Case study provided by The Brand Council.
Three hours after it first went on sale in February 1972, Cosmopolitan magazine sold out. Its phenomenally successful UK launch followed an impressive US relaunch in 1965: the title had existed in the States since 1886 but was mainly devoted to fiction. At the time, Helen Gurley Brown, who founded Cosmo's-launch and is now 80 years old, described prevailing attitudes to relationships and sex thus: "If you're single with no engagement ring in sight, then throw yourself off the Grand Canyon. If you're single and having sex, then it's time to stick your head in the oven."
From the beginning, Cosmo spoke to women in a revolutionary way. For the first time sex and, more importantly sex-related problems, were discussed openly and frankly. Cosmopolitan has done as much, if not more, to educate women -- and their partners -- about sex and women's health than any other communication channel. In fact, The Times has described Cosmo as "bigger than a magazine... a brand, an empire, a state of mind". And despite having reached its 30th birthday, Cosmo has managed to retain its freshness, continuing to engage successive generations of women.
Cosmo is one of the flagship brands of the National Magazine Company, which claims to be the first publishing house to recognise the importance of magazines as brands. Its philosophy is to create and nurture brands, not just magazines, and to focus on developing and fostering readers' experience of the brand.
What make Cosmopolitan different is its intelligent, upfront attitude and its willingness to boldly go where others fear to tread. It also manages to stay on the right side of the education vs titillation divide. Cosmo knows that there are millions of young women out there looking for self-improvement, a rewarding job, a good relationship and better sex. The limits of what is considered "decent" may have changed since the magazine's arrival on the UK scene, but the underlying desire to succeed, have great relationships and aspire to being the "best you can be" remains. Young women still want to know what's "normal", and Cosmo continues to reassure them that there is no such thing as normal.
As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery -- and one of Cosmopolitan's greatest accolades is the number of other publications that have tried to imitate its brave style, with varying degrees of success. None, however, lives up to the Cosmo style and there are now 47 international editions of Cosmopolitan, communicating with women all over the globe.
The Cosmopolitan brand has also diversified into other areas, such as licensed merchandise, carefully selected to fit with the brand's personality. Cosmo products include lingerie, hosiery, bags, swimwear, bedding, soft furnishings and eyewear ranges, plus an extensive collection of published books on sex, beauty and emotional well-being. There have been award winning Cosmopolitan Shows that attract a vast number of brands relevant to Cosmo readers under one roof combining a shopping experience and fashion shows with a variety of workshops from Cosmo experts.
There is also a Cosmopolitan cafe concept in the pipeline, which will offer a range of express beauty treatments.
Cosmo's core business is magazines and it now has an extended family with Cosmopolitan Hair and Beauty and Cosmopolitan Bride. Recognising that girls are becoming young women at a seemingly ever earlier age, Cosmo launched CosmoGIRL! in 2000 aimed at 12- to 17-year-old girls and matching its sister (or should that be mother) magazine in style and the belief that, whatever their age, Cosmo readers appreciate a brave and insightful standpoint.
漏 2002 The Brand Council