GLAMOUR QUOTIENT COMMUNICATIONS
BUSINESS PLAN
Vision Statement
The Glamour Quotient is all about the beautiful, glittery, bright and shiny things that make us feel good and hot even if we can't own it right now. It's not necessarily about buying, but appreciating the best the world has to offer and wanting the best for your life. The Glamour Quotient features the best-in-class style, products, destinations, hotels, and people, places and things (our features) we can get our hands on. Everything here is all about fun, fantasy, delight and luxury. Glamour is everywhere if you know where and how to look for it. Glamour takes the humdrum out of our everyday existence and makes it all better.
Our motto: You're a star. Live life beautifully.
The Glamour Quotient Audience
Targeted to ambitious and affluent women 18-50 years-old, The Glamour Quotient’s multi-platform media entities (magazine, blog, newsletter, TV programs, travel guides) are their go-to reference point for all things glamorous, out-of-the-ordinary, fun and yes, attainable. Featuring entertaining images and snappy, honest writing, The Glamour Quotient appeals to women who can, or desire to, attain the best in life; they love being surrounded by beauty, quality and glamour.
They shop at America's classic, luxury retail emporiums including Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Dillards and Bergdorf Goodman, as well as smaller boutique stores including Scoop, Intermix and Agent Provocateur. They also shop online at net-a-porter.com, shopbop.com, bluefly.com and stylefeeder.com among other sites. They strive for the best-in-class in every area of their lives and whether they are shopping, making restaurant reservations, traveling or spending time with their spouse or their children, nothing less than the best is good enough.
Glamour Quotient Communications
With a fresh voice, honest and compelling writing and reviews and features of one-of-a-kind products, people and places, Glamour Quotient Communications is a unique combination of luxury, glamour and practicality that can’t be found anywhere else. Showcasing the best of both established and new businesses, The Glamour Quotient offers its readers and TV viewers a wealth of information – at a range of price points - on Products, Style, Beauty, Destinations, Hotels and Features that gives its audience choices and options while always presenting those choices and options in a way that is fun, uplifting and unexpected.
Reach
Glamour Quotient.com has grown quickly and consistently, in just 5 months the magazine has garnered over 600 loyal U.S. and international monthly visitors. In addition, our newsletter will soon reach up to 500 monthly readers. Glamour Quotient Communications may also soon enter into a network agreement with Bettyconfidential.com (577,000 monthly visitors), sharing readers and advertisers with the popular site and will increase Glamour Quotient’s site visitors exponentially.
The Research: Trends and Online Pubs
As you’ll see in Glamour Quotient magazine, our range of coverage focuses on glamorous, luxurious, and practical products, destinations, hotels and style. We know our readers are affluent or aspire to be; but no matter their current economic status, everyone loves high value for the least amount of dollars. That’s why our featured products run the gamut from thousands of dollars to $10. It’s about great quality that is distinct and different without necessarily breaking the bank, giving readers informational choices across a wide spectrum of purchase levels.
Current research supports The Glamour Quotient’s broader and more inclusive approach in communicating with readers. Recent data:
From Trendwatching.com:
What will luxury travel magazine[s] write about in 2009?
A likely answer came recently in the resort town of Cannes, France, where a panel discussion explored the next theme in luxury travel, according to The Huffington Post.
Expect the emphasis of magazine articles, TV shows, and tourism commercials to be on "mindful spending" and "affluent activism." The forecasting company FutureLabs predicts we'll all be seeing more stories about wealthy city-dwellers who choose products "because of their social, ethical, and environmental effects." Look to see more trips with lessons on spirituality in other cultures, more bonding trips (mother-daughter, college buddy weekends, etc), yoga retreats, and volun-tourism.
AND
Whatever angle you may go for, luxury in 2009 will comprise much, much more than ostentatiously flaunting wealth (which, by the way, will still enjoy considerable popularity among emerging middle classes around the world). Find the right (status) trigger for the right audience, then coin it and build on it.
From LuxuryInstitute.com
The once-ostentatious aesthetic of luxury has evolved into a more experiential and subtle one, as we explore in our report on Alphalux. Luxury brands, in order to appeal to the new-generation wealthy consumer, will need to reinvent themselves in terms of design, craftsmanship, quality and service.
AND
The 23.9 million U.S. households with annual incomes of at least $100,000 have cut back in the past year, but millions of them are still planning to make big expenditures, and the economy hasn’t throttled major life events for many, such as getting married or bringing babies into the world, according to the 2009 Mendelsohn Affluent Survey. Nearly a third purchased fine jewelry, and a fifth purchased artwork or collectibles in the past year.
Some 12.2 million of the wealthy plan to travel abroad this year, compared with 13.6 million last year; 7.3 million plan to redecorate their homes, compared with 8.8 million last year; and 6.3 million plan to buy or lease a new vehicle, down from 7.7 million the previous year, the survey showed.
“They are poised to lead us out of the recession,” said Bob Shullman, president of Ipsos Mendelsohn. On average, the wealthy are 2.4 times more likely to buy than those in lower income groups, and when they do buy, they spend 3.7 times more, he said.
Internet-only Publications
Internet-only (no corresponding paper version) publications have a long history of success. They include:
Slate (8.3 million readers/month)
Salon (3.3 million readers/month)
Daily Candy (2.5 million/month)
iVillage (6.6 million/month)
Gawker (3.8 million/month)
Huffington Post (19.9 million/month)
Daily Beast (monthly visitor data not available)
Glamour Quotient magazine, however, follows a true print pub format that will resonate with readers. New content is published once per month only and includes a true front-of-book (Home) page that features the latest, hottest brands, cultural phenomenon, hotels or destinations while teasing readers on what they can expect to read in the remainder of the magazine. The magazine is also sectioned into categories: Products/Beauty/Style/Glam Mom/Hotels/Destinations/ Features - that are familiar to readers of traditional monthly print publications including Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country and W. Our content is practical and fantastical, relevant to the lives of women, 18-50 years old who are wealthy or striving to be.
