COSMOPOLITAN

The State of Advertising

*Lets Get Digital *Looking Forward

with the Cosmo Girls

Chatting

Best Digital Practices

Where Youre Going , Girl

en m o W c i teg a r t S : s e n o i t Insid u l o ve S i t a e r C Find

Brought to you by BUTTER

TABLE of CONTENTS
1 2 3 4 10
Introduction to Butter Executive Summary The Assignment Situation Analysis Primary Target Market

13 Research 18 Problems and Opportunities 19 Key Insights 20 Marketing Objective 21 Creative Brief 22 Creative Executions

31

Secondary Target Market

32 Research 33 Problems and Opportunities 34 Marketing Objective 35 Tactics

37 43

Evaluation Letter to Cosmopolitan

Meet Butter
1

Rest assured, everything is better with Butter.

Meet a passionate team of empowered women. We are creative strategists, designers, UX, and account managers without the division of departments and walls. We would work on the same side of the table if we could, and sometimes we do. Butter transforms brands from analog to digital icons with strategic integrated marketing communications. This requires pinpointing a brands essence, its place in users lives, and translating it into a unique web presence. Our approach is divided into three phases: Observe, Listen, and Discover. We begin observing consumers brand interactions and distinguish behavior patterns. Subsequently, we listen to consumer conversations about brand experiences. From these ideas and observations, our strategists extract insights to determine the brands web direction to best fit consumer needs. Our creative tactics ensure brand strengths are maximized online within a cohesive strategy. This process emphasizes the relationship between a brand, its users, and the emotion harnessed between them. Butter loves impactful results, and we do what it takes to get there. We treat our clients the way they treat their consumers with meaningful and nonstop effort. For butter or worse, in branding and design, Butter delivers.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Digital space is not replacing traditional media, but magazine publishers need to find ways the correct translation into digital space. With unique characteristics, the web experience is dissimilar to tactile readership. Instead of focusing on these differences, Butter focused on the opportunities that digital platforms provide. We identified a target market for Cosmopolitan of socially connected women, 18-34, in various life stages. These women are connected by their interest in beauty and fashion, love and relationships, life advice, celebrity news, and messages of empowerment. To them, Cosmopolitan provides content about these topics in a relatable tone. The information is relevant to their lives. In order to learn more about the target market, Butter conducted a survey and five focus groups. We uncovered womens expectations for a lifestyle magazines web presence. We tapped into interpersonal behavior and the value of customization. By personalizing web content, these women feel empowered and connected to the material at hand. They want to be active participants in the brand relationship and thanks to digital platforms, this type of interaction is possible. Our research led us to the idea of Cosmo Prints; Cosmopolitan was and continues to be shaped by the women that read it. The magazine speaks for women, with women, and to women. Butters web re-design and tactics will build a strong community centered on this idea. MyCosmo, the personal homepage of Cosmopolitan readers, enables users to select their content and share their voice. The background theme, real-time voting, in-article notes, and weekly lists are just a few ways to get readers involved. Social media will be leveraged to further Cosmopolitans message of empowerment and personalization. To launch the campaign, Cosmopolitan will host a Girls Night Out across the country that incorporates the website, mobile devices, and social media in a method unprecedented by any other brand. This night is sure to grab the attention of our target market and introduce them to the new web presence. In the end, these changes will greatly impact advertisers. Weve developed a system to increase advertising inventory by 25% within phase one and provided creative opportunities for brands to interact with Cosmo readers. Each of these changes incorporates data collection and real-time analytics to ensure the best results for advertising partners.

THE ASSIGNMENT
Completely re-imagine Cosmos web presence: design, features, functionality, commerce, consumer content creation, etc. How can Cosmo best use/exploit the exploding social media dimension? Cosmo is the quintessential "girlfriend magazine," how can the website create community engagement for visitors and encourage them to participate?

How do we make Cosmo the most interactive, engaging brand in a woman's life?
Importantly, this re-imagining of Cosmo's web presence isn't directed solely at consumers. How will it attract and involve advertisers? What new opportunities can it present to Cosmo's present and potential advertisers, further convincing them of Cosmo's multiplatform power as an advertising vehicle?

Deliverables:
1. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of Cosmo, its audience, advertisers and competitive set. 2. Provide a strategic basis for the web recommendations, as well as compelling graphic representations of them. 3. Present a low-cost, all-digital promotional campaign that will drive consumers to the new Cosmo web landscape.

Situation Analysis

4 2

SITUATION ANALYSIS

ens h t g n e r t S g n i k Innovative Thin try Magazine Indus

Player Performance

T
Magazine Industry by Segment

he $43.1 billion magazine and periodical publishing industry is forecasted to grow with a 1.2% AGR through 2017. Despite the recent 4% AGR decline since 2007, the industry will recover from online publication competition, diminished advertising revenue, as well as decreased subscription and single-copy sales.

