Plum Miami -vs- OceanDrive -vs- Miami magazine

Miami, FL – Last week Jerry Powers launched a new luxury magazine in Miami called “Plum Miami” and on March 3, 2011 the Miami Herald published this article detailing the launch of that new magazine. What is interesting about this magazine (at least for people involved in media in Miami) is that Jerry Powers, who co-founded OceanDrive magazine with Jason Binn, is the CEO and publisher of “Plum Miami”. Some say it is because Jerry Powers is on a mission to put ex partner Jason Binn out of business. This because Binn allegedly forced Powers out of the OceanDrive offices and then legally enforced Powers to comply with his noncompete. At the bottom of this post you can watch this insider’s video from the OceanDrive boardroom recorded the afternoon Jerry “resigned”. Jerry is one “cat with a few lives left in him” amid the background sobs of tearing staff memebers.

Is Miami big enough to support another luxury magazine?
We have the ultra established OceanDrive, the very glossy Miami magazine and now the new “Plum Miami” (no website found). Will the local advertisers divvy up the ad budgets and spread them around  or will they pick a side to stand behind? Only time will tell so lets quickly compare these printed magazines.

First off they are all the same size and follow the same format. OceanDive has biggest brand recognition and Miami has a great name – so I think Plum has some catching up to do in that area. The fact that the current co-publisher of OceanDrive (Courtland Lantaff) and Miami magazine’s publisher (Leslie Wolfson) were both protogés of Jerry Powers while Jerry was at the helm of OceanDrive gives Jerry the advantage in knowing his competition very well because he led and mentored them both. But it is very common for the students to learn from the teacher and do better! So can Jerry predict what each will do to “respond” to Plum’s launch and counter? I’ll bet he already has. And I know for sure that Courtland and Leslie have some tricks up their sleeves to counter the assault! All three are very smart business savvy individuals who are competing for the same advertisers. This is war!

Hot off the Press
One move OceanDrive/Niche Media has made is to bring back Lana Bernstein who was at OceanDrive from the very beginning. Lana will focus her expertise back into the media industry and rejoins the executive team at Niche Media as Vice President of Marketing. Instrumental in the overall development and eventual success of OceanDrive Lana is as connected as anybody can be and very simply is professional and totally likable!

Comparing the Covers
The debut cover of Plum Miami is of model turned actress Brooklyn Decker which OceanDrive used as a cover girl in the January 2011 issue. By looking for the “cutting edge” photography that Plum Miami’s editor in chief (and ex OceanDrive editor in chief) Glenn Albin describes in the Miami Herald article – we see that OceanDrive shot their own pictures of Brooklyn where it looks like Plum purchased some stock photography for the debut cover. Hmm – not exactly internally inspired “cutting edge” photography but it is very clever publishing. Brooklyn Decker’s popularity is at an all time high because she is a drop dead beautiful Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and she’s is in a movie with Adam Sandler called “Just Go With It“. Miami magazine features the respected and talented actress Diane Lane on their cover. Diane is shown barefoot and steamy in a series of images that are simply beautiful and worth looking at for anybody who appreciates talent and beauty rolled into one package.

Which of these three covers is the nicest? Post a comment below.

Plum Miami seems to be banking on the hook that mixing print and video will set them apart – but this combination is nothing new or revolutionary. OceanDrive has had video on their website since 2004 (at that time produced by yours truly) and Miami magazine publishes some event videos along with a complete “digital edition” of each monthly issue. All three of these magazines seem to love the Raleigh Hotel and at first glance are covering similar people, restaurants and nightclubs.

These are interesting times in Miami for “luxury publishing” and I plan on keeping the comparisons going. Future blogs will discuss the fashions, the staffing, the drama, the online strategies and most importantly the content.

Is it survival of the fittest at it’s very best based on compelling content or a test of who is better connected with advertisers in the sunny paradise we call home? This blog is the first of a series by David Siqueiros.

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