Val Morgan to launch e-commerce store fronts and 3 new verticals in 2022
Val Morgan Digital (VMD), part of Val Morgan’s network, will launch e-commerce storefronts and new verticals as announced today in its 2022 upfronts.
The e-commerce storefronts will launch across its publications The Latch, Popsugar and Thrillist. Each storefront will aim to offer readers curated edits, deals, offers and bespoke shopping moments within specific categories. Streaming, travel and experiences, fashion and beauty, and sustainability will be the launch categories.
Val Morgan Digital identified through recent surveys, that 85% of readers are likely to purchase something from the sites.
VMD will also launch three new verticals: a sustainability vertical within The Latch, Popsugar Sport and New Zealand City Guides within Thrillist. Popsugar Gaming also launched a week ago.
VMD has also launched a new measurement system ARC (Awareness. Relevance. Consideration), which focuses on brand uplift, increased intention or action to buy.
In terms of initiatives, The Latch will partner with Homegrown to support the Australian film industry. The Mental Health Uprising will launch on Thrillist to support hospitality workers’ mental health. Popsugar will launch a female finance advisory board The Powerhouse.
VMD publisher Amanda Bardas said: “Our out-of-home network spans across retail, health clubs, and petrol and convenience locations. We spend a lot of time ensuring the content we create makes sense in the environment it exists. We believe this is crucial to successfully integrating a publishing and out-of-home business, rather than constantly redirecting audiences back to a URL.”
Bardas continued: “No other publisher can take a brand and the content we create into everyday life and target that content into the right audience in the right environment, all backed by data.
“Now, as a business, we’re focused on creating responsible content for our readers, our team, our clients, and making a commitment to ensuring diversity and inclusion, the health and wellbeing of our teams and driving towards a more sustainable future. Our brands, the Latch, Thrillist, Popsugar and Fandom act as a switchboard where culture and commerce intersect and become intertwined without audience’s everyday lives.”
According to Bardas: “Editorial drives a 16% increase in outdoor engagement, and outdoor amplifies digital audience with an 18% increase in engagement, so pairing the VMD and VMO networks together gives brands unparalleled results. We not only create purposeful and strategic content, but we create it specifically for the environment that it lives in, and we believe this is crucial to successfully integrating a publishing and out-of-home business.”
VMD has added to its stable of publications over the past year. The Thrillist joined Val Morgan Digital just under a year ago, in partnership with US company Group Nine Media. Later, in January this year, VMD added Popsugar Australia, also in partnership with Group Nine Media.
The Latch was launched back in January 2020.
Fandom is also part of VMD, which was its first venture into digital publishing.