Key Success Factors

28.9%

Academic/professional periodicals Entertainment magazines General-interest magazines Home and living magazines Business Journals Political Journals Other

14% 13.1% 7.5% 7.5% 1.1%

Industry Costs

27.9%

6.6%

Advance Publications (Cond Nast, Parade, Fairchild, American City Business Journals, Golf Digest) Hearst Corporation

3.4% 2%

Meredith Corporation

12.5% 21.1% 45.4% .8% 3.4% 5.6% 11.4%

Profit Wages Purchases Depreciation Marketing Rent & Utilities

Other

o Access to niche markets o Access to highly skilled workforce o Control of distribution arrangements o Effective cost controls o Establishment of brand names (Source: IBIS Industry Report,

2011)

The State of

Advertising

agazines financial success relies on advertising, which accounts for 50% of total industry revenue. Top magazine spenders include: toiletries, cosmetics, drugs, food, apparel, and media.

Magazines provide an ad space with: o Niche markets reach o Most effective purchase intent o Ad awareness through all purchase funnel stages o Most efficient purchase drive

T
o o o o

he advertising platform today includes combined space in print, online, tablet and mobile. Publications offer multi-platform media bundles to advertisers, increasing the demand for advertising accountability. Accountability relies on: Contextual content Results that leverage broad learning Accountability studies on behalf of clients Marketing ROI within all functions of the company

(Source: Magazine Publishers of America, 2007).

Lets Get Digital

Digital content and advertising revenue are expected to gain momentum for magazine publishers because new devices provide easier access to publications. To attract more revenue, publishers are increasingly pairing their print magazines with websites, tablets, e-readers and mobile devices. Online publishers earn revenue from: o o o o Ad banners Subscriptions Pay-per-view Per item sales
(Source: IBIS Industry Report, 2011)

Looking Forward
As the industry grows, companies can expand audiences by staying digitally current. This knowledge must translate into tactics that complement print. This includes: o o o o o o o o New product development Interactive title libraries Sampling opportunities Innovative offers Partnerships for cross-selling opportunities Partnerships with OEMs Future ad standards and metrics definitions New advertising platforms
(Source: A New Digital Future for Publishers)

SITUATION ANALYSIS

Look at you, gorgeous!

Cosmopolitan is a lifestylist publication for 78 million fun, fearless females in 100 countries who seek their best in every detail.

T
Finance 1% Home 1%

he publications editorial is designed to empower readers and features content about relationships, careers, fitness, beauty, fashion, entertainment, personal finance, and health. Cosmopolitan is the best-selling magazine in its category with a distinguished voice that maintains a strong brand positioning. As Americas most read magazine, Cosmopolitans current users span a wide range of lifestyles. These women, 18-34, are predominantly single and educated. Many of these readers are moms (8+ million) and current college students (3.1+ million readers). Cosmopolitan magazine also has the highest number of Hispanic readers, over 3 million in total. These women are split nearly 50/50 between subscription readers and newsstand purchasers. Despite the life stage, these women are interested in the messages of empowerment Cosmopolitan offers.

Cosmopolitans ad-to-editorial ratio is 48:52. The publication seeks trustworthy, relevant advertising partners to build reader trust and interest. The sexy editorial content deters certain advertisers from selecting the vehicle. Approximately 50% of Cosmopolitans advertising is beauty and fashion related. It seeks ad expansion to attract the auto category, credit card category, and major fashion websites. Cosmopolitan is focused on creating more digital advertising inventory. As readers navigate through an ever-changing digital age, Cosmopolitan has spread its brand onto the web, e-reader editions, smartphone applications, radio, and books. Subscription options include: print, iPad, Zinio, Kindle Fire, Nook, sex position of the day iPhone app, sex position of the day Android app, and a Cosmo For Guys iPad edition. Cosmopolitans current digital presence includes: o Cosmopolitan.com o 1,391,741 million people belong to Cosmos online community (June 7, 2012) o Interactive features: Questions, message boards, games, polls, quizzes, videos, contests, virtual makeover and hairstyle o Facebook (1.7+ million likes, 23,000+ talking about Cosmo) o Twitter (10,000+ tweets, 288,00+ followers) o Pinterest o Google+, o Newsletter o YouTube (7,000 subscribers)

Cosmopolitan Magazine Content

General Interest All Other 5% 7% Food 3.2%

Careers Entertainment 1% 8% Health/Fitness 8.2% Self Improvement 7%

Fashion 18.2%

Beauty/Grooming 14%

Relationships 29%

Competitive Landscape
Magazine Bio Digital Initiatives
Elle Online features seasonal fashion trends, beauty reviews, and insider celebrity stories. Elle claims to be the number one fashion magazine in the world. Partnership with H&M: The website featured four looks from H&Ms fall collection. Viewers could purchase items from the look. Partnership with Theory: Elles top fashion editors put together looks from the Theory debut collection in an editorial feature. Mobile App: Vogue Stylist allows users to scan any Vogue ad with a mobile phone and be redirected to a retail website that sells featured items. Website Re-launch: Vogue redesigned its website to offer more videos and photo slideshows from fashion shoots.

