Some Insight on Gourmet

Oct. 7, 2009 - PRLog -- By all accounts “cooking” and home entertaining is in vogue.  “Julie & Julia” was a huge box-office success during the summer of 2009.  It actually lead to the "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child, almost 48 years after it was first published, to finally top the best-seller list.

And even in this time of economic downturn and reduced consumer spending, cookbook sales are on the rise. According to Nielsen BookScan, sales of books in the cooking/entertaining category were up 4% in the first four months of 2009 over the same period last year, while the sales of adult nonfiction overall sank 9%.  Discovery, The Food Network, Travel Channel and TLC are attracting record audiences with their food and cooking themed shows.

By now you have heard the news that Gourmet magazine, an icon of taste and sophistication, announced its unexpected closure yesterday. The 69-year-old arbiter of culinary taste was edited by Ruth Reichl, a bestselling author and former restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.  Reichl herself took the news and commented, “We're all stunned, sad."

For publisher, Conde Nast, surviving the recession and a steep drop in ad revenue was paramount in the decision to close Gourmet.  "These changes, combined with cost and workforce reductions now underway throughout the company, will speed the recovery of our current businesses and enable us to pursue new ventures," Chief Executive Charles H. Townsend said.

Piecing this all together, we can deduce that it’s not that the subject matter that is not of interest.  As a matter of fact, it seems like Food is a pretty hot topic.  Book sales are up; Cable TV programs are in high demand and viewership is growing and websites are increasing in traffic.  

So was the shuttering of an institution like Gourmet due to the manner in which we are gathering information?  Or maybe it is the way we live now? Or was it a business issue – production and over-head are simply to costly and the model is indelibly broken?

We might encourage you to look at it in a different way.  Gourmet is considered an institution.  As are many other luxury brands.  They are the stalwarts of taste and the mark of affluence. They are traditions in our minds and represent an era of sophistication.  
During the recession affluent consumers took time off from shopping to reassess their priorities and reevaluate their spending.  This has resulted in changes in how they shop and what they value in the luxury brands they purchase.  

The affluent consumer market is starting to slowly emerge from the recession. Luxury consumer confidence is on the rise and the average amount spent on luxury in the first half of 2009 is up 9.4 percent over previous year, according to affluent market research specialist, Pam Danziger.

In the case of Gourmet, most insiders hoped the company would protect Gourmet. Its circulation had held, dropping only 1 percent in the first half of the year, to 978,038.  Reichl did everything a 21st-century editor is supposed to do: Write successful books, appear on the "Today" show, use photography imaginatively, have a TV series (the latest, "Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth," debuts Oct. 17 on public television). Gourmet had made strides toward publishing simpler recipes, interfacing with readers, reducing the number of ingredients for quick-cook recipes, developing a useful Web site and creating gastronomical celebrities.

What many of these brands are now realizing is they have not changed with the times.  Our economy has rapidly changed and with that our priorities have been re-organized.  Personal identity is no longer so strongly linked to luxury brands for the sake of opulence.  The brands that will succeed will have to truly offer quality and value and most importantly be relevant in the lives of the consumer.

However, just because a brand is trying new things doesn’t mean it is perceived as fresh or current.  This is true of many brands that target the affluent consumer.  The brands may still have enormous value but the current offering is not in tune with the new economy/post-recession consumer mind set.

The key to brand survival is taking a realistic look at your consumer base and how the economy has affected them.  Then work on revitalizing your strategy which will guide the repositioning of the brand.  Brands need to understand the relationship the consumer has to the media and tune in to what influences them. Once brand has been adjusted, the way in which these updates are communicated will create the bridge that brings these stalwart institutions into the new economy.

We do know that we live in an era that is increasingly reliant on technology. We also know that most “traditional” ways of receiving or gathering information are now perceived as either completely obsolete or a luxury, if we have the time.  eMarketer projects that the number of affluent Internet users will grow to 57.1 million by 2011.   Obviously, this points to the fact that a strong digital marketing strategy is paramount.

Conde Nast has their eye toward digital versions of the company's brands using "new devices and distribution channels." said Townsend.  The company said the remnants of Gourmet will continue in book publishing, television programming and the recipe site Epicurious.com.

"We have seen an increase in traffic for many reasons, but the economy is certainly one of the main reasons," says Tanya Steel, editor in chief of the site, which gets at least 5 million unique visits a month (keep in mind that the publication was hovering at 1 million subscribers per month).  "We realize there is a whole generation out there who doesn't know how to cook, so we created over 100 technique videos that show you how to do basic things like make a simple syrup, frost a cake or carve a turkey," says Ms. Steel.
So what have we learned from all of this?  

We have entered into new age and although we are seeing signs of economic recovery, we will not be returning to the way things were.  Brands that are vital and in-step with their consumers will prosper and remain relevant.  And for all of the fans of Gourmet, all is not lost, just re-fitted for our new age.

Hilarie Viener is the Co-Founder of RECHARGEnyc, an innovative consultancy created to reposition and revitalize today’s luxury brands.  More information can be found at www.rechargenyc.com

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RECHARGEnyc is an innovative consultancy created to reposition and revitalize today's luxury brands.