Will Our Shelter Mag Survivors Reach The Rebound Finish Line?

All eyes are on Elle Decor, Architectural Digest and House Beautiful as they move into the last quarter of the year with new Chiefs at their helms. It's a hopeful time for everyone who follows, reads, works in, with and loves  shelter magazines after chewing  so long on the tough threat of their demise during the "print is dead" era.

A recent article by Folio Magazine cautiously notes a rebound for the category is occurring, but  the most resilient media titles are those that take their brands beyond the printed page with live events, online communities, social media, etc. House Beautiful's Kitchen of Year Event in New York City helped the magazine bring in nearly 50% more ad pages for their annual issue over last year.

Smells like smart marketing to me.

I think Dwell's been the early adopter in this category, being one of the first to deliver their content online, while the rest of the category was slow in accepting that the world was changing.  (Architectural Digest, where have you been?) Let's hope these survivors will reach the rebound finish line better and stronger than when they started.  

Who do you think's done the best job at staying alive through the downturn?

Forward Thinking: New Tech Ideas for the Marketing Mind

The term "Tweetup" officially became a word this week when it was accepted into the Oxford Dictionary of English. It's not news. The way people are consuming their news has changed and is still evolving.  New technology tools are popping up to aggregate and deliver our content in better ways, and thought leaders are asking big questions like "How will the act of reading change as we move from print to pixels."   What will it look like, 5, 10, 20 years from now? Here's a few new tech ideas bouncing around the web for the marketing mind to think about: 

* Extra, Extra! The Twitter newspaper by paper.li is a new tool that organizes links shared on Twitter into an easy-t- read newspaper format; An interesting tool that can be used for marketing. See how @IntDesignChat made use of it this week to promote its weekly Twitter Chats. (pictured left) 

* What impact will the iPad have on your blog? Consider that, and plug into iPad peek to take a look. 

* There's an app. for that, and that, and that.... An article in Wired implies the web is dead as applications, aggregaters like Facebook and other things are taking over search-based browsers. It's gotten the techies sparring in some heated discussions. What will ultimately win in the war for our screen sucking attention? 

The Future of Kitchen Design Looks Surreally Green

The future of design looks green. That's the message being expressed in this spectacular kitchen sculpture by IKEA taking center stage at The Surreal House exhibition at the Barbican, London.  The sculpture depicts a surreal vision of the future, when environmental concerns will be at the core of kitchen design, The power of art is amazing, isn't it? 

Via DesignMilk. Thanks Jaime! 

Localize, Humanize & Socialize Your Way to Regional Media - A Special Post for DesignMatters

I'm excited to share my guest post for the International Interior Design Association's (IIDA) blog DesignMatters on getting regional media coverage. It's always nice to be invited as someone's guest,  and I'm honored to contribute to this respected organization's mission in helping and educating their members.   Be sure to stay tuned, as I'll be writing a special PR post for DesignMatters every month. 

Localize, Humanize & Socialize Your Way to Regional Media

It may be a big coup to be published in House Beautiful, but are you reaching the buyers in your backyard? Read more.

The Rich Are Ready to Spend on Their Homes

The wealthy are optimistic and ready to spend. That's the projection Bob Shullman, President of Ipsos Mendelsohn, shares in recent news interviews from the firm's latest affluent survey. According to their findings, more than 40% of the top affluent Americans plan to spend on their homes this year.

Will the upper crust lead us in a recovery? According to Mendelsohn, when they buy, they spend 3.8 times more than the mass market.

Wit Watch: Krug Takes People "Up, Up & Away" to Brand Experience

Brand experience is not a new idea, but seems to be a revisited topic these days as businesses are trying really hard to get people to spend money. Why? Because it's priceless. If you can give someone an experience through your product or service, then you've made what I call a lasting brand impression.  

Krug's Champagne Balloon Tour is full of everything but hot air. For about $77,790, you can ride their luxuriously designed hot air balloon with a wicker basket, canopy, burners by Camerons of Bristol, and white leather lining by French upholsters Bruno Domeau & Philippe Peres. Nice! The price is steep but  well worth it to the luxury consumer looking for the exclusive experience. 