Vogue Online features lifestyle and fashion stories in an upscale editorial style. Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is famous for her devotion to keeping Vogues reputation for high fashion intact, while still offering ideas for a wider audience of middle-class readers. Marie Claire claims to be the magazine for the modern American woman with an opinion. It contains articles on style, relationships, health, careers, and stories on womens issues across the globe. Allure is known as the number one beauty magazine. Its extensive beauty product finder is the websites most useful and impressive feature

Partnership with Chanel: A beauty app for the iPad allows users to look through major current trends, emphasizing the Chanel product line. The app provides new downloadable content as a supplement to the magazine.

E-Commerce: Users can read about, rate, and buy any product in the Beauty Product Finder. 2-D Barcodes: Readers can scan tags in the print issues with mobile phones and are led to a mobile site with news and marketing materials from advertisers. Partnership with Groupon: InStyle editors curated luxurious vacation deals in six major cities as a tie-in with the annual guide to regional beauty services.

InStyle prides itself on being the first to report the latest fashion trends. It also features insider stories on celebrities and their lifestyle. Lucky positions itself as just another one of the readers girlfriends, offering trusted guidance, shopping tips, trends and advice.

Blogger Alliance: Fifty bloggers partnered with Lucky to create the Lucky Style Collective. The bloggers give a fresh perspective on fashion and beauty subjects. Birthday Videos: For its 10-year anniversary, Lucky released 100 videos that corresponded with each of the stories in the magazine.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

7 Best Digital Practices

In conclusion to creating a competitive and industry analysis, Butter has compiled seven of what we have identified as the best digital practices.

1.

Personalized product recommendations lead to more time spent on the site and greater purchase interest for ad space.

5. 6. 7.

Provide exclusive content as a reward for subscribers.

2.

Curate enough content to provide more access points and opportunities for advertisers to buy space.

Harness social networks to pull brands into the digital conversation

3.

Connect the magazine and advertisers directly to the readers mobile wallet. Allow opportunities for the reader to buy items from looks they see on the site.

Provide integration opportunities for the advertiser.

4.

Provide opportunities for readers to create and upload their own content.

Uploading is what they [the young readers] want to do, rather than just downloading.
-Susan Plageman, Vogue Publisher

Ad placements allow marketers to become part of the conversation with the consumer in a deep and highly engaged dialogue.

-Lauren Wiener, SVP of Meredith Womens Network

Primary Target Market

Cosmopolitan Online will continue to target the existing market of current readers of the magazine. This includes educated, social women primarily 18-34 in the United States who use media at least two times a day. They possess multiple social media accounts and are interested in beauty and fashion, love and relationships, life advice, as well as stories on celebrities. They use magazines for tips and apply those to their lives.
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PRIMARY TARGET MARKET

Courtney, 18

Courtney is a freshman at University of Colorado, Boulder. She uses Facebook, Skype and Twitter to keep in touch with her friends at school and home on the east coast. Her student budget keeps her limited to homework, social activities, and the Internet. Relationships are extremely important, so she often seeks the advice of others and trusts this advice easily. She uses the Internet for online shopping, watching viral videos, and winds down with a movie from her Netflix queue every Sunday. She also loves celebrity gossip blogs. She doesnt hesitate to share something she likes online with others.

Jenna, 25

Jenna is a 25-year-old pharmacy technician at her local drugstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She works very hard at her job and tries to save money by searching for coupons and free sample offers online. When she finds the time to go out with friends, she likes to dress up and look her best. Her budget does not allow for expensive makeup, so Jenna likes to look at beauty blogs online for dupes of prestige cosmetics. Jennas online activity revolves around Facebook and Pinterest. She uses Facebook to share links and photos with friends, and Pinterest is her favorite source of beauty inspiration.

Angela, 34

Angela is a 34-year-old dental assistant taking managament night classes in Buffalo, New York. Angela enjoys her job, but gets the most excitement out of her hobbies, particularly an online book club blog she follows. Recently single, Angela now spends her time at the gym and local coffee bistro, staying as active as she can. Its difficult to get her group of girlfriends together for a night out, so they keep in touch through Facebook and email.

