Oceanside-based magazine publisher Transworld Media, with an editorial office in Tustin, is launching a Web site for all of its publications.
Transworld puts out seven magazines, including Transworld Business,catering to Orange County’s makers of clothes inspired by surfing.
Other magazines cover surfing, skateboarding, BMX, motocross and other topics.
In all, the magazines, published monthly or every other month, are read by more than 5 million people, many of them teen boys looking to spend money on surfboards, skateboards, clothes and other gear.
The company’s magazines are the basis for Web sites featuring news, sports videos and a listing of industry events.
Some of the plans for the Web include letting readers upload photos, stories and video, according to associate publisher Pete Martini.
“We’re growing the site to keep up with our readers,” Martini said.
The site for Transworld Business, which covers clothing makers, sporting goods makers, retailers and team riders, is set to cull stories from all of the company’s magazines, Martini said.
The Web push is part of Transworld’s larger strategy to sell advertising on its sites, in its magazines and at trade shows it hosts.
Circulation for all of Transworld’s magazines is up from a year ago with subscribers averaging about 65,000 and newsstand sales at around 25,000, he said.
But ad revenue has been a struggle, according to Martini. Many of the clothing and sports gear makers that fill the pages of Transworld’s magazines are coping with a downturn in sales amid the slower economy by cutting ad budgets.
Transworld is at 90% of an “aggressive” budget set before the downturn, Martini said. The company hopes to make its numbers in the fourth quarter, he said.
Transworld recently scaled back its Ride BMX publication, going from 12 issues planned for this year to nine, and Quad Off-Road Magazine, which is going from 10 to nine issues.
A year ago, Sweden’s Bonnier AB bought Transworld from Time Warner Inc.’s Time division for about $200 million. The deal also included other publications.
Transworld’s Oceanside office, which handles the surf, snow and skate titles, plans to move to Carlsbad after nearly 24 years in its old headquarters. The larger facility will house an indoor skate park the company hopes will aid in its testing of skate products.
Post-Fair
The advertising campaign done by Blue C Advertising for the 2008 OC Fair helped draw 1 million attendees this year, the second highest for the county fair.
But that wasn’t enough to keep the work. The shop recently lost the OC Fair account, which it had for five years, to El Segundo-based the Ballpark.
“The OC Fair put us under review this year and we lost the account due to different objectives,” said Eric Morley, president.
The company’s principals said they plan to get past the loss with new clients, starting with Alpine Electronics of America Inc., part of Japan’s Alps Electric Co., and Sycuan Resort in San Diego County.
The company picked up the Alpine account this month as part of an upcoming campaign.
“We’ve currently launched the campaign with Spin Magazine and Rolling Stone,” Morley said.
Next up are marketing materials for electronics stores.
Torrance-based Alpine Electronics, a seller of car stereos, is looking to recreate its image and brand. Blue C plans to play up Alpine’s iTunes tagging, which allows you to flag a song you hear on the radio and buy it on Apple Inc.’s iTunes.
Blue C also picked up Sycuan Resort, an Indian casino operator that’s looking to refresh its image and boost awareness in Southern California. The first ads launched in golf publications and at
golf events.
PowerDirect
Door hanger advertising company PowerDirect Marketing LLC has created software to help its customers better track leads.
Newport Beach-based PowerDirect has come up with online software dubbed ePower that creates profiles of visitors to a customer’s site.
The goal is to first get the attention of potential customers with door hangers and other direct mail that points them to a company’s Web site, where customers can enter personal information.
“EPower gathers Web responses that are generated from basic, variable door hangers or direct mail campaigns,” said Bill Borneman, chief executive of PowerDirect.
The company has seen interest from AT & T; Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., which could benefit from the large direct mail program tied in with ePower, according to Borneman.
Another Web offering in the works, according to Borneman: PowerDirect plans to launch an online ordering system for companies that have large amounts of franchisees and agents.
