Economic indicator: Home and living magazines
The housing market continues to improve and with it, a multitude of other industries are feeling the love. Including those shiny, glossy magazines about our homes and all the stuff we buy for them.
“You have to see this” — that’s what it says on the cover of “House Beautiful“. And, if you open up the cover there’s a fancy, double page ad for paint.
Kate Kelly Smith works with Hearst Design Group which publishes House Beautiful. She says the strong housing market means interior design magazines are selling more ads. Advertising Age says this month’s issues have sold almost 9 percent more than last year.
“We’ll we’re a direct reflection of the market, so when there’s an uptick in the marketplace, we can feel it across each and every part of our business,” Kelly Smith says.
Ads for small appliances, big appliances, even cars. Steve Cohn is editor in chief of Media Industry Newsletter. But he says, the magazine industry is still not as perfect as the interiors in its pictures.
“It’s not like a total recovery, like kumbaya, everything is great,” Cohn says.
But the ads sure do look good.
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