New York Doubles Down On Its Niches
A big bet doesn’t have to be something radical. It doesn’t have to be out of the box. It doesn’t even have to be new.
In New York’s case, it just means doubling down on the stuff that’s already working.
The brand has launched a series of niche verticals over the last four years—Vulture, The Cut, Daily Intelligencer, Grub Street and Science of Us—aimed at building out dedicated operations for a few of its most resonant categories.
Now, it’s about building on those established bases, says Larry Burstein, New York’s publisher.
“We’re going to expand them out further by building the audience and introducing new ad units and experiences,” he says.
The audiences are growing at a rapid clip already for Vulture and The Cut—unique visitors to those sites are up 53 and 38 percent year-over-year, respectively, according to Burstein—while new ad offerings like pop-up blogs—custom editorial projects underwritten by a single sponsor—and ad units that’ll be unveiled early next year are seeing buy-in already.
Similarly, New York is looking to maximize revenue potential from its four annual events. The Vulture Festival, which launched this spring, drew more than 35,000 spectators to New York’s Milk Studios.
“Every day someone around here comes up with an idea for a new vertical, and we sit and talk about them all the time,” Burstein says, “but our feeling right now is that we’re just going to consolidate our strength in these areas that are doing so well.”