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HSN Is Getting Glossy

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By RICHARD MULLINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 13, 2008

One of the hottest projects going at TV shopping channel HSN has company executives reaching into the magazine racks.

HSN officials are cutting a series of deals with publishers of big magazine titles like Elle, Gourmet, Allure and Cookie to draw cache and talent from those glossies and use them in high profile ways on HSN.

Elle editors already are appearing live on Elle-themed HSN shows to offer insights on fashion trends, while HSN is getting prominent play on the pages of the magazine.

HSN probably will cut more deals with magazines this year, HSN officials said, as the St. Petersburg company continues its long-term plan to leave behind any semblance of HSN as a seller of cheap goods only seen on TV. Instead, they're building HSN into more of a high-end arbiter of fashion, cooking and home decorating.

"We want to be about bringing ideas and educating our customers," said William Lynch, executive vice president of marketing and content for HSN. Lynch himself is part of this upscale trend at HSN, having been brought over from Gifts.com, another property owned by HSN parent IAC/InterActiveCorp. "We don't want to be just about selling," he said.

So far, the Elle partnership represents the most advanced magazine collaboration at HSN. That deal came about last summer after HSN market researchers found that HSN viewers were three times more likely to subscribe to Elle than non-HSN viewers.

75,000 Subscriptions Sold

In August, the partnership produced its first on-air shows, a five-day series of Elle-themed programs to coincide with HSN's Fall Fashion Week.

Elle reporters showed up on HSN sets to offer their thoughts on fashion trends that were illustrated in the dresses, jewelry and makeup worn by HSN models. HSN also produced short-form videos on the HSN.com Web site with Elle reporters offering fashion tips. HSN also started selling subscriptions to Elle online and ultimately sold 75,000, making it a significant distributor of the magazine, Lynch said.

Elle, in turn, regularly promotes HSN in the magazine, which has a circulation of more than 1 million, and sends HSN promotions to its e-mail list of subscribers.

The partnership with HSN has been one of the most successful new projects in years at Elle, said Bill Carter, group circulation director for women's titles at Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., publisher of Elle.

"What we found attractive was this way HSN has to reach potential readers that we haven't reached in the past on a much larger scale," Carter said. For Elle, the project is comparatively extensive, because the company had to draw time and resources from its newsroom and advertising department, he said.

Some Appetizing Plans

HSN reaches about 90 million U.S. homes with its 24-hour a day sales channel - or about 80 percent of all homes with a television set.

"If it worked well with Elle, what other magazines do we have that might work well with their viewers," Carter said. "Before the end of the year, we hopefully expand this to other titles."

For HSN, the next magazine up for special attention is Gourmet.

HSN and Gourmet officials just closed a deal, and HSN hopes to use Gourmet as a platform for shows selling cookware, plus instructional videos on how to make recipes.

HSN is also in talks with publishers of Allure magazine to feature its editors for specials on makeup and beauty products. HSN also is negotiating with publishers of Cookie, a high-end magazine for families about children, decorating and the affluent parent lifestyle.

Nearly every category of product that HSN sells could be a good candidate for a magazine partnership, Lynch said, and HSN should become more of an expert guide within topics like fashion and cooking.

That said, HSN has some limits for partnerships. It's unlikely, he said, that HSN would cut a deal with a computer magazine, even though HSN sells computers. That's because electronics don't tend to follow seasonal trends the same way that fashion designers unveil new dresses, makeup or styles.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at rmullins@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7919.

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