Architectural Digest will publish its first global print issue as part of revamped international rollout strategy

After experimenting with rolling out feature stories and videos globally this year, Architectural Digest will publish its first global magazine issue — its annual AD100 edition that lists the top design and architecture talents of the year — on Dec. 14. Editors from AD’s U.S. and nine international editions came together to work on the brand’s biggest issue of the year, as parent company Condé Nast continues to shift to a consolidated global content strategy that has editorial teams around the world working more closely together.

The editorial collaboration spawned the debut of a new franchise in the AD100 issue called The WOW List, which names the world’s 20 “Works of Wonder” projects created by architects and designers around the world. The WOW List will publish across all 10 markets online (including editions in Italy, China, France, Germany, India, Russia, Spain, Mexico and Latin America) on Nov. 30, as well as appear in the print editions of AD.

Through 2021, AD has been wading into worldwide launches, which help to raise site traffic and amortize content costs. AD’s international editions have re-published some U.S. content in the past, but now the effort is coordinated among editors to share the same content at roughly the same time. Global editorial directors were tapped for many Condé Nast brands in December 2020, including Condé Nast Traveler, GQ and Vogue, to centralize oversight of U.S. and international editorial teams, as well as manage content for local and international audiences.

“We saw huge success digitally by working together as a group to launch key stories simultaneously all over the world, and now we’re expanding that global expertise for print as well,” said AD global editorial director Amy Astley. “This year we saw it as a natural opportunity to collaborate on our first formal editorial initiative as a global brand in each of the 10 markets.”

Just under one in five (17%, to be exact) members to AD’s paid membership program for design industry professionals, AD PRO, lives outside the US, according to Astley. Condé Nast declined to share how many AD PRO members there are in total.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Van Cleef & Arpels are sponsoring the AD100 digital package and have ads running in the January AD100 print issue, along with other advertisers. Condé Nast declined to share how much money those brands were spending with the publisher.

Publishing across the world wide web

AD has tested out coordinating global “drops” of feature stories that were translated into local languages and published on U.S. and international websites this year, and those pieces helped increase traffic to its sites. Editors work together to “identify stories that will have immediate global appeal, and work together as a group to launch them simultaneously all over the world,” said AD global digital director David Kaufman. “It’s really exciting to learn what content is resonating with audiences in different markets, so we can continuously refine our approach.”

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Source:: Digiday