Dailycandy merges content and commerce
As the online readers services editor at Lucky magazine (in 2006!) I was privy to the emails and snail mail coming in everyday by the readers. The most common email complaint was that Lucky featured products that were soon sold-out or not available at the stores mentioned in the magazine. I used to think back then, why Lucky simply didn’t start an online store or at the very least an affliate program with the retailers where Lucky could get commissions for introducing readers to new products.
Well, Lucky mag never went that route but Daily Candy just did.
Entering the $350 million + sample sale industry is Swirl, a new sample sale site by Daily Candy. Dailycandy has always been the online version of Lucky magazine. Products and services featured in the newseletter have sold out/ booked out within minutes. With this sort of pull in the market and a baked in subscriber base, a sample sale brand extension makes sense. And is the true mergign of content and commerce.
However, my first thought at this news was will DailyCandy lose its editoiral integrity by going this route? But then I corrected myself. That is such old-media thinking. I think Dailycandy.com is not just a content brand anymore – it is a full fledged media company. If Moncole can carefully extend its brand to luggage, colognes and travel accessories, Daily Candy’s sample sale store makes for an obvious brand extension and a new revenue stream.
And knowing Dailycandy.com, you can be sure of perfect execution.
Thoughts ?