New Nielsen Digital Mag Focuses On 'Green' Homes
This story was written by David Kaplan.
Timing is everything and this one sounds curious Nielsen Business Media is debuting a new bimonthly digital mag on eco-friendly design and real estate, areas that appear particularly weak right now. The new title, which will be available as an e-newsletter, is called Green & Design, which Nielsen says represents the first of several products aimed at environmental home design. Nielsen hopes to align the digital initiative with its related trade pubs, including Commercial Property News, Hospitality Design, Kitchen & Bath Business and Multi-Housing News.
While the creation of an e-newsletterthe full website will be up and running in Mayis certainly cheaper for the company, which has initiated several reorgs over the past year, and it could help boost those related home design titles, the project faces enormous challenges.
For one thing, we cited a piece in Nielsen's Mediaweek that said eco-media products seem to be on the wane, as the worsening economy has shifted consumers' focus more inwardly. Apart from that, with the collapse of the real estate market, mags related to home furnishings are having an even tougher time extracting ad revenue from marketers. One recent mag victim of the real estate downturn was the Conde Nast consumer title, Domino, which despite a devoted following, had its print and website shuttered earlier this year.
There could be some promise for Green & Design as a professional social net. Plus, as Nielsen looks to see where it can cut, the shared resources could make it easier for the media company to streamline its content.
Disclosure: I worked at Nielsen's Adweek magazine several years ago.
By David Kaplan