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Successfully cornering a niche in the tough world of magazine publishing

Wallpaper and Lucky magazines may appeal to different audiences, certainly from a geographical perspective, but they have one thing in common: they’ve successfully cornered their own niche in the tough world of magazine publishing. Wallpaper has defined the space for a truly global magazine, showcasing ‘the things that surround you’ from Helsinki to Buenos Aires, then selling the magazine in an equally global fashion. Where other ‘global’ magazines like Time, Newsweek and Business Week are still firmly rooted in the US, and the Economist caters to the world without ever losing its Britishness, Wallpaper is global by-and-for. Since the first issue came out in 1996, Wallpaper has shown that the cross-cultural, well-heeled crowd is ready for a lifestyle magazine that is as global as they are themselves. Who’s next? — First published in 2000, US-based Lucky Magazine is basically one big fashion catalogue, disguised as a glossy magazine. There are no editorials, no articles and no celebrities. Just ads, ads, and bits of text that are really just…ads. In the first half of 2002, more than 780,000 Americans subscribed to Lucky, and another 200,000 issues were sold at the newsstand. Inspired by some Japanese shopping magazines, Lucky isn’t exactly publishing the Harvard Business Review, but this pioneering celebration of fun is raking in $20 million in ad revenues, and one million (mostly female) readers aren’t complaining. Asian, South American and European fashion shoppers to follow soon?