SJC Media plans to add two more brand extensions to its Chatelaine portfolio next year.
The Kitchen Awards and The Wine & Spirit Awards will expand the publication’s footprint in home, dining and entertaining, which the publisher says are high-engagement categories for readers and high-value verticals for advertisers. They round out SJC’s existing portfolio of awards: The Beauty Awards and The Pantry Awards, both handed out earlier this year.
Amid ongoing ad revenue declines in traditional media – notably in TV and print – publishers are looking for ways to reverse the trend. Chatelaine magazine, first published in 1928, has attempted to do this by building on its established brand equity with multiplatform extensions to give audiences new ways to interact with the publication while giving advertisers more meaningful ways to connect with them.
The strategy is about future-proofing the business, says publisher Tobiasz Woroniecki (pictured).
“For legacy media brands, extensions are essential,” he tells Media in Canada. “They help us stay relevant and diversify revenue while staying true to our editorial mission. When done right, they sit at the intersection of what readers care about and what advertisers value.”
The Beauty Awards, introduced in 2021, is a cross-title beauty recognition program that brings together SJC’s Chatelaine English and French editions, Fashion and Hello! Canada. The Pantry Awards, celebrating the best grocery and pantry products in Canada, were launched this year.
For all awards programs, submissions are reviewed by experts, which Woroniecki says lends them authenticity and credibility – translating into an endorsement for the winning advertisers and brands, and giving them a new way to connect with Chatelaine’s readers across platforms. Branded content can also be created to tell the story behind the win.
Brand extension decisions are shaped by reader behaviour, and which content they engage with across the site, social media and newsletters.
“We dig into our first-party data to see where there is real, lasting interest,” Woroniecki tells MiC. “We also listen directly to feedback from our audience and combine that with research to understand what is driving those behaviours.”
When he sees a category that consistently sparks interest, like beauty or food, he looks at how to turn it into something bigger than a single story.
Rather than reinventing Chatelaine, he adds, the publisher is refining how its platforms work together to create editorial franchises: building recurring, multi-platform programs that can be brought to life across all channels – print, online, on social, through influencer campaigns, video and events. Each program becomes a repeatable framework rather than a one-off campaign, making it sustainable, measurable and easy to scale year after year.
