The 2003 Relaunch of Vancouver Magazine

This project report examines the 2003 relaunch of Vancouver magazine. It provides an overview of the magazine’s 35-year history, as well as an analysis of its current state: editorial, advertising, circulation, readership and competition. The report also offers an inside account of the strategic planning that went into the relaunch, including: findings from a July 2002 competitive analysis of Toronto Life, Canada’s preeminent city magazine; highlights from a November 2002 Vancouver magazine subscriber survey; and a chronicle of various planning meetings, held within Transcontinental Media West, between July and December 2002. This report evaluates Vancouver magazine’s prospects for a successful relaunch within the framework of the two city magazine studies, each of which addresses the role and purpose of a city magazine. Questions and findings from those studies are then posed to three editors of Vancouver magazine (past and present), who offer an analysis of the city magazine research within the context of their specific experiences at the magazine. This project report serves as a case study of the magazine relaunch process, but it does not attempt to evaluate the success of this particular relaunch. It offers general lessons and observations for those interested in launching or relaunching a city magazine, and specific lessons and observations for those interested in the future of Vancouver magazine.