As a premium magazine capturing and celebrating life and people in Southern Georgian Bay for 20 years.
by David Loopstra
In the spring of 2003 I was finishing journalism college when I came across a job posting for a local editor at a brand new magazine that was poised to launch in Southern Georgian Bay—appropriately called On The Bay. The posting touted that the region deserved a premium magazine to celebrate its unique culture and lifestyle.
I applied, but never heard back (in a media career, one gets used to rejection).
Fast forward a couple years and I found myself competing with On The Bay—as founder and publisher of another local magazine.
Meanwhile, On The Bay had taken off rocket-fast and had become a staple of readers’ fixed attention—a marketer’s dream.
The ingredients for success were abundant: premium, intriguing and important content for discerning readers—which created a captive audience of local decision-makers, those best-positioned to purchase products and services from advertisers eager to reach them.
I’ll never forget attending a sales meeting on behalf of the local magazine I had started, and presenting it to the prospective advertiser.
“Wait,” she said, while my heart sank. “I thought you were with the other magazine. The big one, you know, the oversized one, large format. The ‘Bay’ one.” She called out to her receptionist, “What’s the magazine we want to be in? The big one.”
“On The Bay,” came the reply.
While I still managed to land that particular sale, I never forgot the lesson in branding.
On The Bay stood out. It was memorable, oversized, respected.
I am happy to report that 20 years after its launch, On The Bay remains stronger than ever, more embedded in the community and even more important as a relevant source of pressing local stories, culture, news and entertainment. It remains a staple of the marketing plan of smart advertisers, and its integration of digital—through our streaming app Bay Watch—continues to create an ever-growing, more meaningful experience of local media.
In 20 years it’s only gotten better, and you can bet that 20 years from now we will be even stronger, continuing our mission to celebrate life and people in Southern Georgian Bay.
Sincerely,
David Loopstra
Publisher, On The Bay
dloopstra@onthebaymagazine.com