Courtney the Socialite

7:30 am: Checks school email and Facebook before class. 10:45 am: Texts her friends about post-class plans for lunch 12:00 pm: Discusses celebrity gossip found online with friends at lunch.

A Day in

the Life

4:00 pm: Looks for outfit and makeup ideas on blogs and magazine sites for the weekend. 5:30 pm: Peruses her favorite sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, visits beauty blogs and vloggers. 8:20 pm: Purchases a pair of pumps from Zappos. 11:15 pm: Skypes with friends from home before going to sleep.

Jenna the Frugal Fashionista

8:00 am: Check personal email, social notifications and weather on mobile device. 12:00 pm: Check for Facebook notifications, Pinterest, and email on mobile device on her lunch break. 5:30 pm: Peruses her favorite sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, visits beauty blogs and vloggers. 7:20 pm: Posts a new photo album of the weekends cookout on Facebook. 12:15 am: Checks social notifications before going to sleep.

Angela the Go-Getter

7:00 am: Checks personal email, checks todays weather, reads the morning post from favorite blogger, quickly checks work email. 10:40 am: Reads a few more posts on favorite blogs, Pins the best ideas, checks comments on the book club, checks for Facebook notifications. 1:30 pm: Browses newsfeed for interesting articles, bookmarks the top two to read later, receives an email invite from a friend to join a new online-recipe community. 7:20 pm: Reads the bookmarked articles from earlier, watches the latest episode of True Blood on HBO Go, browses Pinterest for half an hour. 10:15 pm: Final check of Facebook, personal email, and work email.

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Primary & Secondary Resarch

To uncover insights, Butter took the approach of Observe, Listen and Discover. Observing required us to look at the entire brand, from its inception to now, in order to have the best understanding of the Cosmo philosophy. Understanding the philosophy allowed us to enter the listening phase, in which we surveyed individuals to find a core theme. Finding the core theme allowed us to enter the discovery phase where we conducted a focus group to expand on the quantitative insights. 13

OBSERVE: SECONDARY RESEARCH

Objective

To understand where Cosmo came from in order to help identify where they should go.

The Cosmo History

The Cosmo history is rich with change and innovation, the most important of which occured in 1965. The 1960s were a decade of change for women. As a decade that included the entering of women into the paid workforce and the development of an approved birth control pill, women began to realize their opportunity for freedom (U.S. News, 2010). In 1965, the young visionary, Helen Gurley Brown, recognized this powerful emotion and created a platform for women to share this new sense of freedom. Brown remodeled Cosmopolitan magazine to be focused on women, and more specifically, the empowerment of women.

Brown y

What made it so desirable is that it outlined an American dream for single, working women. It provided them with a vision and detailed advice on how to live a better lifeon their own terms.- Cosmopolitan.com

Through the decades, Cosmo has been consistent in offering women empowering content, such as a 1972 issue which addressed the following: Youre very interested in men, naturally, but you think too much of yourself to live your life entirely though him. That means youre going to make the most of yourself -- your body, your face, your clothes, your hair, your job, and your mind. As we enter a new decade, however, it is necessary to understand how the core foundation of female empowerment translates to the digital realm. Thus, we turned to the consumers and listened to their input.

Hele n

Gu rle

14

LISTEN: QUANTITATIVE & QUALITATIVE SURVEY

Objectives:
(1) To identify attributes of a personalized web experience and user preferences. (2) To understand online magazine consumption habits and readership behavior.

Strategy:

Create a survey with quantitative questions and qualitative questions to allow respondents to identify their thoughts on a personalized web experience that enhances online consumption habits.

Method:

The survey was uploaded to Qualtrix and the link was sent out to users in the target market via a convenience sample, utilizing the snowballing method. 134 users participated and 90 completed the survey, yielding a 67% response rate.

Findings:

(1) Readers expect a difference between the content of a print magazine and its online counterpart.

77%

expect content for a print magazine to be different from the content on its website.

(2) Respondents are interested in customizing content and finding inspiration on an organized website.

66%

are interested in personalizing an online magazines homepage so that they can only view content that is relevant to them. visit online magazines as a source for inspiration.

49% 83% 29% 34%

prefer a simple, clean layout as aopposed to many headlines on one page.

(3) The most personal way to share content is via email. identify that sending an e-mail is the most personal way of sharing content with friends, followed by sending a private Facebook message (23%). (4) Multimedia content, such as photographs, is the most shared content among friends. share multimedia (photos, video, etc) the most with their best friends, followed by music (20%), DIY & Crafts (11%), Recipes (11%), Hair & Beauty (10%).

