Country Home Debuts New Design With September 2004 Issue

Furniture World Magazine

Country Home magazine, published by Meredith Corporation, announced it will debut an updated design with its September 2004 issue that exemplifies the magazine’s new “Be creative. Be yourself.” tagline and brand positioning.   The magazine’s editorial staff, under the direction of editor in chief Carol Sheehan and creative director Mary Emmerling, worked closely with renowned design firm The Valentine Group to create the new look.  The September issue of Country Home, the largest September issue in the magazine’s 25-year history with over 116 advertising pages, will be available on newsstands July 27.   The new look and feel of the magazine celebrates the rapidly emerging American trend toward creativity and self-expression, says Sheehan.   “Country Home readers understand that ‘country’ is more than a physical place, it’s a mindset.  Country is where there’s space for ideas to breathe, where it’s quiet enough to hear your own thoughts and where there’s the feeling of endless possibilities.” According to a nationwide survey of American women conducted for Country Home, one in five (19%) see themselves as being creative. The survey reveals that the top methods these women use for expressing their creativity include home decorating and remodeling (44%); personal style in clothing and jewelry (40%); gardening and landscaping (40%); travel/vacations (40%); and, arts and crafts (38%). Moreover, when it comes to expressing creativity in their home, more than a quarter of the women surveyed (29%) said that they prefer to create a “look” for their home by themselves, rather than just using someone else’s ideas.   “Our readers, and the people who fill our pages, are living with the things they love and creating the life they want,” continued Sheehan.  “We tell the stories of people who are focusing on the things that really matter, such as their passions, expressing their personal style and spending time with family and friends.  Their style choices reflect their individual tastes, not their bank accounts.  In the magazine, you’ll find an original mix of formal and familiar, classic and casual.” Robert Valentine, president and creative director of The Valentine Group whose clients include Aveda, Henri Bendel, Marshall Field’s, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Neiman Marcus among many others, said the intent was not to redesign the magazine, but to “re-present” it, and create not just a look and feel, but a language and a vocabulary that will evolve with the magazine over time.  “Our overall goal was to simplify, clarify and focus the design platform of the magazine to allow its unique persona to come forward,” Valentine explained.  “We brought in new design elements that could work in tandem with existing elements integral to the magazine’s equity. For example, we added a cleaner, warmer font to complement the typography and articulated a strategic, conceptual direction for the photography.” Other design elements that were updated include the addition of a fabric-print banding that extends from the spine to the cover to create the look of a collectible coffee table-style book.  The cover will also feature less copy that is more selectively positioned for a cleaner and simpler appearance. The September issue introduces new and updated editorial features such as ShopGirl!, an expert advice column for women who want to take home repairs into their own capable hands, and The Nest, projects and products to inspire along with real-life solutions, makeovers and best buys.  The introduction of the updated editorial design follows the a million-dollar brand repositioning campaign launched in July that includes trade advertising; a direct mail campaign; a branding video presentation; market research; a guerilla marketing campaign; and branded signature consumer and trade events.  The magazine collaborated with the highly regarded advertising agency kirshenbaum bond + partners to develop the brand positioning and integrated marketing campaign. About Country Home:For 25 years, Country Home magazine has redefined the vision of country. Country Home speaks to the desire for creativity and self-expression with editorial features that blend formal and familiar, classic and casual, to inspire readers to explore their own personal tastes. The magazine presents fresh, actionable ideas that are relevant to all aspects of readers’ lifestyles, including home décor, food and entertaining, fashion and well-being, travel and shopping. Country Home, published by Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP), has over 7.5 million readers, is published 10 times per year and has a rate base of 1.25 million. About The Valentine Group: The Valentine Group was established in 1991 by Founder and Creative Director Robert Valentine because he believed that the most memorable and evocative branding and positioning could only be achieved by the marriage of the highest possible levels of strategy and aesthetics. Since that time, The Valentine Group has offered some of the most respected brands in the world capabilities ranging from strategic brand development and positioning to advertising, direct mail and corporate identity. And services from editorial design and photo shoot art direction to product development, packaging, special events management, and public relations. Robert Valentine is the rare editorial designer whose career includes both consumer and trade magazines. He helped develop and launch Real Simple magazine, and helped fine-tune Martha Stewart Living during its infancy. In 2002, Valentine renamed, redesigned and relaunched STEP Inside Design magazine to compete against the top graphic design magazines in the industry. Other clients of The Valentine Group have included among others Aveda, Chic Simple, Henri Bendel, Interface FLOR, Marshall Field’s, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Neiman Marcus, Sundance, Trish McEvoy Inc. and Turner Classic Movies. About Meredith Corporation: Meredith Corporation is one of the nation’s leading media and marketing companies with businesses centering on magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing, and interactive media.  The Meredith Publishing Group, the country’s foremost home and family authority, features 17 magazine brands, including Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies’ Home Journal and American Baby, and approximately 150 special interest publications. Meredith (www.meredith.com) owns 13 television stations - including properties in top 25 markets such as Atlanta, Phoenix and Portland. Meredith has nearly 300 books in print and has established marketing relationships with some of America’s leading companies, including The Home Depot, DaimlerChrysler, and Carnival Cruise Lines. Meredith’s consumer database, which contains more than 75 million names, is the largest domestic database among media companies and enables magazine and television advertisers to precisely target marketing campaigns. Additionally, Meredith has an extensive Internet presence, including 25 Web sites, and strategic alliances with leading Internet destinations.