VentureBeat

updated

Glam Media, the fast-growing content and ad network focused on women, has launched Glam Luxury — featuring things like high-end fashion, premium travel and fine living. It will target luxury advertisers, including Swarovski.

What great timing! A luxury site? Right when the economy is falling off the cliff? When hundreds of thousands, including wealthy bankers, are being thrown out of work?

It fits the company’s recent bold history. Glam has been expanding at break-neck speed, launching all sorts of content channels, in a race to lay claim to largest network devoted to women, and, recently, men. It has raised money — at a lofty valuation of half a billion dollars — to maintain its momentum. The risk is that the company’s model could crumble if the economy slows. If advertising dries up, Glam is especially vulnerable because the company is essentially an advertising distributor to partner sites that join it (though it does continue to launch and buy some of its own content sites).

In the case of the Glam Luxury channel, more than 35 online publishers have joined in, including Glam-owned BlackBook.com, Luxique, Momist, Senora Cartera and Travels in Taste.

Glam’s executives say that, actually, in adverse times such as this advertisers continue to target “influential high-end consumers.” The “middle” market gets hit the hardest, they say, because of flight by the masses to “value” goods. The luxury market gets hit too, but not as badly. Many wealthy individuals downscale to buy goods at a level below luxury, known as “premium” (people buying a hybrid car for $30,000, for example would fit into this category). With its channel, Glam is going after both luxury and premium. The company’s executives point to the success of Neiman Marcus during the last downturn in 2001 as evidence the segment can do well.

Second, Glam execs say they believe the Internet will continue to do well relative to offline markets, because the Internet is “a smart medium.” Affluent customers spend 10 hours a week online at home, and three times more time online than reading magazines, according to a Luxury Institute study cited by Glam. Finally, the internet also allows better targeting for advertisers, Glam and other Internet retailers argue.

Glam Media’s network now features eight separate channels: Style (Fashion, Beauty, Shopping); Living (Food & Wine, Home & Design, Travel & Leisure); Entertainment; Wellness; Health; Family, Black Life and Luxury.

The company says its network now has 640 sites.