The New York Times looks at a magazine named after a prestigious area code, which is mildly interesting, I suppose. But what really jumps out at me is Harvard’s defensive stance against unsanctioned brand dilution.
Harvard University spends somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million every year to protect its brand name — to keep other institutions from billing themselves as, say, the Harvard of Dog Training Schools or the Harvard of Pilates Teacher Training Programs. This is one of many interesting facts to be gleaned from a perusal of a new magazine called 02138.
In the magazine trade, 02138, which receives financing from Atlantic Media, the parent company of The Atlantic Monthly, is what is known as a luxury lifestyle book. Luxury lifestyle books, like Hamptons Magazine, Palm Beach Illustrated and the subtly titled Rich Guy, are magazines that are essentially about the people who subscribe to them.
