"Magazine is change": Canadian Living rebranded

Canadian Living magazine has been rebranded in ways large and small  for its 35th anniversary, all with the intention of changing the perception of it as a print magazine with affiliated online properties to a cross-platform media brand, according to a story in Marketing. The agency GWP Brand Engineering was selected by Transcontinental Media and the magazine's management to carry out the changes (GWP was the company that helped the CBC present itself as a cross-platform rather than a television brand).  

“We felt that Canadian Living in the media industry is probably undervalued for its strength as a brand,” said Lynn Chambers, group publisher. “Everybody thinks of us as just the [print] magazine. We’ve had great successes with our core magazine audience, a history of loyal readers. We’ve been successful in expanding onto new platforms, but we don’t tell our full brand story enough.”

Content is now grouped under one of five “pillars,” including beauty, health, lifestyle, home and food. However, in keeping with its more “optimistic” brand personality, these sections bear the headings “Beauty is everywhere,” “Health is happiness,” “Life is for living,” “Home is pride,” and “Food is love.”

“It’s not really a change for us, but we’re being more personable about how we express [ourselves],” Chambers said.

Among the changes in the current (April) issue is the tag line, previously "Smart solutions for everday living" to "Inspiring ideas for everyday living". And the price, marking the 35th anniversary of the magazine, is $1.99.