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ambitions of Taste
Williams-Sonoma title aspires to be a big player
By Lisa Schneider
When Williams-Sonoma launched Taste in November of 2000, it had all the appearances of another custom-published magazine aimed at further polishing the image of its parent among the upscale consumers of its retail kitchen stores.
Certainly for shoppers entering Williams-Sonoma's 200-plus shops in the U.S. and Canada, it might have been mistaken for a catalogue or magalogue, placed as it was on shelves adjacent to the various cookbooks the retailer publishes.
But as it turns out, the ambitions for the quarterly Williams-Sonoma Taste are far broader than those initial perceptions might have suggested.
Williams-Sonoma from the start has envisioned Taste as a full-fledged consumer magazine with designs to compete against the very largest titles in the culinary and travel categories, including Gourmet, Bon Appétit and Saveur, as well as American Express's Travel + Leisure.
Editorial is a mix of recipes and travel features about fine restaurants and hotels around the world.
At this point, Taste would seem a fledgling contender, with a rate base of just 125,000 against Gourmet's nearly one million subscribers and Bon Appétit's more than 1.3 million.
Its nearest competitor among culinary titles is Saveur, with a circulation of 391,373.
But that is about to change. Taste is undertaking a major circulation effort, with plans to increase its rate base to 150,000 this spring and up to 200,000 for the 2002 holiday issue.
"Long term, we feel we can compete with the leaders in our category and increase Williams-Sonoma Taste's paid circulation to 500,000 and greater," says marketing director Tony Theiss.
Initially, Taste was distributed primarily in the retailer's stores, but distribution has since been expanded to include major book chains and newsstands, where it sells for $5. A third of its circulation is now on newsstands.
"We plan to aggressively promote the magazine via direct mail and other sources to prospective readers outside of our customer database," says Theiss.
Taste, which is published by Weldon Owen Magazines and John Brown Publishing, has a mainly urban audience with an average household income of $120,000 and an average home value of about $300,000. Some 77 percent of its subscribers have active passports, and over 60 percent say they plan to take a trip in the next 12 months.
Other promotional plans include television exposure for its editor in chief, Andy Harris, a former editor of Vogue Australia, and a longtime cookbook and food writer.
Ad categories include culinary, home entertainment, and travel.
The publication saw a 35 percent growth in ad pages for spring 2002 over spring 2001, with Williams-Sonoma product suppliers representing 40 percent of the ad pages.
"Our biggest challenge will be to overcome the perception of Taste being a promotional vehicle as opposed to a consumer magazine," says Theiss.
February 8, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
-Lisa Schneider is a New York writer and a contributor to Media Life.
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