This is an article about an article on luxury.
The article that initially triggered this writing is in the current issue of Portfolio , the relatively new Conde Nast publication under the baton of David Carey. That article is about the riches-to-rags-to-riches saga of Ducati and how hard it was for TPG Capital, L.P. to make a success of the famous luxury brand.
(At first I thought this blog entry would be another opportunity to mention that TPG recently acquired another luxury brand (Neiman Marcus) and our hope that it would do better.)
But then I realized that Portfolio had already done that in the Ducati article. I also realized that I had found the magazine's content interesting enough that I had sent portfolio.com links to articles to several friends and clients (not mutually exclusive categories).
Perhaps, I thought, this entry should be about Portfolio.
What are the chances that Portfolio will survive, let alone thrive, in today's turbulent media environment? When Forbes and Fortune are fighting for every set of eyeballs, what makes Conde Nast think Portfolio will gain share?
If we go to Alexa and compare the stats of the three sites (as a proxy for engagement if not circulation) we see an interesting picture. In the various alternative views, Portfolio is ahead of Fortune and sneaking up every so steadily on Forbes. Why?
I thought perhaps my experience was representative. Not only was Portfolio's selection of articles interesting and unexpected ("Hedge Fund Money Chases a Cure for Dealth") and the writing superb. (Carey came from The New Yorker, which I believe he is credited with reviving.).
Most importantly, Portfolio makes it easy to cross reference the print and the website. I would finish an article, think who would appreciate it, quickly find it on the website and send the link (the article on Patrizzi went to a client in the jewelry business).
Now, it may seem strange to toggle between the print and the website. But our research into the media habits of affluent Americans indicates this duality is widespread. In fact the more affluent the household, the more likely its inhabitants are to have print as a primary media for news and internet as a backup. (Average age of our respondents was late 40's; average income approximately $250K).
The tag line "business intelligence" applies to the form as well as the content of Portfolio and portfolio.com and that is the reason I think Carey and company will do well.
