Contact information
Robert Klara
Features Editor
646-654-5403
rklara(at)brandweek(dot)com
VNU Business Media
770 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

Background
Klara has worked in the magazine industry for 14 years. He held editorial positions at Town and Country, Restaurant Business and Architecture Magazine. His articles have appeared in various publications, including American Heritage, Time Out New York and New York Daily News.

Circulation & readership
Total qualified circ for the six-month period ended June 2006: 25,732.
56% of the circulation is in five states (NY, MI, IL, TX, CA).

Brandweek's typical readers are marketing executives at manufacturing and service companies and decision-makers at advertising, promotion and media agencies.
Advertisers and marketers---18,627
Ad agencies-----------------------4,649

Examples of current editorial coverage
Brandweek covers news (money spending), features (examination of a company, product category or marketing trend) and profiles (executive spotlights).

The magazine encompasses 25 categories, offering knowledge on spending, management shifts, strategy, services, brand identity, sponsorship, media and promotion. Considered perspectives include those of corporate, agency, retail and channel partners. In addition, Brandweek offers special reports on marketing topics.

You can see their editorial calendar here:
http://www.adweek.com/aw/images/pdfs/edit2007.pdf

Departments include:
- The Biz (entertainment marketing)
- The Game (sports marketing)
- Brand Builders (case histories)
- Q&A (industry leader interviews)
- Out of the Box (B-to-C trends)
- Research and Insight (studies)
- Top of Mind (leaders’ opinions)
- New Campaigns (creative)
- Meta (business, politics, culture)
- Tools of the Trade (new-media ideas and events)

Website traffic & newsletter
Each month, the site has 178,000 page views and gets 50,000 unique visitors. It offers up-to-the-hour national and regional news; a campaign archive; access to the print version of the magazine and to other VNU publications; marketing associations directory; a directory of target markets; and data and analysis of 2,000 brands.

Every Wednesday, more than 24,600 subscribers receive a newsletter with breaking news and trends.

To “pitch” or not to “pitch”
If you would like to submit a news item, email it to Barry Janoff [bjanoff(at)Brandweek(dot)com] or to Todd Wasserman [twasserman(at)Brandweek(dot)com]. If you want to try your luck, subjects regularly covered in the news include: new products, line extensions, promotions, co-branding, tie-ins, alliances, global marketing and positioning.

Klara emphasizes, “The ONLY kind of news story we run is an exclusive.” Even then, it’s rare that they use an unsolicited pitch because they “generally work with an established stable of freelance writers for the feature well.”

He does suggest a section to contribute to, though. “Top of Mind is an essay department that accepts over-the-transom submissions from anyone with something interesting or provocative to argue about in the branding world.” You do have to submit complete manuscripts for consideration since “pitches don’t really work for an essay format.”

6 Ways to Contribute to the Top of Mind section of Brandweek
#1. Email Klara your submissions by attaching them as Word files. Your essay’s content should fit into one of the following categories: product development, marketing, advertising, media, B-to-C demographic trends, management and organizational issues.
#2. Keep it concise: your article should not exceed 950 words.
#3. Include author’s bio, contact info and a photo that’s at least 300 dpi.
#4. Convey a strong opinion. “The magazine is seeking contributors with the tone, focus and rhetorical thrust commonly found on the op-ed page.”
#5. Choose a broad and fresh topic that would appeal to a variety of readers.
#6. Focus the essay around your main point.

4 don’ts
#1. Refrain from truisms and clichés, such as “Empower you staff” and “Create ads that reflect product.”
#2. Avoid preaching to the choir. Your style should be lively, not didactic.
#3. Stay away from industry jargon, such as transforming nouns into verbs.
#4. Don’t promote your offerings, share your expertise. Write *about marketing*, not *marketing*.