The Wall Street Journal will debut its weekend luxury magazine, Pursuits, globally in September 2008.
Though plans for the Pursuits launch initially focused on the US market, ad opportunities inspired executives to distribute the glossy in Europe and Asia as well. The company will distribute 800,000 copies of Pursuits as inserts to Wall Street Journal subscribers in the US. The insert will also be found in WSJ’s Weekend Edition. Europe will receive another 80,000 copies in its weekend edition, and 80,000 more will be inserted in WSJ Asia.
“The opportunity was there, and the feedback was great,” said Jamie Friedman Altschul, associate publisher and advertising sales and marketing director of Pursuits, of the decision to launch simultaneously worldwide. “We were talking to a lot of global brands, and it was an opportunity to do big, worldwide multimedia platforms. The demand was there, and we have the opportunity to take advantage of it because we’re one of the few global products out there.”
Ads will be sold in packages across WSJ properties, including its Web site. Executives at WSJ expect many of the paper’s core advertisers to buy space in Pursuits, at a general rate of $90,000 for a full-page color spot.
“It also opens us up to those with magazine targets who love the audience but need the glossy environment,” added Altschul. “Pursuits is much more lifestyle focused, so certain brands who love us, who run campaigns and messages in the paper, now can run something different in the magazine.”
Altschul says the Pursuits staff will be beefed up in coming months. The glossy is searching for art directors and an editorial department staff with magazine experience.
The Wall Street Journal already publishes a glossy — Style Journal — in Europe, and another — Weekend — in Asia. Both of these titles will be replaced by Pursuits, but content in each edition will be tweaked to better serve its immediate audience.
