Canine couture retailer Bitch New York wanted to alert patrons to its tuxedo tank tops and personalized potties.
The Broadmoor, the five-star resort in Colorado Springs, hoped to assure guests it’s pet friendly, advising them to “take an evening stroll around the lake with someone you love.”
They both found a way to their target group by taking out ads in Doggie Aficionado. That, along with 75,000 subscribers nationally, may help explain how the slick quarterly magazine, published by Powder Springs entrepreneur Tamika Goins, has made it to its third year in an industry where it’s estimated that more than one-half of start-ups fail in the first.
“We’ve managed to carve out a space,” says the 34-year-old Louisiana native who moved to metro Atlanta in 1998. She defines that niche as a luxury lifestyle magazine for dog owners.
“In these times, it’s doing well,” assesses Stacey Reece, vice president at Echo Media, an Atlanta-based print media broker which represents Doggie Aficionado and competitors among hundreds of magazines. “They’re reaching a little higher demographic.”
Goins says her magazine’s readership is about 60 percent women. Its two distinct reader groups are younger singles and childless couples, and baby boomers and older empty nesters. Both, she says, have the disposable income to pamper their pets.
The dog magazine category is flush with titles, including breed-specific publications. A quick newsstand survey reveals the likes of American Dog, Bark, Just Labs and Dog World.
Goins distinguishes her magazine through content and appearance. Luxurious-looking covers feature a prominent person with a dog — not simply the pet.
The Summer 2009 issue, for example, features “House” actress and dog lover Lisa Edelstein on the cover in a glamorous pose. Edelstein granted the magazine an exclusive photo session and interview at her Los Angeles home.
The Fall 2009 issue, Goins said, will feature Martha Stewart.
The human-centric approach carries over into the articles. There is a travel piece with photo spread on a Miami Beach oceanfront hotel that “lets you and your pooch experience South Beach in style,” and another travel article on “bark-friendly bed & breakfasts.”
A regular section titled Dog Haus features a Florida couple who converted their Mediterranean-style home “into a doggie heaven” for a “bark-mitzvah” held in honor of their dog, Luke, who was turning 13.
The dogs have their day, though, in a spread on apparel designed for large breeds.
Goins says that unlike other dog magazines, Doggie Aficionado, which sells for $14 a year, doesn’t write about food recalls or joint supplements. And it’s not newsy.
It also doesn’t feature certain celebrities such as Tori Spelling and Paris Hilton, who’ve attracted media attention with their dogs.
While the magazine is distributed nationally, it has a section titled “Around Town” that focuses on “things, places and people worth barking about” in Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles. The localized approach offers dog-related news in those communities and a targeted market for advertisers.
Goins held various corporate jobs before launching the magazine which is part of her company, BeCause Inc. Doggie Aficionado developed, she says, because she saw a large and growing market in pets and pet owners.
So far, she’s run the magazine and its online component on a small, low-cost scale with just six full-time employees who can work remotely, and without outside investors.
“I’ve been very frugal,” says Goins, adding that the magazine isn’t profitable now only because of re-investments into the business.
She has big plans for the brand, though, and hopes to extend its use beyond the magazine.
Doggie Afficionado, she says, “is the launching pad for other things.”
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