The Challenge
Sphere Magazine and Sphere Asia Magazine were launched in June 2008. The challenge was to reposition the former Orient-Express magazine as a ‘stand-alone’ luxury and lifestyle publication, and communicate a more contemporary brand positioning in-keeping with today’s discerning high-end international traveller.
The Solution
Sphere was completely redesigned and rethought in 2008, offering luxury travellers an inspirational magazine with a mix of luxury, culture and travel. In its first year of launch Sphere Magazine’s positioning has been geared to appeal to a luxury travel audience with articles relating to travel experience mixed among wider features aimed at achieving deep reader engagement. Topics include forward-thinking ideas in travel, finance, culture, fashion and technology.
The Results
Top-line results of Sphere’s Readership Survey 2008
- Engages - 89% spent 21+ minutes reading Sphere, 70% spent 31+ minutes
- Valuable to readers – 83% of readers keep Sphere for 2+ weeks
- Taking action – 32% visited a website, 24% recommended an item to someone
- Making plans – 53% got an idea for a future trip, 29% booked a hotel
- Generating sales – 38% got an idea for a gift, 31% visited a store and 21% bought a featured item.