Mags: Secrets to Frankie's Success

(More) Secrets to Frankie's Success

This morning I referenced Melbourne-based fashion editor Rachel Wells' excellent piece on Frankie magazine's success for The Sunday Age replete with a lovely big picture of editor Jo Walker and added commentary bits by yours truly (see below).

I think Wells, whose pithy fashion columns expertly translate trends for the every-girl, really captured the essence of why Frankie is going great guns. But there's something else I want to draw your attention to. In addition to its strong reader relations, I would add that the attention to detail it also pays to how it presents itself to advertisers, journalists and bloggers is fundamentally important – all which translate into positive PR, market momentum, ad dollars, sales and new converts.

Last week, for example, after reading that my copy of Frankie was rain-sodden, the team promptly sent me a fresh, dry copy in the post, along with a media kit, postcards and a selection of badges. Obviously, I was delighted. This is the stuff of positive relationships (yes, I know relationships are give and take). Clearly, Sahil Merchant, CEO of magazine retailer mag nation has had the same experience. He's quoted in the media kit:

"Frankie is one of the very best magazines and one of our very best sellers at mag nation. It mobilises the voices of their fans to create a presence larger than the magazine. The magazine becomes almost a social lubricant, which elevates it beyond a mere collection of words and images."

Obviously, the ad team isn't going to elicit negative commentary for its sales pitch, making media kits fertile ground for positive endorsements. But paging through the kit – just like the magazine – it's hard not to get the warm-and-fuzzies. Presented on scrapbook/butcher's paper and filled with beautiful imagery from the magazine, as well as impressive statistics on psychographics, CPMs and such, it contains several quotes from supporters of the magazine – advertisers like Converse, retailers who've benefited from Frankie editorial and designers and musicians who've made appearances on its pages.

All these things add up to a super-positive brand experience that resonates through the web and beyond. Whether a web-business owner, freelancer, employee or magazine, I think we could all apply the same "branding" strategy to our presentation and relations: authenticity, consistency and something a bit unique.

To round out today's Frankie sycophancy special, shortly I'll be posting a guest review of the latest issue by a long-time Frankie fan-girl!

See also: Frankie and Julie are Sweethearts (see, Frankie is winning converts by the second!)

Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel