American Cowboy Posts 20% Increase in Ad Revenue over Prior Year
February/March Issue Debuts New Editor, Full Redesign

(January 14, 2010)—Boulder, CO – American Cowboy (www.americancowboy.com) announced today that magazine ad revenues increased 20% for its February/March 2010 issue (versus last year) on the strength of a redesign that debuts with this issue. A complete retooling of the website is also resulting in significant growth; pageviews have jumped 95% in the three weeks since it relaunched.

"We're charging into 2010 with an aggressive plan to win readers and market share," says Jonathan Dorn, editorial director of American Cowboy, which is owned by Active Interest Media (www.aimmedia.com). "After conducting our biggest audience survey ever, we saw an opportunity to retain our highly loyal readers while creating a magazine, website, and sales proposition that better position the brand to reflect today’s dynamic Western lifestyle.”

American Cowboy publisher Bill Garrels credits his staff's pre-Christmas tour of 60-plus advertisers with the lift in ad sales. "My team presented an early version of the magazine redesign to clients as varied as Chevy, Wrangler, and Ariat Boots," he says, "and the enthusiasm drove many of them to commit dollars before they'd completed 2010 planning." With the February/March issue now on newsstands, advertisers are singing its praises. "For brands like ours that are trying to capture both the working rancher and the weekend cowboy," says Keith Mundee of Rocky Mountain Clothing Corporation, "the new American Cowboy is a great match. Its voice is smart, authentic, and welcoming, and the upgraded design environment makes our creative look terrific."

New editor-in-chief Philip Armour, a veteran of Outside and Forbes' Mountain Time, joined American Cowboy last summer to guide the redesign. Working with a team that included Dorn, art director Eva Young, and group design director Matthew Bates, he fashioned a new architecture that emphasizes photography, highly distilled service, and on-the-ground reporting over the long-form opinion columns and poetry that previously dominated the magazine. "Our goal was to celebrate the proud heritage of the West," he says, "while engaging readers in a living, breathing lifestyle that’s gained untold adherents as the country’s demographics have shifted westward.”

Informed by ongoing reader research, the editors overhauled and expanded the front of the book, creating departments that significantly increase the breadth and depth of its travel and product coverage. Frontiers, which opens the magazine, uses gritty-yet-elegant photography to put readers behind the scenes at iconic Western moments. Travel offers inspiration side-by-side with insider tips and servicepacked infographics. And the Gear department introduces two Western industry firsts: a staff gear editor and in-depth product testing by working ranchers and cowboys.

AmericanCowboy.com complements the magazine with its own redesign, one that includes innovations in social media, lead generation, and user content development. Built on an open-source platform that gives readers more opportunities to interact, the site is on pace in its first 30 days to double 2009’s monthly traffic average, pages per visit, and time on site. "The site might be our secret weapon," notes Dorn.

"Nobody in our space can offer customers or advertisers so many tools, or boast such strong integration between print and digital. We think our early success is merely a hint of what's to come -- the ideas and energy bubbling up through this brand right now are going to put American Cowboy on the map."

About American Cowboy

About American Cowboy American Cowboy magazine is the cultural chronicler of the American West, covering every aspect of the lifestyle, including history and heritage, travel and events, art and entertainment, food and fashion. Through our signature mix of in-depth reporting, vivid photography, and social commentary, American Cowboy keeps alive America's love affair with all things Western and nurtures the dream of those who aspire to live the lifestyle.

About AIM:

Based in El Segundo, California, AIM (www.aimmedia.com) is a consumer enthusiast media company that serves a base of loyal constituents through print, event and online products that connect consumers with their passions.

AIM operates in four distinct vertical segments; Healthy Living, Marine, Home, and Western Living. Its titles include Yoga Journal, Backpacker, Vegetarian Times, Better Nutrition, Optimum Wellness, SNEWS® Whole Foods Market® magazine, American Cowboy, Log Home Living, Timber Home Living, Building Systems, Black Belt, New Old House, Old-House Journal, and Yachts International.

AIM produces and markets conferences, DVDs and books, and produces log-and-timber home shows and seminars. The company also produces the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show®, the largest boat show in the world. AIM is sponsored by Wind Point Partners, LLC.

For more information, contact:
Dayna Macy
415.591.0729
dmacy@aimmedia.com

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