Conde Nast is the most influential magazine publishing company around. With 17 titles ranging from Vanity Fair and Vogue to Details and GQ (not to mention sister publications W and The New Yorker), the privately-held company also has a pretty mean PR machine. No, the publicists for its individual titles are not nasty (only some are), they just know how to churn out good column fodder.
The most recent coup is a story in today’s USA Today revealing a career-resurgent Ellen DeGeneres’s tale of abuse as a girl as published in the new issue of Allure. Much of the success (e.g. media access) that Conde Nast’s decentralized PR staff enjoys is related to the clout the company has with the media types who thrive on this fabulous brand of editorial publicity. The story today is written by Cesar Soriano, the long-time “Lifeline” columnist for the “Life” section of USA Today. Others include a syndicated Liz Smith, and of course, the venerable “Page Six,” whose items are frequently picked up worldwide.
Of course the editorial fodder isn’t planted until the magazine is about to hit newsstands, Timing and single-copy sales are everything.