With a raft of new magazines across an increasingly competitive Australian publishing market, it’s sometimes difficult to spot a proper gap in the market. Designer and stylist Tim Neve used his time at Express Publications, as a contributor to titles such as Modern Home and Country Home Ideas, to pinpoint a new trend that merited a magazine all to itself - and out of that was born the seasonal publication Australian Coastal Home.

Starting with a personal design journey of his own home, on the beachfront at Newcastle in New South Wales, which was published in Real Living magazine, Neve noticed people from far afield looking with awe at the style of his personal abode and many had a real yearning to read more about it.

“I began to realise the demand for what I like to call 'Modern Coastal' home styling in the marketplace, not only nationally, but overseas - I was blown away when I saw bloggers in New York ooh-ing and aah-ing over my own ‘coastal home’, wanting to know where they could pick up a copy of the magazine it was featured in. I decided this was a market to tap into, and did a lot of prior research and development - it has taken over two years to go from a seed of imagination to reality in fact,” he explains to Influencing.

“Looking at the national publication landscape there are quite a few coastal-living titles (it was almost impossible to find a magazine title and domain name involving 'coast' that hadn't already been snapped up - and there were still a few strong name ideas shopped until shortly before the launch). In the end, we realised that from four years of traveling up and down the coast profiling homes we already had a strong library of work to start with and build on at Express Publications.”

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A unique, aggressive offering

The self-awareness that there is already a number of similar titles in Australia about coastal homes has just spurred Neve on to make sure the magazine is as unique as possible. Juggle that with an aggressive distribution strategy and a focus on aesthetic - promising that the magazine as a whole, even the advertisements, are as eye-pleasing as the content itself - makes for a new title swaggering into the market with a self-confidence that’s important in a competitive environment.

“I'm pretty confident there's nothing to match this currently in our national marketplace. This is because of the heavy nation-wide distribution (20,000 copies, currently seasonally) that opens up so many areas for big brands as advertisers and editorial. In this respect, even though there are many 'coastal' titles on the market nothing else actually matches this niche as officially interiors based - there are plenty that are community and tourism based,” he says.

“I still can't believe how amazing our advertising rates are for this kind of distribution. It's not just highly competitive, it's actually so cost-effective there would be minimal outlay for a national brand just to try it out to gauge response rates. We're also currently a very small editorial and advertising team - so chances are when you take an ad spot, you'll speak with the editor - myself - and I'll be sure to generate complimentary back-up editorial presence in the same issue."

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"Reader comments have made sure that the ads in issue one are just as beautiful as the content of the magazine itself, and have a flow-on aesthetic throughout the entire magazine, which establishes visual continuity.”

The opening issue of the magazine is dominated by real home tours, which Neve says are designed to be as inspirational as possible. Other features include ‘Get The Look’ and ‘Steal The Style’ - “perfect spots for product editorial from the home furnishings industry” - as well as interviews with special guests, as Neve explains.

​“The magazine blurs the line between indoor and outdoor spaces, so the latter features predominantly too. We seek out industry experts (ie. Stylist Sibella Court, The Block's 'Gavin and Waz') as established spokespeople of the aesthetic, as they speak to readers as trusted identities. There's also a sprinkle of travel editorial in there, alongside the locations of the homes we feature - perfect for hospitality and tourism, and a great idea as advertorial 'shopping guides' for these areas.”

PR tips and a look into the future

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So with such a collection of features, Neve (pictured) told Influencing that work with PR is “great in terms of generating fresh, up-to-date content” for Australian Coastal Home.

“The area of retail product for homes is especially important for us in terms of PR, as this is often an area where at the 11th hour we'll have a space to fill, and a new item is something interesting for readers, and ultimately beneficial PR.

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"In this instance, the most helpful PR have been those that can provide secure access online to their latest high resolution images, with product descriptions, and even copy in some instance. What a godsend for me not to have to hassle for a fortnight just to get a pic! Their ranges often change seasonally, so ensuring we on the other side of the desk are kept in the loop with the latest range and access to as much information as possible is wonderful,” Neve advised.

“Myself and the publishers are also very open to pitches of ideas for the magazine that may see advertising backing up editorial, or even creating custom advertorial content - for example, in another title a national homewares retailer established the rights to the cover for one issue, which resulted in a custom cover shoot featuring exclusively their product: inside the magazine advertising backed up their presence in the opening pages, and this followed with 'get the look' featuring their actual product featured on the cover."

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"The result was so impressive the magazine could then be distributed in their stores as a catalogue as such, with minimal expense compared to creating their own from scratch, as essentially they had branded that issue as their own.”

Neve revealed to Influencing his 2012 resolutions for the magazine, including an ambition to match the frequency of other Express Publications and possible TV and book plans using the ‘Coastal’ brand.

“Plans are currently for a seasonal publication, nation wide to newsagents. In the short term I would love to increase this to match Express Publications other lifestyle titles that are 13 issues per year and whose distribution now includes shelf spots in Coles and Woolworths. I look forward to seeing our circulation figures from the launch issue in the new year, we pushed for the release date to be intentionally high-summer, the perfect time with holidays and leisure time by the coast to establish the title in the minds of readers. Our online response has already grown rapidly, with readers interacting instantly in a positive manner, so this is an area that will be constantly updated to keep the momentum,” he says.

“There are also personal plans to grow the ‘coastal’ brand and aesthetic into other mediums with current negotiations for info-based lifestyle television segments, which would be perfect further cross-promotion for advertisers, and even further capturing what is sure to also be visually-stunning content into a synonymous book publication.”

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You can find out more about Australian Coastal Home at the official website, or at Tim Neve’s personal site.
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You can find both Australian Coastal Home and Tim Neve on the Influencing database now.

If you have any feedback, news leads or would like to be featured on Influencing, contact tim@mediaconnect.com.au.

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The trailer for the magazine...

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