Ralph Lauren's Ad Buy Means Some Sections Of NYTimes iPad App Are Free This Month
September 1, 2011
September means cooler temperatures and the arrival of fall in New York City. As such, Polo Ralph Lauren is providing solo sponsorship of The New York Times iPad app for the entire month. In the process, non-subscribers get free access to five sections of the publication all month long, according to Advertising Age.
Polo’s month-long buy is the first time a single marketer has made such a purchase. Typically, six advertisers are used throughout a month.
As part of the buy, the iPad app will offer live video of Polo’s Fashion Week runway show on Sept. 15.
In addition, The Times’ paywall will come down for its Fashion & Style, Travel, Home & Garden, T Magazine and Sports Sections.
According to David Lauren, exec VP-advertising, marketing and corporate communications at Polo Ralph Lauren and son of the company's founder:
"Ralph Lauren was the first advertiser to really do major 24-page 'story' advertisements in The New York Times Magazine. My dad would run these big cinematic advertisements about safaris or the American West, and it helped to define the brand. Years later again our company took on 52 pages -- basically page 5 of Sunday Styles every weekend. That's become part of the new way of reaching our customer. The question was what we could do as we enter the digital age."The New York Times iPad app is available now in the App Store.