CARGO MAGAZINE Advertisers appeal to male vanity

The magazine is targeted to men who are ages 25 to 45.
NEW YORK -- Is the Y chromosome evolving? Are guys really starting to care more about things like where to bargain-hunt for clothes and what's the best skin cream?
A new shopping magazine is being closely watched by industry experts and advertisers to see if men actually want more help than a wife or girlfriend, if they have one, can provide.
Then again, some may well buy Cargo magazine just to get through the whole shopping experience more quickly.
"I have a sense of style, and want what is trendy, but I don't have a lot of patience looking for things," said Wilson Cleveland, 29, of Manhattan.
Then he picked up Cargo, which Conde Nast Publications introduced on newsstands in March. He immediately spent $300 on shirts and skin creams from stores he had never previously shopped at, including Lacoste and Sephora.
"This tells me where to go, and I don't even have to go looking for it," he said.
Target audience
Cargo is considered the biggest launch ever for a men's magazine, based on the 99 pages of advertising in the premiere issue. Conde Nast, which also publishes the highly successful women's shopping magazine Lucky, is targeting Cargo to men ages 25 to 45.
Stores including Lord & amp; Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue and manufacturers such as Oxen Workwear have reported an uptick in sales of products featured in the magazine. Designer John Varvatos, for instance, has practically sold out of a $120 sneaker for Converse at his stores.
That's catching the attention of other retailers and advertisers. They believe the success of publications like Cargo -- some competitors will be coming out soon -- would provide more evidence of a change in male attitudes toward shopping.
"Men do like to buy things. They just like more information" than women, said Cargo publisher Alan Katz. He says sales at newsstands have been strong, based on preliminary reports, but couldn't offer figures.
What they need to do
In particular, sellers of men's clothing -- which have been struggling more than women's -- could benefit if they found more effective ways to reach customers, according to Marshal Cohen, senior industry analyst at NPD Group, a market research company.
Eddie Bauer Inc. ran a three-page ad in Cargo's premiere edition highlighting rugged outerwear such as sweaters and army-style pants.
"We are watching to see how it helps validate what we already know about men," said Eddie Bauer spokeswoman Lisa Erickson. "Men want shopping to be easy. They want to know the benefits of the garments more so than women."
The Redmond, Wash.-based retailer could end up re-evaluating how it communicates to men, described by Erickson as a tough audience to reach.
About half of Cargo's editorial content is focused on fashion and grooming. The rest covers such areas as entertaining, including wine, electronic gadgets and cars. The premiere issue offers advice on how to pick the right cut suit for your body, a low-down on digital camcorders and a review of premium rums.
Handy tip cards
Cargo also offers something extra, presumably for men who won't be seen carrying a shopping magazine into a store: Wallet-sized tear-out cards with product tips.
It's not the first shopping magazine for men. Complex magazine came out in April 2002, but targets trendsetters and views itself as more multicultural. Ziff Davis Media Inc., will unveil Sync, a guide to gadgets, this summer. And this fall, Fairchild Publications, which publishes the glossy W and Women's Wear Daily, is slated to unveil Vitals, which is expected to focus on the high-end market.
Bergdorf Goodman launched its first major advertising campaign for men this spring, which helped drive traffic to the stores. It has also changed the way it merchandises men's clothing, mixing jackets with jeans, instead of featuring categories separately.
Robert Burke, Bergdorf Goodman's vice president of fashion, said the store hadn't advertised in the past because they felt men would not be responsive. But attitudes have changed, he said.
"The timing was right to run the ads," he said.