2010: ELLE DECOR Leads Shelter Category for Second Year in a Row

NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In a year fraught with instability across the media landscape, ELLE DECOR maintained the number one slot in its category for total ad pages for the second year in a row, up 35% vs. 2009, and ahead of its closest competitor by nearly 300 pages.  Beyond ad pages, other indicators of the brand's preeminence included:  

• Newsstand sales up in 2010 despite a double digit increase in cover price from $4.99 to $5.99
• Unique visitors to elledecor.com have increased by more than 50% since the website's inception  
• Circulation up by double digits against the entire shelter category that realized a +3.5% average jump

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110110/NY22935LOGO)

"It's been an amazing year at ELLE DECOR, and seeing the business thrive in such an uncertain environment is one of the crowning moments of my career," comments Barbara Friedmann, Vice President/Brand Publisher.  "Our success is testament to an inspiring editorial point-of-view that captivates affluent tastemakers and drives sales for the advertisers who want to reach them."

Following outlines statistics for ELLE DECOR in 2010:

THIRD PARTY RECOGNITION:

• Ranked #8 in Advertising Age's A-List – and only shelter title to make list
• Ranked #3 for percent ad page gains out of all 149 titles monitored by Media Industry Newsletter (MIN)
• Topped The New York Times' "Most Wanted" list for total ad pages in shelter category 4 times in 2010
• Appeared on MIN's "Top Five" performers list an unprecedented 4 times in 2010

ADVERTISING

• Moving the needle for the shelter category in 2010: While the shelter category is up less than 10% vs. 2009, ELLE DECOR's total ad pages grew by 4 times that percentage in 2010
• #1 in endemic ad pages and SOM for the 4th year in a row.
• #3 in non endemic ad pages.
• ELLE DECOR is the only shelter title that carries advertising from a number of recognizable brands in such non-endemic categories as auto, beauty and fashion and finance.
• ELLE DECOR's non-endemic advertising has enjoyed more than a 50% jump for the year, including increased ad buys from such brand as Chevrolet Camaro, Chanel and Chase

ELLEDECOR.COM

• Designer Registry: Since inception and without any promotion or publicity, nearly 700 designers have signed up, uploading approximately 2500 different room designs

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Brand has close to 15,000 friends on Facebook with half a million referrals for 2010 (an average of 41 k/month), which is a more than 100% increase in referrals from 2009
• Brand has almost 10,000 Twitter followers, and is listed in nearly 600 Twitter lists  

ONLINE ADVERTISING

• Brands that advertised online in 2010 and have committed for 2011

• Brands that enjoyed Sales Success in Print and Migrated to Digital

BOOKS

• The two ELLE DECOR books – "So Chic" and "Style and Substance" have sold more than half a million copies

ELLE DECOR is the #1 brand in the shelter category:  ELLE DECOR and elledecor.com – the preeminent online destination for design enthusiasts – offer inspiration and expertise to 2.5 million print and online users each month. ELLE DECOR has an influence that reaches 8.9 million readers worldwide with 23 ELLE DECO publications in 27 countries. ELLE DECOR is published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (hfmus.com), a company of Lagardere Active.

SOURCE ELLE DECOR