Pitch for Northshore Magazine
- emily souza
- Aug 20, 2020
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 9, 2021
Emily Souza
Interview Assignment
Content Strategist Role
Assignment: Create mock-ups for features for three magazines owned by specific media group.
Magazines include, a general lifestyle magazine focused on the Northshore MA area, an Ocean Area Home Lifestyle magazine, and a Pool and Outdoor Lifestyle Magazine.
Concept for Article (Event):
Title: Looking for Inspiration? The Street Art Festival That You Need To Put On Your Fall To-Do List.
Info: Lynn Street Art Festival Uses Under-Utilized Buildings to Empower Community
The idea for this article is to do a feature piece on a pop-up event that is fairly new to the area, which features street style murals and graffiti art. It highlights the Lynn community, and is something unique to do for a fun weekend activity. This appeals to families, those who enjoy art, and the young adult demographic as well. This would be great to feature as the event will most likely be a popular spot to photograph and post our social platforms, and will be a hit with locals. Highlighting this event shows we are in the know with what is new and exciting around the area and that we are active participants in celebrating as a community.
Concept for Recurring article
Title: A Day In The Life Of A North Shore Blogger
This concept can be continued from issue to issue. Emphasizing North Shore magazine’s turn towards digital, we can introduce and collaborate with people in the digital world such as bloggers in an editorial type article. Influencer marketing is getting bigger and bigger as a niche, and we should show we are excited to hop on board for the ride.
What collaborating with local bloggers, artists, etc. does is show that we are connecting with them as Northshore Magazine, both in person and online. Here, we have an opportunity to show our audience what is popular in the area through the lens of these individuals, all while exploring different career paths and lifestyles (depending on the person featured).
Essentially, this gives us the opportunity to co-create with an individual whose profession is in the digital world, but who may have a smaller platform. By collaborating, this gives us outreach to their audience, and they will get the exposure to our audience and community. It also gives the individual blogger featured a chance to show us and our audience what spots are popular for them in the local areas, but may not be necessarily well known to us yet, at Northshore mag.
Following them throughout their day, we get to see what their favorite coffee spot is in their neighborhood, lunch place they may be a regular at, the best bar to grab a beer at, and what local stores and shops they love to hit during daily errands runs in their respective town.
We can create impact here by not only featuring bloggers, but local artist,s well known community members, business owners, etc. We have many people from the BONS Community that we could reach out to. Following them around for a day, gives us insight to a local’s perspective, and what a day in the life of a specific intriguing person or career path may look like.
My idea for this would be mostly featuring the specific places which these people go as this is our niche, with a small portion of editorial to introduce them as a member of our community.
Concept:
Second Hand Is In: 5 Local Places To Start Thrifting
Antique and Thrift Shops are a huge trend right now in fashion, home, & office decor. People are looking for more sustainable ways to shop, and thrifting is a great way to do this without breaking the bank.
80's and 90's styles are back in, and the thrill of snagging a good find is another thing people are loving about this way to shop. Featuring places around the North Shore can give a spin to our usual shopping features, which normally shed light on new store openings around the area.
This article can make us the experts, showing our audience where to find the best antiques and thrifting “hole in the wall” shops are around the area. This would appeal to local moms, home owners, business owners, young people, and people with specific interests and niches (think cars, Harley Davidson, old Massachusetts antiques, fashion, bargain hunters, etc.)
Local places to feature: Canal St. in Lawrence, Oldies Marketplace in Newburyport, other small antique stores around the North Shore.
Other Concepts For North Shore:
5 Local Fall Food & Drink Pop-Ups You Can’t Miss
5 North Shore Breweries You Need To Visit For Your Next Day Off ( or Next Date Night)
A Style Speakeasy Located Right Downtown Newburyport https://www.editstylelounge.vip/
Lady Finger Lounge Newburyport- An Instagram Dream
Concepts:
Influencer/Designer/ Local Home Feature
We had a great recent feature with Martin Lawrence Bullard and I think continuing with influential people would make for interesting pieces. Again, influencer marketing is a great way to co-create with someone else in the industry, and shows that we are on top of trends within our niche. Reaching out to “experts” to show their style and why they like or implement certain concepts into their homes is entertaining as well as informational. This would be a great article for design inspiration or featuring affiliate products.
These Ocean Front Houses In Maine Show Precisely Why The State Is Called “Vacationland”.
Looking at the magazine and the past features, I didn’t see a ton of features on Maine. Trying to think outside of the box, there are lots of down south and caribbean articles, why not go up? Maine has some very high end houses, and lots of “get-away” inspiration, architecture, and decor that one can bring into their home; also many local artists that may be of interest.
Marie Kondo Your Space: Minimalistic Home Decor That Will Make You Feel Like You Have It Together.
Marie Kondo is an organizing expert, with a hit show on Netflix “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo” She is definitely a popular person within the trending concepts of minimalism, decluttering, and home organization. Minimalism is a huge trend right now. It focuses on the intentions of high quality pieces, contrary to cheap and wasteful furniture. Basically, less is more. Clean lines and neutral colors are emphasized. These concepts are timeless and high-end. Could be a great feature on the concept, mindset, and history of minimalism, and can include products.
Additional Idea:
Coolest Ocean Side Airbnbs That You Need To Book ASAP
Boutique Hotels and Airbnbs are becoming more and more popular as ways to travel. This appeals both to the younger demographic, as well as travelers who want to look for a fun and different experience.
Concepts:
Ultra Modern Infinity Pools: What’s The Buzz?
This feature article is an opportunity that allows us to share our knowledge on what is popular within the pool and outdoor living industry. Right now, sleek infinity edge style home pools are all the rage, especially on the west coast. This article gives us the opportunity to go in depth with design, concept, history, etc. on this trending pool design.
The Pool That Went Viral, Start Booking Your Trip To Bali
A little while ago, this pool was making waves on the internet. Featuring it, would be a good way to show our audience that we are up to date on the latest internet buzz (as we are going digital), and also would be a great way to highlight Airbnbs as they are a popular alternative to hotels for travelers. This specific pool is located at an Airbnb property, the Villa Cella Bella in Bali, and has been seen across Twitter and Instagram.
Have The Best Entertaining Space In The Neighborhood: Our Top 5 Outdoor Furniture Trends For 2019
This article can combine architecture, design, and art which appeal to people in the luxury world, as these are concepts many appreciate. This allows us to feature affiliate products, as well as talk on our expertise as to what is popular across luxury outdoor spaces, what is sustainable, and it allows us to show our readers the emotion and insight as to what it would be to have and own these pieces.
Examples of some pieces I would feature, that go above and beyond what you would see in a “typical” luxury pool.
More ideas:
The Luxury Pool Float Brand That You Need To Know About
Your Pool Is Missing One Thing- This Luxury Pool Tray
- seen on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest
Resort Inspiration To Bring Home With You
Note: I believe that most titles are catchy and self explanatory. The reasoning behind the titles with numbers, ie. Top 5 Outdoor Furniture Trends- is that with digital, people want to consume as much information in as little amount of time. Readers want the gist and the bullet. Having articles in list form, with a quick group of products or concepts gives the room to talk about different things within a subject but in a short enough passage so that you deliver important information without boring a reader. People want the instant gratification and quick reads and this is where I think having a set amount of something (the number) is super beneficial, the reader knows how much content they will be consuming even before they open the article.
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