Glamour Quotient: Ancillary Products
Glamour Quotient Communications’ intention is to be a multi-level brand with communications and products that now, and in the near future, will reach its readers via a range of entities that will generate advertising dollars and ongoing income and profits. They encompass:
An online monthly magazine (launched May, 2009)
A dedicated blog (launched June, 2009)
Facebook Fan Page (launched June 2009)
Twitter Page (launched June 2009)
A monthly newsletter, The GQuo, (launched August, 2009)
Weekly TV show: “Glamourista” (in pitch stage, see more below)
Series of TV shows: “World’s Most Glamorous…” (in pitch stage)
Glamour Quotient Travel Guides (within 12 months, see more below)
Glamour Quotient products including (within 12 months)
oT-shirts
oShorts and sweatsuits
oTravel Bags
On TV: Glamourista
Glam Quo Travel Guides:
Pocket Personal Assistants
Marketing Initiatives
Advertising
A combination of traditional and guerilla advertising is in the execution stages for Glamour Quotient magazine. They include bartered advertising; cross-blog placements (our links on other blogs, their links on ours); and sticker placements locally and nationally in addition to the initiatives outlined below.
Public Relations
Public relations efforts have already begun with a press release announcing the first issue of the magazine on PR Log. There are also plans to distribute the release on Vocus, Travelwriters.com, Travel Writers Alliance and other sites that reach our target audience of lifestyle and travel writers across the country. Other public relations plans are also in the planning stages.
T-Shirt Contest
We will soon create a contest for artists to submit their designs for a Glamour Quotient t-shirt logo that will be the launch for the sale of our branded products online. Branded products will include t-shirts, sweatsuits and bags. The logo will be incorporated onto these products. Call for entries for the contest will be advertised on artist-centric websites as well as Craigslist.com, Facebook and Twitter. First place prize will be $250; second place, a $149 gift card; third place, a $50 gift certificate from Utrecht, the art supply store.
Quarterly Glamour Quotient Preview Parties
Vendors, hoteliers and local businesspeople will preview their glamorous/luxurious products, places and featured items (from jewelry to a new car) for readers, invited guests and the press. The parties will roll out from Miami and eventually expand to other major cities including Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, etc.
The parties will serve as the perfect forum for readers to interact, and have a tactile experience with the very products they read about in the magazine as well as introduce them to products that will be featured in upcoming issues. They will also serve as sales and media opportunities for local and national vendors and will keep the brand front and center in consumers’ minds and the pages of publications in each market.
Online Links
Online marketing experts agree that the most effective way for a website to quickly gain followers and increase its monthly visitor numbers is to be linked to other sites around the Internet. Glamour Quotient’s coverage of a wide range of products and subjects naturally and organically creates links for us on the media pages of the companies we cover, encouraging their readers to click through to the Glamour Quotient’s website. We hope to rapidly build a monthly audience via this and other methods.
Affiliate Partnerships
We are aggressively researching and pursuing affiliate partnerships with other destinations around the web that closely mirror The Glamour Quotient’s voice. For instance, as mentioned before, we may soon enter into a network agreement with Bettyconfidential.com (577,000 monthly visitors) that would allow us to share their readers and advertising content. We will seek out other beneficial business relationships that will support and push the brand to a wider audience within a reasonable amount of time.
Investment and Return
Glamour Quotient Communications is currently seeking investors for individual contributions at the $5,000 level. Investors will receive a number of returns and rewards:
Banner ads for six consecutive months on glamourquotient.com
o160x600 Wide Skyscraper worth $1,000 OR
o120x600 Skyscraper worth $750 + 120x90 Button worth $250 OR
o468x60 Full Banner worth $750 +120x90 Button worth $250
o(Placement will be at the discretion of the editorial staff of GlamourQuotient.com)
Inclusion in the quarterly Glamour Quotient Preview parties, up to 6 parties
Product placement (if appropriate) on the Glamourista TV show-up to 4 shows
Developing stories around your company’s products or business that will include links on our site to your company-2 stories maximum
Inclusion in marketing and public relations initiatives as deemed suitable
Bio: Editor in chief and President
Glamour Quotient Communications
Andrea Marie Thompson (www.andreamariethompson.com) is the former USA Abroad columnist for USA Today who has also written profiles of actors including Danny Glover; travel pieces that cover everything from a fully functioning restaurant in a Tuscan high security prison to traveling solo in Iceland; a 4,000-word health article on illnesses that afflict women under 30 and dozens of fashion articles for Women's Wear Daily.
Thompson’s articles have appeared in national publications: Ocean Drive, Budget Travel, Marie Claire and Women’s Wear Daily among others. She is also a former entertainment reporter with the CBS affiliate, WFOR-TV in Miami and a producer with News 12 Long Island and other news stations. Thompson is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, a former finalist for the prestigious Merit Scholarship, and a former member of the Honor Society.
A seasoned marketing and public relations writer with 10 years experience in the consumer, government, technology and agency sectors, Thompson has worked for L’Oreal USA, Ogilvy Public Relations, international artist Romero Britto and other high-profile companies and individuals. In addition, her public relations efforts have garnered coverage for employers and agency clients on Good Morning America, CNN, ABC World News, CNBC, and in Newsweek and Money magazines and other major media outlets. She also writes internal and external corporate documents including press releases, management bios, website content, speeches/speaking points and announcements.
Thompson received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in Northampton, MA.
