Hearst Magazines and Chic Simple Announce Partnership

Posted on February 7, 2002

Hearst Magazines and Chic Simple Ltd., publishers of the Chic Simple book series, announced they will jointly produce a magazine outsert to be polybagged with selected subscriber issues of four Hearst titles: House Beautiful, Marie Claire, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Redbook. The print run will be 400,000 copies, or 100,000 issues per Hearst magazine title.

The first two issues of the outsert of Chic Simple, appearing in October and December 2002, will be sold as a package with planned expanded frequency in 2003. The magazine will cover apparel, home, lifestyle and travel. The outsert will be mailed to targeted female subscribers, aged 25 to 49, with a household income of $60,000 or more. Kim Johnson Gross and Jeff Stone, cofounders and editors of the 23 Chic Simple books, will be the editorial directors of the magazine.

Michael Clinton, executive vice president, chief marketing officer/publishing director, Hearst Magazines, said: "To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a publisher has created a branded magazine outsert that builds on the brand equity of a hugely successful line of books that has sold more than 1.5 million copies. The Chic Simple message is perfect for the times, as consumers strive for a simplified life with a dash of style."

Chic Simple was founded in 1992 by Jeff Stone and Kim Johnson Gross with the mission of bringing consumers a philosophy of personal style and value with a new, simplified voice, filter and process. Chic Simple published its first two books in 1993 -- Home and Clothes -- and has gone on to publish a library of 23 titles with total sales of over 1.5 million copies. The Chic Simple Cooking book was nominated for the James Beard Cookbook Award.

Jim Winters, president of Chic Simple Ltd., said: "Hearst Magazines has embraced Chic Simple's philosophy of economy, simplicity and practical style solutions. We're thrilled to bring our message to this select segment of Hearst readers."