Condé Nast Deepens Its Social Connections

Readers of the online versions of Condé Nast publications will have to look no further than the bottom of their screens to see what content other readers have deemed worthy of a “Tweet” on Twitter or a “like” on Facebook. And right below that social media will be a hefty dose of advertising.

On Monday, the magazine publisher will begin using a module called the Condé Nast Social Sidekick at the bottom of article pages for the Web versions of magazines like W, Style.com, Glamour, Self, Teen Vogue and Lucky. “Consumer engagement has become a top priority,” said Louis Cona, chief marketing officer at Condé Nast.

The company is hoping the new tool will encourage readers to view content from other Condé Nast sites, while giving advertisers like Gucci, the premiere sponsor, the option to showcase their own multimedia promotions.

In a statement, Robert Triefus, the worldwide marketing and communications director at Gucci, said the new module “allows us to reach the broad and highly qualified target audience associated with Condé Nast brands.”

Gucci, hoping to reach women aged 18 to 35, will use the module to promote content from the luxury brand’s Twitter feed and Facebook page, as well as original video content that promotes merchandise and events. The company will also be able to see click-through rates for articles in the network of Web sites and swap content in and out of the module as it chooses.

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Facebook Deals dumped

After its four-month test, Facebook has decided that whatever form its entry into the “local deals” market takes, it won’t look like Facebook Deals, which will be shuttered in the coming weeks.

Deals sites, in which businesses tip money into the pockets of middlemen so they can offer notional discounts for Brazilian waxes, are the engine-room of the current dotcom bubble. Facebook’s market test took place in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco.

Facebook Deals was touted as a competitor to Groupon and LivingSocial, and as well as flogging offers secured by its own sales team, it added an extra layer of middleman into the deals business by on-selling offers set up by companies like ReachLocal, Gilt City and Zozi.

Putting a brave face on the flop, Facebook told Reuters it will “continue to evaluate how to best serve local businesses”. It is sticking with Facebook Ads, Pages and Sponsored Stories, as well as its Check-in Deals product.

August has been volte-face month for Facebook, which a few days ago also gave up on its Places product, a move that apparently caught its sales teams by surprise, since in Australia, the decision came shortly after major shopping centre operator Westfield would try marketing through Places. ®

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