Land Rover to Publish Lifestyle Magazine

Land Rover North America has become the latest company to develop a lifestyle magazine for its customers. Called Journal, the 84-page publication is packed with pitches for high-end, rugged-looking Land Rover vehicles and features on places to drive them, such as the Green Mountains of southern Vermont or on a fly-fishing expedition in Patagonia, Ariz., (assuming one can get the vehicle there). Besides shipping the magazine to Land Rover owners, the company is giving away many of the 350,000 copies in showrooms as substitutes for informational brochures. A number of other luxury-goods makers, such as Mercedes-Benz of North America, have created publications to help boost customer loyalty, though some marketing experts have questioned the value of such magazines in changing consumer perceptions. In automotive quality surveys, Land Rover ranks near the bottom.