DISCOVER: FOCUS GROUP

Objective: To establish the targets current opinions on the Cosmopolitan website
and determine preferred places of engagement, where they would feel empowered by interacting with the brand.

Strategy: Allowing the target to spend time on the Cosmopolitan website and let

them think about the things they immediately did and did not like. Using various potential website pieces from the current site as well as competitive sites, we empowered the participants to create their own ultimate magazine site.

Method: Five focus groups consisting of three women each matching the target profile
were conducted in Buffalo, NY and Baltimore, MD June 14-16, 2012. While creating their layouts, respondents comments uncovered two common themes:

Personalization & Control

When I started doing this, I realized design was on the top of my mind before the content. If I could have my own account with the stories I picked, I would definitely make Cosmo my homepage.
I colored mine. The pink and white isnt interesting to me if Im always looking for something new.

I took out half of the topics in navigation.

Im a girl, I want this thing as organized as my closet!

I wish it looked more like the magazine.

I would love to be able to log in and just have all the articles I want to read there for me.

I would love seeing deals that are meant just for me.
Participants want to be enamored by the website in the same way that they are enamored by the magazine. But because users are able interact on a website, there is an even greater desire for personalization and control over the type of content that is presented on each readers browser. When asked to re-create the website with their desired features, each participant had different interests and opinions, showing that reader motivation differs. Participants prefer a less clutteres layout for the website with clearer navigation, features tailored to their interests , and unique offerings in addition to articles that will encourage them to return to the site.

Summing It Up:

16

Strategic Women Find Creative Solutions

17

Building a Digital Presence

Problems Opportunities
Web and print do not complement or strengthen one another. Website viewers would not know what to expect from the print version of the magazine based on the website. Brand has ability to create a complementary, seamless branded environment. Cosmo can use social media to build stronger relationship with consumers and reinforce brands positioning,

Editorial mission of empowerment is lost on the website.

Interactive features and social media provide consumers the opportunity to feel a form of empowerment, aligning with the magazines mission.

Current website provides little space for reader participation.

Every piece of content can become interactive. Everything is more than just reacting. To build consumer relationships, actions must be reciprocated.

Increasing consumer expectation for free and high-quality content.

More content will create a more impressive and interesting extension of the magazine.

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Key Insights
[Readers want to be able to control the content that they see.]

More content, more control.

There is no rule book for personal expression.

[Every Cosmo girl expresses herself differently.]

Big Idea

Cosmo Prints
It started with a touch. A magazine marked with generations of womens fingerprints, passed from a writer to an editor and one girlfriend to another.Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan heard their voices and spoke for them, to them, and with them. Each issue helped to change culture and empowered females globally. As feminine fingerprints move from page to tablet screen, only one publication can keep up with the change and harness their voices in a physical and digital space. The one who understands their aspirations best, Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan.

Positioning: Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan is the only womens lifestyle magazine that uses
a digital presence to empower readers to leave their own print on content, through features that inspire interactivity and sharing.

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MARKETING OBJECTIVE

Where Youre Headed

By 2014, 60% of site visitors are regular users of myCosmo features. (2.4 million) By 2014, convert 30% of reach population to regular web users. (18 million)

C R E AT I V E BRIEF
Why are we communicating?
To create a cohesive, interactive web presence that satisfies the targets expectations of an online magazine and places Cosmopolitan ahead of the competition.

What do we want the communication to do?

Create an interactive community online that fosters Cosmopolitans editorial mission of empowerment. We want to create a sense of urgency and excitement around being a part of the community, as well as optimize the website to attract advertisers.

Who is our audience?

The primary target is females 18-34 with high school education or higher. These readers actively use social and digital media. A secondary target is prospective advertisers.

What do they currently think?

Consumers currently feel that although Cosmopolitan delivers high quality content, the website does not take advantage of the digital possibilities of personalization. Users believe that the web is a place where they should be able to express themselves. Some advertisers feel uncomfortable advertising with Cosmopolitan due to the association of the brand with sexual content.

Cosmopolitan is the only magazine that provides an online counterpart empowering readers to engage and interact. They should feel that the website is a place for them to express themselves and a community that they are an important part of. Advertisers must think Cosmopolitan is relevant and suitable space to advertise their brand.

What would we like them to think?

What is the big idea?

Cosmopolitan readers choose Cosmo for empowerment. The ability to customize Cosmopolitans content and experience is empowering, and gives readers the ability to be part of the magazine, rather than just reading its content.

How do we make it believable?

Leverage the established brand strength, credibility, and reputation. Align tactics with theme of empowerment and make the target feel each individuals print is an important part of the publication in all forms. Cosmopolitan understands women, how they use technology, and how to deliver what they aspire to in a collective community that will continue to grow and have an eventual global impact.

What tone should be used?

