus to titles with the greatest prospects for long-term growth.
As a result of our review, Brides will increase its frequency to monthly to solidify its position as the most important brand in the bridal category, and Modern Bride and Elegant Bride will close.
Gourmet magazine will cease monthly publication, but we will remain committed to the brand, retaining Gourmet's book publishing and television programming, and Gourmet recipes on Epicurious.com. We will concentrate our publishing activities in the epicurean category on Bon Appétit.
Finally, Cookie magazine will be discontinued, and resources that had been dedicated to its publishing will be invested elsewhere.
The editorial and business staffs of Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Gourmet, and Cookie all have earned their magazines large and devoted followings. We have been proud to publish these titles, and we are grateful to the staffs for their hard work and dedication.
These changes, combined with cost and workforce reductions now underway throughout the company, will speed the recovery of our current businesses and enable us to pursue new ventures. In the coming weeks, we hope to announce initiatives to develop digital versions of our brands that will make use of new devices and distribution channels.
Condé Nast is now in its 100th year of creating the most respected and iconic brands in the publishing world. These changes will ensure that our unique publishing company will continue in its preeminent position for many years to come.
Send an email to Hamilton Nolan, the author of this post, at Hamilton@gawker.com.
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