How Brand Publishing is Raising the Bar

elliman_coverElliman’s new lifestyle magazines transcend the mold and give established titles a run for their money.

A remarkable thing is happening as brands turn to high end print vehicles. For Douglas Elliman Real Estate, their venture into brand journalism is looking every bit the luxury high end magazine: They are creating high quality content with stunning design, without the advertising or cover price (these are free) normally associated with this level of quality.

“The company had a different idea: Publish an actual lifestyle magazine aimed at a demographic that shops for luxury homes—and bind a big, fat, to-drool-for properties section into the back,” writes Cable Neuhaus in Folio:.

“A novel idea, certainly, but Douglas Elliman has gone a step further. It has committed to two such magazines—Elevate and Elliman, each targeting a slightly different audience,” Neuhaus continues.

“Nothing’s more joyful to me than doing this,” said editor Richard Pérez-Feria in an interview with Neuhaus, describing his work on the 100-page glossing titles that are slated to print twice-yearly for the time being.

“Both magazines include features about fabulous homes and hamlets throughout the U.S., but they are the kinds of stories you might rightly expect in a luxe lifestyle magazine. They fit in,” Neuhaus notes.

Interestingly, Neuhaus notes that these “are not the kinds of books that most magazine makers dream about working on. They are compromised in the sense that their explicit underlying mission is to sell expensive real estate.

“But all magazines sell something,” he continues. And in exchange for the real estate section at the back, the company forgoes advertising and gives them away for free to their target audience.

“In the current publishing environment, one should welcome the introduction of Elevate and Elliman and thank Douglas Elliman for taking a shot,” writes Neuhaus.

All this comes at a time when the market for luxury publishing is strong and brand journalism is trending toward lifestyle content. They’ve chosen to create editorial content that has been likened to Conde Nast and Vanity Fair, no small feat for a “brand title,” raising the bar for the entire genre.