It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
6/30/2010
By Lisa M. Larranaga
Keith Shaw often avoids adding technology products to his holiday wish list. After leafing through hundreds of submissions for Network World’s annual Cool Yule Tools gift guide, he asks for gift cards, clothes and non-tech items.
Shaw, who is a programming director and columnist for Network World, is one of many editors gearing up for the holiday season months in advance. The semi-monthly magazine started its gift guide in 2000, and since then Shaw has watched the tech world gain more attention.
“There’s more and more interest each year in gadgets and consumer electronics,” he said. “Much more options to choose from than before.”
Sonal Dutt, executive lifestyle editor of Every Day with Rachael Ray, says the iPod trend filled guides in years past.
“The explosion of the iPod offered many gifts and new products,” she said. “There were cases and attachments. That was interesting to see.”
This season will be the fourth year Dutt has worked on the guide at Every Day with Rachael Ray and in total, she’s worked on gift issues for 10 years, previously at InStyle, Woman’s Day and the now-defunct For Me.
This year, she says readers can expect about 75 items to be featured in the gift issue, spanning a variety of interests.
“We’re looking for the undiscovered gift,” she said. “I think people think of us as a food magazine and our guide has a few food elements in it but we cover everything from him, her, pets, kids, home, fashion, beauty and tech.”
At More, assistant beauty editor Nikki Ostasiewski says it’s the second year the beauty department is in charge of the guide and staffers want to make shopping simple for readers.
“Though the theme may change yearly, the ultimate goal is to take the guesswork out of holiday shopping for our very smart and sophisticated readers,” she said. “We aim to showcase new, stylish and unique gifts that our readers would be excited to give, and potentially receive as well.”
Network World started its guide with a focus on business tech products and through the years has overhauled it to include personal and consumer technology.
Last year, Cool Yule Tools, which has a sister column printed in every issue titled Cool Tools, published products in categories including cell phones, smart phones and accessories; computers and notebooks; digital photography, video and webcams; home and office gear; travel gear; and more.
“Our current mantra is that we’ll look at it if it has an on/off switch,” Shaw says.
Ostasiewski receives more submissions than she can count. About five a day enter her inbox from mid-June through early September and staffers keep on top of trends by attending at least 20 holiday previews per season. Then, they turn all the submissions into a guide which spotlights about 80 gift ideas.
“We think a gift can say as much about the giver as it does the recipient,” she says. “Good gift guide pitches recognize that the More reader is stylish, savvy, highly educated and has serious spending power.”
Network World readers are more tech savvy than the average consumer, Shaw says, so the issue acts as a place readers can find products for their own wish lists and for family and friends.
Shaw receives 100-200 submissions during the process and the magazine publishes about 100 products in both print and online formats. Since Network World wants to be sure the products are best-in-class, items must be submitted for testing.
“We require that products get submitted to us for testing so we feel confident that the recommendations on holiday gifts we’re giving are based on having actually tried and tested the products, rather than just reading a description,” he said. “Other publications pick and choose gift ideas that look cool or sound cool; we pick ones that are actually cool.”
Dutt and crew also test products as much as possible, with at least three to four staffers trying them out. The guide caters to all price points, so it features stocking stuffers and gifts for someone who wants to make a more impressive investment.
“When someone opens your package and sees the gift you bought for them, we want there to be a special moment when you’re going to feel good about giving the gift to them,” Dutt says.
Making the Pitch
Before collecting submissions, Shaw sends out a memo to explain the magazine’s Cool Yule Tools criteria. The “call for products” memo gets disseminated to his base of contacts and consistent PR people he works with year-round. He also scans PR wires for new products and if he’s interested, sends an e-mail to the public relations contact and attaches the memo.
Shaw advises PR professionals to read the memo, as it usually gives deadlines, categories and other requirements.
“Too many times they don’t read this and then I have to answer questions that are in the note,” he says. “Also, be prepared to submit products for evaluation.”
And he says if you submit an item, don’t assume it will be covered.
“Sometimes products stink or we don’t like it or we already have a similar product in the guide,” he says.
Every Day with Rachael Ray plans to make decisions by early August, Dutt says, so everything should be in by the first week in August. She also hands down these rules: be up-front with information and include when the product will launch, the retail price and low-resolution images.
“The long, flowing press releases are great but I need them short and sweet because we’re getting so many different pitches,” she says. “Bullet out the most important points.”
When sending press materials to More, make releases clear and concise and avoid emailing everyone on staff. It’s also wise to avoid forwarding a pitch more than once, excessive follow up or calling to ask if you can send information; just send it, Ostasiewski says.
“We go through multiple run-throughs toward the end of July and usually can’t confirm what made the final cut until mid-August.”
She continues, “Clear and concise e-mail pitches are the most effective. In a nutshell, we want to understand how the product or idea works, what it looks like, when it will hit shelves, and why our reader might be interested in it.”
Contact Information
Network World
492 Old Connecticut Path
Framingham, MA. 01701
(508)766-5301
Keith Shaw, programming director and columnist
(508)766-5444
http://twitter.com/shawkeith
Every Day with Rachael Ray
16 E 34th St, Fl 14
New York, N.Y. 10016
(212)993-5200
Sonal Dutt
(212)993-5218
More
375 Lexington Ave., 9th Fl
New York, N.Y. 10017
(212)499-2000
Nikki Ostasiewski, assistant beauty editor
(212)499-1753