It never would have happened to Gourmet magazine, you know, when it was an actual, printed magazine. (Horror of horrors!) But the frantic revenue seekers at 4 Times Square have decided that the Bon Appétit brand can withstand a little sullying-by-selling, and have entered into a marketing agreement with HSN. Bon Appétit-branded cookware, cutlery and other kitchen equipment will be sold on the number two shopping network, according to a story in yesterday’s Media Decoder blog of The New York Times.
That HSN is beefing up its cooking offerings is not surprising. The segments are not unlike the standard fare on the Food Network, which makes them positively thrilling by TV shopping standards. Or, as Bill Brand, the executive vice president for programming, marketing and business development at HSN, put it, cooking category segments are “…within the top five categories of viewership and engagement.” What is at least a little surprising is that Condé Nast will send its editors to pitch with HSN presenters. Don’t worry, though. Bon Appétit editor Adam Rapoport climbed back into his tower to assure journalism purists that he would not permit product placements in the pages of his magazine. Whew!
Two details about the agreement emerged from HSN’s press release today. The first is the date of the premiere: January 31, 2012. The second is that Condé Nast considers its partnership with HSN to be the very model of wringing money from its media properties through licensing. “This agreement is part of a successful ongoing relationship that began between Conde Nast and HSN in 2008 and represents the type of licensing venture Conde Nast is most interested in pursuing for its iconic portfolio.” (Emphasis added.)
If her debut performance with the cake cutting machine is any guide, Marvelous Martha Stewart may force her way onto HSN’s top ten list of best-selling culinary products of all time, currently dominated by Wolfgang Puck. Here is the list to date:
