Haaf and her editors keep the content national to
appeal to the magazine’s wide audience, and they are
always conscious of Cambria Style’s shelf life, avoiding
timely topics that will look dated in a few months.
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she thinks long and hard about how to
ensure that the content takes full advan-
tage of what print does best.
“I think about, ‘OK, this is a great story,
but will we be able to put together pho-
tography? Will we be able to style pho-
tography that’s going to make this beau-
tiful and pop off the page?’
“We have amazing paper, which is very
helpful, so that the photographs we do
get always look incredible. So a big part
of putting together the content is coming
up with what the visual is going to look
like because ultimately we are sharing a
product, and if that product doesn’t look
good, then we have failed.”
Haaf and her editors keep the con-
tent national to appeal to the magazine’s
wide audience, and they are always con-
scious of Cambria Style’s shelf life, avoid-
ing timely topics that will look dated in a
few months.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job
of having large conversations that can
stand the test of time.”
Cambria Style has an attractive, inter-
active digital edition, and it plans to offer
expanded content online for people who
are more interested in specific topics.
Social media are also part of its digital
strategy.
“But quite honestly, the print piece is
where we see our biggest return right
now,” Haaf said. “Given that Cambria is
a luxury product, it kind of goes hand in
hand. To be able to really share the Cam-
bria experience and show them in this
piece that this is it, this is the experience.
“It’s exactly what you would expect
from a company of this stature.”
www.gonpta.com
“Personally, I don’t think anything
will ever take the place of print.”
LouAnn Haaf, editor in chief of the award-winning Cambria Style magazine
Peter Martin, executive vice president
of sales, marketing and business partner
services for Cambria, called Cambria
Style “an exceptional brand vehicle.”
“It is a representation of what Cambria
is and what it has to offer,” Martin said.
“Wrapping that experience up in engag-
ing editorial and gorgeous photography
gives us yet another way to share the
Cambria experience. Those solid, pos-
itive connections? They are ultimately
what drives our business.”
Digital sources meet many of Haaf’s
current, relevant media needs, but she
loves print. She knows many others do,
as well.
“Personally, I don’t think anything will
ever take the place of print. I feel when I
sit down and read a magazine, it’s almost
like it’s a part of our history. It’s like a tan-
gible connection to the past.
“I don’t think anything will ever take
the place of flipping ahead, flipping back,
dog-earing a page, feeling the paper,
sliding your finger into the next page
before you’re ready to turn.
“ … I think people still enjoy the
unmistakable feeling of touching some-
thing, sharing something. ‘Hey, I have a
book I’d like to loan you.’ Or ‘Look, I have
this great magazine. There’s a recipe on
Page 47; I dog-eared the page.’”
The key to print’s future is quality,
Haaf re-emphasized.
The editor in chief talked about early
conversations she had with Marty Davis,
president and CEO of Cambria. He
stressed that the magazine needed to
feel good in people’s hands and give a
satisfying “plop” when they dropped it on
the table.
“Because a premium experience,” he
told her, “is premium to the end.”
That was great advice because it
aptly paralleled Cambria’s broader brand,
Haaf said.
“I think that’s where a lot of magazines
fall short,” she said, citing Restoration
Hardware and Pottery Barn as compa-
nies that understand the new order and
produce fabulous publications.
“Those that are sticking around and
those that are coming around are the
ones that are committed to doing it right.
They are saying, ‘Yeah, we’re going to
do this, but we’re going to do it properly
because now people’s expectations have
been reset.’
“And I think that,” Haaf said, “is a very
positive thing.” PW!