Fun, upbeat, flirtatious.

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Creative Executions
Each of our executions is tailored around the theme of empowering the reader to leave a print through personalization.

22

The new website is easily navigable with a simple, aesthetic design. The top of the page includes a showcase of the newest articles that fall under the four most popular categories. Beneath is the Cosmo Insiders section, a blogger series that allows the readers to learn more about their favorite Cosmo editors. After the showcase, the reader views the Top story. The sidebar includes a searchbar, social sharing buttons in the top right corner, the MyCosmo login, ad space and a permanent button to subscribe to the magazine (will be seen on all pages).

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WEBSITE REDESIGN

Objective:

Design the user interface to enhance user experience and optimize advertising inventory.

Strategy:

Redesign the website to have a more organized, visually appealing layout that follows the underlying psychology of the reader.

Rationale:

Primary research showed that users had trouble navigating the site. More specifically, many participants questioned particular aspects of the website (games, quizzes, etc.) based on their disinterest in the topics. Research shows that the authenticity in blogs is what adds to the para-social interaction of the users.

WEBSITE REDESIGN

Visitors to Cosmopolitan Online can create a myCosmo account to personalize their homepage. Users can cultivate their empowered voice and make a mark on their magazine experience. Customization promotes more interactivity, gives users a place to leave their print, and increases user-time on the site.

Objective: Strategy:

Enhance the digital user experience by empowering the reader to use their voice.

A fully customizable homepage with content filters, themes, social networking, and insider perks.

Rationale:

Consumer involvement in product design creates a stronger consumer-product relationship. Primary research confirmed respondents are interested curating their own web content.

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COURTNEYS myCOSMO

JENNAS myCOSMO

ANGELAS myCOSMO

Content: To connect users with content, the user chooses which topics appear on their myCosmo homepage. Background Theme: Users select from a library of border themes, customizing their environment. In-Article Sticky Notes: Notes allows users to mark-up pages, spark communication among girlfriends, and comment on specific points. This bridges the gap between a physical and digital magazine experience. Connect with Friends: Sidebar contains live feed of friend activities. This shows who read what articles, comments on articles, likes and tweets, Real-Time Voting and Commenting: Users can like or dislike the article, leaving their prints on the content. The results show up in real-time, allowing the reader to visualize the popularity of the article.

Recommended Articles :MyCosmo recommends articles closely aligned with a users indicated interests. This increases their desire to read an article. Photo Filter: Capitalizing on the Instagram craze, users can place a filter on their profile photo to add a more glamorous dimension to an existing photo. Weekly Lists: Cosmo helps readers find and empowerment through weekly lists. For example, 7 Things I want to Accomplish, My Top 5 Affirmations, Top 3 Workout Moves, etc. Weekly lists can be shared on Facebook and Twitter, urging readers to browse the website to find content relevant to completing their lists. Recommended articles are placed around their list to help them get started and users are encouraged to upload a photo of what theyve accomplished. A few of the best photos will be featured on our social media sites.

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Pandora Stations

Social Media

Cosmopolitan recommends Pandora stations to their readers. These stations are offered for different parts of the day such as waking up, getting ready, driving and even foreplay.

Tactics

Objective: Use media to expand the user experience and interaction with the Cosmopolitan brand. Strategy: Offer Pandora stations curated by Cosmopolitan that relate to the lifestyles of readers. Rationale: Cosmo has a voice that readers trust. Music recommendations are a small part of the publication, but a new way to connect with readers. This helps to build brand loyalty.

Twitter

Cosmopolitan will create different Twitter handles related to specific content within the magazine. Followers can choose to follow @CosmoBeauty, @CosmoCelebs, or @ CosmoCampus etc. Objective: Use Twitter to push content using theme similar to the magazine. Strategy: Create handles for each particular topic within Cosmo, allowing readers to select the topics that they want to follow. Rationale: Our primary research confirmed that readers want to see content that relates to them. This also breaks up the amount of Twitter traffic and further segments users, which is helpful for Cosmopolitan and advertisers.

Facebook

The Facebook page will extend to a personal relationship with the readers, with features including, This or That votes, questions for readers selected by editors, photos from inside the Cosmo office, wall photos of staff members outfits, and a weekly Facebook-exclusive Fun, Fearless, Female of the Week. Objective: Create a para-social interaction (the illusion of a face-to-face relationship with a media figure) to the Cosmopolitan brand. Strategy: Utilize Facebook to extend the theme of female empowerment and enhance Cosmos personal relationship with the readers. Rationale: Primary research indicates that readers are seeking exclusive content online. As recently noted at Cannes, the consumer is about the brands relationship with them, rather than vice versa. Cosmopolitan must use Facebook to display its interest about the readers.

