60 Seconds With Allure VP, Publisher Nancy Berger Cardone

Q. Allure's ad pages are up 8.7 percent through May, to 574. But what accounts are still on your wish list? A. I want to break certain accounts like American Express and Tiffany's. I'd like to get deeper in automotive and fashion. Five years ago our beauty business was 80 percent of our total, now our business is 60 percent beauty. Q. In March, Allure created Beauty Marks, where readers could use advertiser-branded stickers to mark products they like. Is this any different than Lucky's sticker strategy? A. The Lucky stickers are controlled by editorial, so they can't be sponsored. Beauty Marks is an entity sponsored by different advertisers. Neutrogena will run in the May issue and a hair care product will run in August. We plan to run Beauty Marks through the rest of the year, and have had interest from financial service, credit card, automotive, and apparel companies. Q. I hear August is being billed as the sampling issue. What will that be all about? A. Readers will be able to try an in-book sample or receive a special offer to go to a retailer or online for products. We're talking fragrances, skin care products and cosmetics. There are even non-beauty ideas to use it to sample a new texture or scent. Q. You've done two brand extensions in the last six months—Allure Men's Grooming and Allure Brides. Any plans to expand them? A. Our Men's Grooming insert will reappear in December. Allure Brides came out in mid-March, but we expanded the distribution beyond newsstand. We've created a digital version that will be e-mailed in mid-June to 75,000 women selected from the Condé Nast database. Then we go into public place distribution to bridal registries, retailers and salons in July, and are tying in to various wedding expos in the fall and winter. Q. Finally, how many lipsticks does the publisher of the "Bible of Beauty" have in her purse? A. Five. And you should see how little my bag is!