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* Conde Nast expects ad pages to be up 5 pct in 1st qtr
* Hearst's Elle and Harper's Bazaar close record issues
* Time Inc anticipates a 6 pct rise in ad pages in 1st qtr
By Jennifer Saba
NEW YORK, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Glossy products still look beston the glossy page.
Advertising for luxury brands is driving increases infirst-quarter ad pages at big magazine publishers, a welcomedose of good news for companies that have grappled with layoffs,restructurings and general malaise in a business whose fortuneshave fallen as the online world has grown.
Conde Nast, Hearst Magazines, Time Inc and Rodale all expecta rise in ad pages sold in their magazines for the firstquarter.
Conde Nast, whose magazines include Vogue, GQ and VanityFair, expects its strongest first-quarter in five years, with a5 percent increase in ad pages. The news was so unusual that thecompany even issued a press release on the subject, something ithasn't done in sometime.
And as Europe remains mired in an economic slump, high-endfashion brands like Hermes are finding a ripe audience in U.S.magazines.
"What I hear continually from research about luxuryadvertising is that consumers like the actual experience ofprint," said Brenda White, a senior vice president and adirector of publishing at Starcom USA, a division of PublicisGroup SA.
Company executives said the gains are not coming at theexpense of lower prices.
"I'm knocking wood," said Lou Cona, chief marketing officerat Conde Nast. "Anything can happen, (but) the early signs arevery positive.
"The page numbers you see from us are real; they are fullypaid for," he said.
Hearst is projecting a first-quarter rise in ad pages of 6percent and an even greater gain in ad revenues. Rodale, thepublisher of Men's Health, is anticipating to be up 10 percentin ad pages for the same period. Time Inc, which is owned bymedia conglomerate Time Warner Inc, expects a 6 percentrise in ad pages for the first quarter.
Even so, the print magazine industry is troubled andpublishers are curtailing spending as they put a greater focuson the digital world. Time Inc announced on Wednesday that itwas cutting 6 percent of its staff, saying it needed to be "moreinnately multi-platform" and would focus on "criticalinvestments and new initiatives."
In the most prominent example, Newsweek last year shutteredits print edition after almost 80 years.
Last year, ad revenue industry-wide fell 3 percent,according to the Publishers Information Bureau, which tracksmagazine ad sales and revenue.
U.S. GAINS FROM EUROPE'S LOSS
Europe's woes have provided a boon for U.S. magazinepublishers. Specific categories such as luxury and beautyadvertisers that represent high-end fashion brands like Hermesand Proenza Schouler and automakers such as General Motor's Cadillac and Ford's Lincoln are turning their focuson U.S. audiences.
Michael Clinton, Hearst Magazine's president and marketingand publishing director, said Harper's Bazaar, Elle and some ofthe company's other fashion books that cater to high-end fashionbrands are setting records. Harper's Bazaar recently closed itsbiggest March issue ever, with ad pages up 21 percent. Elle'sFebruary issue, up 33 percent in ad pages, was its fattest issueever.
"Europe is so challenged that luxury fashion brands areshifting to North America," Clinton said.
At Time Inc, ad pages are up 5 percent at InStyle and upalmost 32 percent at People, according to Paul Caine, executivevice president and chief revenue officer, who also said the riseis not because of reduced ad rates.
Hoping to tap brands that are eager to get in front ofupscale audiences, The Wall Street Journal increased thepublication of its luxury WSJ Magazine this year to 11 issues.It was a quarterly when it launched in 2008.
"Luxury and fashion have been the categories immune to thebroader economy," said George Janson, managing partner, directorof print for Group M, the parent company of WPP's mediaagencies.
In addition, publishers have become more sophisticated inoffering what is best described as marketing services thatinclude sponsored driven events and digital packages along withtraditional ads.
"Publishing companies have really upped their game in themarketing partnership area," Starcom's White said. "They havebeen doing it for a while, but it's more robust."