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Promotional

Campaign

Invitation via Sealed Magazine

Cosmopolitan subscribers will receive a sealed magazine with an invitation enclosed in their monthly mail publication. This invitation contains a code giving subscriptions special access to create a myCosmo account.

Objectives: Strategy:

To create an exclusive community that encourages readers to participate in leaving their mark on Cosmopolitan.

To send out a limited number of invitations to subscribers that enables them to create a myCosmo account and begin leaving their mark on Cosmo Online.

Rationale:

By sending out a limited amount of invitations, Cosmopolitan creates exclusivity about the community and thus demand.

Cordially invites you to be the first to access our new myCosmo feature on cosmopolitan.com. Use the code provided to create your very own account. Personalize your myCosmo page to fit your personality and control the content you want to share to your best girlfriends. Because you are a coveted Cosmpolitan subscriber you will be awarded 5 additional codes upon logging in for your closest friends. Heres to you Cosmo girl! The ultimate fun, fearless female.
CODE

Z5GH678P9

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Girls Night Out

Announcement:
o o o o Shared on Facebook Take over Cosmo Facebook Cover Photo (1,777,355 likes) Share on Twitter (298,566 followers) Feature on Cosmopolitan homepage

Promotional

Campaign

PRESENTS

GIRLS NIGHT OUT

2012
29

Scaven ger Hunt!

COMPETE TO WIN A MAKEOVER!

CHECK OUR FACEBOOK PAGE FOR MORE!

Get your best girls together and follow the clues we text you to complete the scavenger hunt. Be the first team to send us the right pics and you could win a makeover!

Day of Girls Night Out:

o o o o o

Tweets and texts to participants will announce the first task and its hashtag Participants tweet a photo completing each task with its hashtag Text messages will go out every 30 minutes throughout the night Participants are sent an invite to join myCosmo at the end of the night. The team of girls that completes the tasks in the most creative way wins makeover and a photo shoot with Cosmopolitan and a feature on the website. o The winner will be announced on myCosmo

Objective: Strategy:

To create a bridge between the physical and digital world that brings fun and enthusiasm to Cosmopolitans new website.

To devise a scavenger hunt that integrates online, mobile and the real world user participation to encourage the target to leave their prints on various physical locations. This will be incentivized by a makeover and photo shoot for the winning group to tie in with the makeover of the new site.

Rationale:

This tactic has the ability to gain earned media. With a large number of participants and a creative execution, it is likely participants and spectators will mention it on social media and press will cover the campaign. Providing something new and exciting in the Cosmopolitan style will solidify the transition from print to digital.

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Secondary Target Market

Cosmopolitan will communicate with advertisers to ensure the strongest, most relevant ad placement. These include the current beauty and fashion advertisers, as well as new advertisers such as credit card companies, automotive brands, and fashion websites.
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PRIMARY RESEARCH

INTERVIEW RESULTS
Consultation with New Media professional, Stephen Masiclat
To uncover online media trends, our team consulted with Stephen Masiclat, Director of the New Media Management program at Syracuse University and co-Director of the Center for Digital Convergence. Masiclat suggests dividing existing content into quartiles, to lead visitors to new targeted destinations.

The initial stage of this concept requires publishers to identify the strongest quartiles for advertisers. Assuming this range is based on income, the quartiles reflect an aspirational level for viewers. The website content is then divided to accommodate each quartile. These new sections, known as quartiles, make room for new ad placements that meet the interests of the page viewers. In addition to increased inventory, this trend enables greater data collection for re-targeting. Masiclat claims publishers are seeking ways to adopt this approach over the next 12 months.

Jump out for Quartile 1 Jump out for Quartile 2

1 3

2 4

Jump out for Quartile 3 Jump out for Quartile 4

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Increasing Ad Revenue
Problems Opportunities
The website has limited ad inventory for ad revenue, as well as a lack of opportunity for ad creativity, strategic placement, and rich media ads. Expand inventory with new site design.

Sexual content of the magazine deters advertisers from wanting to associate their brands with the content.

Fragment content to have more ad real estate with non-sexual editorial content.

Competition with low-cost CPMs.

Provide more engaging and creative advertising opportunities.

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Big Brands Make Big Plans

MARKETING OBJECTIVE

To increase advertising inventory by at least 25% with first phase of website redesign. To develop creative new media opportunities that attract larger advertisers that seek to communicate with the Cosmopolitan audience.

