The Toronto Star’s newest magazine product, Wheels, went from zero to 52 pages in just over 15 weeks.
Originally conceived as a one-off project for 2013, advertiser response to the product was so positive the Star decided it had enough support to launch this year and make it an ongoing project said group advertising director Norman Laing.
“I think we’ve done this really collaboratively in terms of working with senior people at advertising agencies representing the biggest and best automotive manufacturers in the country,” said Laing.
The latest step in the evolution of the Toronto daily’s 26-year-old “Wheels” section, Wheels magazine debuts Thursday in approximately 300,000 copies of the Star. An additional 200,000 copies will be distributed in other major markets via the commuter daily Metro and the Montreal Gazette next week.
Wheels launches with an approximate 70:30 editorial to advertising ratio, but Laing was non-committal when asked if that’s the ratio he’d like to keep for future issues. “Our plan was really not about a ratio,” he said. “It really was about trying to create something within a trusted product that went beyond Ontario.”
Editorial content in Wheels’ launch issue includes a “Top 5 to Buy” feature across 12 automotive categories, ranging from Luxury to Best Car Under $21,000, as well as an automotive Holiday Gift Guide and an article on tires that come with new cars.
Some of the magazine content will also reside on Wheels.ca, which garners an estimated 3.87 million page views per month.
“When you look at the size and support for our Wheels product 52 weeks a year, as well as the following and support on Wheels.ca, the strength of our brand continues to grow,” said Laing.
Laing wouldn’t disclose advertiser partners in Wheels’ premiere issue, but said it received “really strong support” from the automotive industry. He predicted that future editions would have “applicability” to a variety of advertiser categories.
“I think there will be interest from a whole host of industries,” he said.
