Condé Nast’s new business magazine Portfolio seems to be in the odd position of succeeding on the advertising front but floundering editorially.
Portfolio debuted in April as a May issue with 185 ad pages – not quite a record but still seen as an impressive feat for a first issue in a troubled ad climate.
The second issue that is closing this week will clock in with about 122 ad pages.
Although some have made much of the 58-page decline, most industry experts say that is a fairly normal decline.
First issues from major publishers often get a lot of attention, which usually translates into bigger sales of the premiere issue than the second, so advertisers often go with bigger schedules.
“We have 84 advertisers in the issue and at least 22 of them are new,” said David Carey, the magazine’s group president and publishing director, adding the magazine’s ad mix is 52 percent business and 48 percent general consumer.
“We’re exactly where we want to be. Clients love all the energy that surrounds the brand.”
The ad picture stands in stark contrast to the unrest on the editorial side. As the second issue sets to close, pressure is mounting on Editor-in-Chief Joanne Lipman, a veteran of The Wall Street Journal, to deliver a blockbuster issue and live up to the pre-launch hype.
Condé Nast in its direct-mail materials promised to deliver “hard hitting investigative reporting, compelling profiles and a close-up view of breaking news written by top business journalists and captured by the best photographers.”
However, observers say the magazine missed that target with its first issue.
“There was no pacing, no flow, no mix of stories,” said an editor at a rival magazine. “It was, ‘here’s a Tom Wolfe piece about Greenwich,’ and ‘here’s a story about new weapons.’ It was like a deadline out of control, and it all seemed like it went in as a big mush.”
One person said that insiders are also angry about the lack of editorial direction at the magazine. The atmosphere inside is described as tense, leading to the outbreak of rumors that Lipman could be in trouble.
One source said the second issue is “do or die time. They’ll get rid of her within six months if the second issue comes out and flops.”
A spokeswoman for Condé Nast Chairman S.I. Newhouse insisted that nobody is pushing the panic button over Portfolio, whose launch is believed to have cost at least $100 million.
“Si was very happy with the first issue,” the spokeswoman said. “He’s fully committed to the magazine and fully committed to her.”