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Optimize the Way You Monetize

Fragment Content
Each article is a set of content, with subsets of content opportunities. The idea is to sell share of voice for specific demographics. Thus, one article produces five opportunities for exposure. Example: Sex Tips from Guys, Jean-Claude suggests that Watching a woman do yoga is the hottest foreplay you could have without touching each other. Hyperlink the term yoga which links to an article on yoga. Included in this article are tips that are targeted toward specific quartiles. Quartile 1, the hottest yoga moves, quartile 2, recommended yoga gear, quartile 3, recommended classes and quartile 5, yoga getaways. Each quartile leads to another article. Based off of the users selection, we are able to identify the users quartile. As data grows, this increases the specificity of our ads, where we have the opportunity to sell share of voice to each quartile.

Jump out for Quartile 1 Jump out for Quartile 2

1 3

2 4

Jump out for Quartile 3 Jump out for Quartile 4

Objective: Strategy:

Create more ad real estate within the Cosmopolitan website.

Fragmenting content to transform one article into four more opportunities for ad space within each editorial piece.

Rationale:

Fragmentation enlarges the available inventory and presents the opportunity for optimized targeting. Fragmenting the content provides two-five more pages for ad inventory. By incorporating this strategy into just 20 articles, the inventory expands to include up to 100 new placements. This will not only provide the eventual opportunity for advertisers to purchase share of voice based on quartiles, but appeals to the aspirations of the target.

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Pandora Stations

The Pandora stations also exists as a creative alternative to banner ads. Advertisers may sponsor one of our themed playlists. For example, a Wake Up station sponsored by Folgers, a getting ready station sponsored by CoverGirl, a driving playlist sponsored by Gatorade, and a foreplay station sponsored by KY.

Objective: Strategy:

Identify creative opportunities for advertising placement with untapped media.

Create contextually brand-sponsored stations on Pandora.

Rationale:

This opportunity allows advertisers to leverage our reach and demographic to enhance their brand in a way that is contextual and relates to the theme of Cosmo stations.

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Butter developed its own means of evaluating success based on the improvements in the categories below. Customize Organize Socialize Monetize Optimize

Evaluation of Success

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Customize

Organize

Socialize

Monetize

Optimize

The image below shows where users can customize their homepage before and after the redesign.

1 2

BEFORE

AFTER

1 Background ThemesBackground 2 Profile PictureBackground 3 User-selected Topics 4 Friends 5 User-selected Bloggers 6 Saved Favorite Articles

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Customize

Organize

Socialize

Monetize

Optimize

The image below shows the difference in organization before and after the website redesign.

1 1

BEFORE
1 Topics in navigation are disjointed. 1

AFTER

Topics in navigation reflect which site categories are most popoular

5 6

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Customize

Organize

Socialize

Monetize

Optimize

The image below shows where users can socialize with friends before and after the redesign.

BEFORE
1 Social Media Links 2 Users can comment on articles or share to social media networks

AFTER

1 Social Media Links 2 Users can comment, share on social media, Pin, thumbs up/thumbs down or save any article as a favorite.

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Customize

Organize

Socialize

Monetize

Optimize

The image below shows the difference in areas that can be monetized before and after the redesign.

2 3

BEFORE
1 Limited ad space 1 &

AFTER

2 More options for ad space

3 Articles fragmented to provide more ad space

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Customize

Organize

Socialize

Monetize

Optimize

The image below shows the difference in optimization before and after the website redesign.
1 1

BEFORE
1 Cluttered layout does not optimize available space 1

AFTER

Cleaner, more organized layout optimizes available space

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LETTER TO COSMOPOLITAN
To the fun, fearless women at Cosmopolitan: We understand prints longevity and the need to connect the authenticity of a physical magazine experience with digital platforms. As female digital natives, we are skilled to craft the future of Cosmopolitans digital presence. We identified the unique, digital opportunities and used them to interact with your readers. We surrounded ourselves with these women to uncover their expectations for a lifestyle magazines web presence. Their interpersonal behavior and personal values fueled our evaluation. They desired to actively participate in the brand relationship. We focused on two-way communication and created Cosmoprints. Cosmopolitan can continue to own and share the voice of the empowered female in the digital space. Butter reimagined this space and transformed it into magazine media. A stronger Cosmopolitan community was born, launched by a Girls Night Out. The new features of the website enable readers to share their voice within the content. The redesigned website encourages readers to make Cosmopolitan Online a shared experience, incorporating social networks and close friends. Increased inventory, enhanced targeting options, and strengthened data collection also create exciting, comfortable opportunities for advertisers. Butter made it easier for Cosmopolitan to connect with its readers meaningfully. We look forward to making our very own Cosmoprint fun and fearlessly as we move forward together. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Chelsea Aures Camille Malkiewicz Kristin Mommers Ashly Oehrl Kiersten Wing

caures@gmail.com cmalkiew@gmail.com kmommers@gmail.com aeoehrl@gmail.com kiersten.wing@gmail.com

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