2, a Toronto-based magazine for couples is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a relaunch of its website 2ForCouples.com that allows it to better package and integrate sponsors into their text, video and interactive web content. Diane Hall, president and publisher of 2, says the new site, which was funded by the Ontario Media Development Corporation, is not about new technology but about the mag’s willingness to go deep with sponsorships, even integrating the brand’s own modules from their campaigns into the site.
For instance, at relaunch, vacuum cleaner company Dyson will see the top videos from its Next Top Animal contest posted on the Pets section of the site. Meanwhile, Calvin Klein fragrance In2you, which sponsors the sex section, has a widget where visitors are able to send post-its to their friends via Facebook or email. ‘But rather than sending people away, it was a branded element for them to have residing on our sex section,’ Hall tells MiC.
2 is a full-colour glossy with a circulation of about 90,000 through subscriptions and partners the Bay and Home Outfitters, which distribute the mag to couples (25 to 39 years old) within their gift registry. Stories range from health, fashion, home improvement and pop culture. Sponsors are on board both in print and online (about 7,500 monthly visits) include Crest Whitestrips, and Nordica – Crest, for example, is also integrated into 2‘s Couple Makeover web TV series and slideshow.
