Magazines & Media

Brandi works with magazines and media brands to:

Launch or rebrand your magazine. It takes a lot of energy, passion, and momentum to launch a magazine and make it successful. But once you’re off the ground, it’s a highly rewarding and profitable business that makes a difference in the lives of its readers. Brandi is a partner focused on helping you create something exciting and meaningful. She shares her experience and expertise with magazines that have great aspirations and a drive to reach and exceed them.

Build a high-visibility media brand. If you’re creating incredible content and no one’s around to see it, does it make an impact? The strength of a media brand is measured by its voice—Brandi helps you raise your voice above the crowd and receive the recognition and visibility you deserve through audience development, prestigious awards, strategic partnerships, influential relationships, and powerful brand messaging.

Improve content and diversify revenue streams. Modern storytelling takes many forms, and modern audiences like to consume a variety of content types. Brandi examines the quality of your content and introduces new ways to tell the stories that define your media brand, allowing you to attract a broader and more engaged audience and discover new revenue streams.

Run your magazine like a well-oiled machine. Churning out consistently excellent content requires a tip-top level of teamwork, planning, discipline, and accountability. Brandi excels at creating the systems, relationships, and practices that make up a successful content production pipeline—from staffing, to schedules and budgets, to editing and approval processes. Producing content doesn’t have to be a headache!

Contact Brandi to talk about your needs at 314.324.2952 or brandi.wills@gmail.com.
Have a need that isn’t listed here? Custom consulting projects are also available.

Previous Projects

Culture Magazine

Culture: the word on cheese is a national culinary magazine dedicated to creating more educated, informed, and engaged cheese lovers. As it approached 10 years of publishing, Culture sought out someone to help reinvigorate the brand and strengthen the magazine's vision.

What we achieved together:
• Created a visibility strategy that resulted in a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award nomination and recognition of editorial excellence by the International Association of Culinary Professionals in just six months.
• Established an authoritative digital brand that continues to attract 1,000+ new social media followers per month.
• Updated the design of the print magazine to improve reader experience and showcase the magazine's voice.
• Developed a sponsored content program that strengthened relationships with advertisers and created a significant new revenue stream for the brand.

"Brandi has moved mountains at Culture." —Stephanie Skinner, owner and publisher

Feast Magazine

Feast Magazine is the Midwest's leading culinary publication, broadening the conversation about food through its attractive and engaging print magazine, a robust digital presence, and an award-winning television program. But in the spring of 2010, it was just an idea in the mind of publisher Catherine Neville. To become an authoritative voice in the region, Feast needed someone with experience launching and leading dynamic media brands to help it gain visibility and credibility in a highly competitive publishing market.

What we achieved together:
•   Took the concept from zero to launch in three months.
•   Developed a visionary editorial strategy that attracted top-tier contributors, connected the magazine with its readership, and garnered a 99% pick-up rate from the first issue.
•   Created a brand identity that engaged premium advertising partners, made the magazine instantly profitable, and fueled rapid expansion of products and their reach.
•   Received consistent national accolades, including two James Beard Foundation Journalism Award nominations, an Emmy award, and top awards from FOLIO, Editor & Publisher Magazine, and MIN.

"Without her guidance my column would have never landed a James Beard nomination." —Cassy Vires, chef/writer

Alive Magazine

After more than a decade as a leading voice in St. Louis's city magazine marketplace, Alive Magazine evolved from a beloved local print publication to a regional lifestyle media company telling the stories of interesting people doing remarkable things in the middle of America. In order to expand its vision and redefine its purpose, Alive looked for outside perspective to help define and best utilize the brand's existing strengths, capitalize on its reputation and relationships, and grow a digital audience that would connect it to audiences throughout the region.

What we achieved together:
•   Analyzed and showcased the brand's editorial strengths, resulting in Alive's first editorial award in 12 years of publishing.
•   Identified influencers to help build brand visibility.
•   Created "sticky" digital content that stood out among the competition and established an online readership.
•   Improved brand value that increased fundraising capabilities and allowed for expansion and the addition of new titles.

"Brandi's insights into our magazine helped us grow, improve, and connect with our vision for the future of the brand." —Kelly Hamilton, co-founder

KC Magazine

After acquiring Kansas City Magazine, Anthem Media Group set about transforming a quiet publication dedicated to local history and charm into KC Magazine, a luxury lifestyle magazine celebrating the innovation, excitement, and culture of the bustling metropolis. A makeover of this magnitude requires a great amount of vision and energy, and AMG sought someone who could create a flagship brand in KC Magazine that would support its plans for growth and expansion throughout the region.

What we achieved together:
• Created a prestige publication that engaged the tastemakers and influencers of the region, and connected readers with the local lifestyle they desired.
• Established editorial standards and internal organization that would serve as the backbone for all future media products.
• Built a powerful, profitable brand that attracted the advertising and investment needed to support the launch of two additional titles in just two years.
• Expanded the family of AMG magazines into four states, while keeping production small, powerful, and efficient.

"Brandi was instrumental in launching KC Magazine and making it an instant success. Her focus, energy, and vision created a foundation on which we could quickly grow and expand." —Katie Van Luchene, former executive editor