You don't have have to have an uber-luxury budget to  provide an experience to your customers. Take your marketing mind outside conventional thought and find some inspiration in your own brand to develop a program that touches more than their bank account. 

Who's Leading the Print Pack? 20 Biggest Magazines So Far

Which magazine titles are touting the highest circulation numbers these days? Looks like food, gossip and women's lifestyle titles like Family Circle and Woman's Day are some claiming the most dollars from print readers.  Not surprised to find Better Homes & Gardens on the list with a healthy circulation of 7,644,011. See Huffington Post's report of the 20 Biggest Magazines of 2010 to see who's leading the print pack.

Designers & Architects Put Their Ears to the Computer Screen on Twitter

In a busy little world called Twitterville, there's a growing community of architects, designers, manufacturers and industry professional chatting with consumers and peers about everything from Fall trends to client relationships in 140 characters or less.

If you're regular on Twitter, then you may already know what Twitter Chats are. If not, the quick definition is: a conversation between Tweeters on a given topic held on Twitter at a scheduled time, which is identified by a hashtag (#nameofchat) that makes it easy to follow.

There are a lot of different Twitter Chats happening on Twitter on all sorts of topics, but over the course of the past year a few new chats  have emerged in the design and architecture industry and they're gaining a healthy following of active participants.

The American Institute of Architects (@aianational) hosts an #AIAChat the first Wednesday of every month for architects to discuss common issues and challenges. Their last chat caught 73 participants discussing the topic of client relationships. Two other design chats #IntDesignerChat and #IDzineChat were launched earlier this year and have claimed over 150 participants.  The first is geared for discussion among interior designers, while the latter is a live question and answer chat  between consumers and interior designers.

While studies are being released to show what Twitter fails to do for brands, they miss the whole point of what it does do very well; Connect people and provide  real-time market intelligence to businesses.  These Twitter Chats are helping design brands stay inspired and strategic through challenging and changing times by simply listening to what consumers and other businesses care about. Maybe you should check it out. 

Do you participate in any Twitter Chats? What have they done for you? 

Wit Watch: Dior's Chic Construction Cover-Up

Talk about brand presence!  Instead of boarding up their 57th Broadway store with the same old boarded eye-sore that permeates the streets of New York, Dior opted for a giant Lady Dior Bag as its cover up during their reconstruction. Your brand  may not be as big as Dior's but your vision can be.  Think about how you can take an ordinary part of your business and turn it into an extraordinary marketing move.

Photo: Retail Design Diva 

Trend Talk: Right-Sizing Homes & the PR Pitch

The idea of right-sizing a home isn't new to Gale Steves. In fact, the need to better design and build homes to "fit" a home owner's lifestyle was somewhat obvious to the former Editor in Chief of  Home Magazine and industry consultant when she saw the prevalence of over-sized homes and unused rooms back in the 80's. 

Her new book, Right Sizing Your Home: How to Make Your Home Fit Your Lifestyle gives voice to this trend and is gaining real traction with the media. Why? Priorities have changed for homeowners and buyers in the wake of this recession. Practicality, frugality and authenticity rule over big, beautiful and expensive and are influencing  buying decisions. Earlier this year, the New Economy Home captured the attention of the industry at the International Builder's Show for the same reason, giving the home building and real estate market a new major selling point -  affordable adaptability.  

"It's not about square footage anymore, but about how inventive a home is," says Gale. Her right-sized predictions for home design?  Master bathrooms will shrink, bedrooms will  downsize in favor of closets becoming dressing rooms, dining rooms will disappear and "eating rooms" in or off of  kitchens  will re-emerge. 

How can you take transform this national trend into a PR opportunity?  

• Consumers and the media want solutions. Start pulling out stories about ways you saved clients or customers money and made their homes more efficient through your design services or products. 
• Pitch a story to your local paper on how to transform an unused or outdated area into a functional spaces.  
• Start walking the talk. It's important to sync your business with the changing marketplace. Speak at partner retailers or showrooms, or host events in your  store that address these topics. They're timely and give you more material for the media. 

While I haven't read Gale's book, I was impressed by the excerpts she provided me. She's outlined a realistic how-to approach with checklists and instructions anybody can follow, and included a lovely  "The Art of 'Re' " introduction that outlines 15 "re-" words to start creatively rightsizing.