Sotheby’s International Realty (SIR) Affiliates LLC and the Dow Jones Media Group are partnering to publish a new bespoke luxury lifestyle magazine, Reside, which will be available in physical form and online.
This is a first-of-its-kind program offered by Dow Jones Media Group, a global publisher in business, luxury lifestyle and real estate, which is behind Mansion Global, Barron’s and MarketWatch.
The launch of the new magazine is all about continuing the conversation with clients, said SIR Affiliates chief marketing officer, Kevin Thompson.
“We have done extensive research and know that lifestyle, real estate and home design print publications are increasingly important to luxury consumers,” said the CMO in a press statement.
Customizable print marketing
The inaugural issue of Reside will be published on June 18. It will include lifestyle content from Dow Jones Media Group, and it’ll give SIR affiliates access to the Dow Jones Media Group global distribution network. This means the magazine could be inserted into the Wall Street Journal, for instance.
What is different about this luxury magazine, which will come out twice this year and four times next year, is that there is a template for SIR affiliates to make the magazine their own.
The core lifestyle content will come from Dow Jones Media, but affiliates can personalize the front cover with their branding, customize the inside welcome letter, and they can contribute their own content, listings and agent profiles. They can also bring in local advertising to help cover expenses.
Kevin Thompson
In one case, according to Thompson, an affiliate has contributed an extra 56 pages on top of the 52 pages of core content contributed by Dow Jones Media Group.
Making the magazine customizable for affiliates is the real differentiator with Reside over other real estate luxury magazines out there, Thompson told Inman.
“It’s been built for affiliates. We viewed this as the Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates brand offering, an opportunity for all of of our companies to amplify their voice in the local market,” he said.
The inaugural spring/summer issue of Reside will have issues customized by Big Sky Sotheby’s International Realty in Montana; Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty in Greater Long Island, New York; Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty in Highlands, North Carolina; Lenihan and TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in Washington, D.C., among others.
Keeping it going (and growing)
The company has built a model with an infrastructure that’s scalable. The company decided that if it were going to invest in this project, it would have to work for everyone whether their offices are in Manhattan or Lisbon, Portugal. And it had to be done efficiently and effectively, Thompson said.
The next issue, scheduled for the end of September, has more affiliates lining up, particularly as the second issue will be international and translated into a number of languages, he added.
SIR Affiliates has 150 affiliate companies and 625 offices in 40 states in the U.S. and 322 offices in 69 countries outside the U.S.
As the product grows, affiliates are going to have the opportunity to provide more lifestyle content, Thompson added.
If you are a SIR affiliate in Chicago, you could publish an article on “5 trendy spots to hang out in Chicago” or the top shopping locations. They can also put in market information if they want, he said.
Another bonus with the Dow Jones Media partnership is that the affiliates can send the magazine to “feeder” markets. For example, Seattle-based Realogics SIR is marketing a new development in this first issue of Reside and wants to target cities where investors may be looking to buy in Seattle, such as Vancouver, British Columbia, said Thompson.
