Calgary-based airline WestJet has overhauled its nearly 10-year-old in-flight magazine Up!, renaming it WestJet Magazine and redesigning both the print edition and its companion website.
Pritha Kalar, WestJet Magazine’s associate publisher, said the new publication boasts enhanced editorial features (including the new front of book departments “Seek,” “Roam” and “Feast”) and more striking images, while the website offers expanded navigation, comprehensive destination guides and more robust search functionality.
“It’s an in-flight magazine that entertains and provides inspiration for travel,” she said.
Kalar said the name change is intended to help the magazine align more closely with the WestJet brand. “The equity of the WestJet brand is something we can leverage within the publication, and it’s a closer association with the whole in-flight experience,” said Kalar.
WestJet Magazine is carried in the seatbacks of WestJet’s 113 aircrafts, which carry approximately 50,000 people a day. The magazine is also offered in airport lounges and select hotels, while print and digital subscriptions are also available.
The revamp, the first in approximately three years, is one of several updates to the monthly magazine since Calgary-based RedPoint Media & Marketing Solutions began publishing it in 2005, said Kalar. “It was a great chance to refresh the look, introduce highly visual impact and package our content in an easily digestible way,” she said.
A typical issue of Westjet is 84 pages or more, with RedPoint striving to maintain a 60:40 ratio of editorial to advertising. Advertisers in the 92-page February issue include Wynn Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil, Hilton Canada, Metrolinx, The Keg and Rogers.
According to a Redpoint media kit, 90% of WestJet passengers look at the print publication. Thirty-eight per cent of its print readers are between 34-54, while 90% have a post secondary education and 42% have a household income of at least $80,000 per year.
The media kit also said a typical WestJet customer will visit WestJetMagazine.com an average of 5.4 times per year, with two thirds of the audience 45+ and possessing considerable disposable income for interests such as shopping, food/cooking, entertaining and home décor.
WestJet Magazine will continue to work with advertisers on custom content, said Kalar. “We’re a national carrier and it’s a national publication, so you do get quite the reach,” said Kalar. “It’s a good investment if you’re looking to communicate with our audience.”
