Political Magazine Gets Face-Lift

Redesigned ‘American Prospect’ Looks for Broader Ad Support
BOSTON–The American Prospect will relaunch next week with a new design, higher ad content and more frequent issues.
The 10-year-old Boston-based publication will transform itself from a bimonthly with lengthy articles and only 10 percent advertising to a slimmer biweekly that features a mix of short and long pieces and a roughly 70-30 ad-to-edit ratio.
Publisher Candice White joined The American Prospect’s 20-member staff in January. White was previously operations manager and director of new media at Fast Company and The Atlantic Monthly, an American Prospect competitor.
White will aim to broaden the liberal magazine’s advertising base, which has been dominated by book publishers. She described the magazine’s readership as well-educated industry leaders, a prime audience for financial and technology advertisers.
She also will double the magazine’s direct mailers to try to boost readership from 24,000 to 90,000 over the next five years.
White has added eight new staffers, including the magazine’s first ad salesperson, Linda Lydon, who was in ad sales at Men’s Journal in New York. The expanded staff has moved from Cambridge, Mass., to Boston’s financial district and has opened an office in Washington, D.C.
The changes are fueled by a $5.5 million grant from the Florence & John Schumann Foundation of Montclair, N.J. That amount is expected to grow to $11 million following an evaluation of the magazine’s relaunch. The goal is to be self-sufficient in five years, White said.
Warner Communications in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., was hired for a relaunch ad campaign. Warner also is handling media relations with Washington, D.C.-based Hill & Knowlton. The account is in the six figures, according to agency president Carin Warner.
Warner created the publication’s first trade ads, which will run in November and December in print and online versions of BPI-owned Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek and Marketing Computers.
The ads tout the buying power of liberal America. One shows a peace sign and a Mercedes-Benz symbol with the text, “These days, liberals are traveling in totally different circles.”