NUVO REVEALED: Why magazine highlighting the exceptional comes along for the ride with Blackshark
By Hans Ongsansoy
The Italian word “nuovo” in means “new” in English.
The way Alessandra Bordon speaks about Nuvo bears more than a passing resemblance to how an owner might speak about their luxury vehicle and neatly explains why the gifting of an issue of the magazine — whether left on the seat or placed directly into waiting hands — makes for such a thoughtful finishing touch to every Blackshark delivery.
“It birthed a new way of publishing,” says Bordon, Director of Sales, Marketing & Distribution, of Nuvo’s launch nearly 25 years ago.
“At that point, in 1998, a coffee table book of the highest production was not common. So, being oversized like a book was intentional. Having binding like a book, heavier weight paper stock, being oversized at 9-and-a-half by 12, with 60 per cent original stories and photography, 40 per cent ads. And only full-page ads, right-hand side only. That standard was set from Day 1.
“It was such a new way to publish that the first few issues weren’t even published in Canada — they were published overseas, because they were hand-stitched, and then shipped back to Canada.”
The concept and execution, since imitated in magazine publishing, was so novel that Nuvo founder and publisher, Pasquale Cusano, incorporated the notion of “something that is yet to be known” right into the publication’s name: “nuovo” in Italian means “new” in English. Dropping the first “o” created a moniker that could be pronounced in any language and a masthead that would look even tighter typographically.
Cusano wanted to create something that would spark the imagination…
But, more importantly, Bordon says Cusano wanted to create something that would spark the imagination, similar to how his imagination ran wild as a once new immigrant.
“Our founder is Italian by birth and came to Canada at a young age, with little education and didn't speak the language. And he fell in love with the opportunities he had in this country,” Bordon says.
“He feels very patriotic and believes Nuvo is a cultural contribution to Canada. We’re now in our 24th year of storytelling, which I can’t think of many publications that can say that. And we are ever-evolving.”
“Canada’s Authority on the Exceptional,” Nuvo is a quarterly magazine that publishes original features and profiles covering design, food and wine, fashion, art, architecture, travel, business affairs, music, and automobiles.
According to Bordon, Nuvo automotive writer Sami Haj Assaad is highly respected by automobile manufacturers both in Canada and worldwide.
“He has the pulse of the whole field and world of automotive. He excites us with what is coming out and also delights us with re-igniting the historical significance of automotive,” Bordon says.
“He is always teaching something new to the established connoisseur but also inviting the amateur to embrace and get excited and become, hopefully, a long-term, passionate participant as well.”
Haj Assaad’s most recent article, complete with stunning imagery, celebrates 50 years of the Lamborghini Countach, a supercar that exudes style and performance. Other recent pieces detail how the launch of Rolls Royce’s new electric vehicle necessitated a redesign of its iconic hood ornament and how Ford’s latest SUV handles challenges both off-road and in-city with equal aplomb.
Bordon says Nuvo readers appreciate these stories of brands and vehicles that exhibit heritage, distinction, and craftsmanship. This valuing of quality aligns with Nuvo’s readership data, which shows that Nuvo aficionados make about three times the Canadian national household income and have reached the top occupational levels of owner, operator, president, and/or director.
“We want someone at the top of their game to… be surprised and challenged and provoked”
Alessandra Bordon
“They’re essentially the thought leader, first adopter, the risk taker,” says Bordon, when asked to describe the Nuvo reader. “So, it’s a mindset more than a demographic. Of course, generally, people who tend to be those personalities or have those traits tend to excel in what they do.”
And, even if they’ve reached an apex, they’ll likely just keep going to the next summit, says Bordon. That is why “the exceptional” is at the heart of Nuvo’s mandate.
“We want someone at the top of their game to open the magazine and be surprised and challenged and provoked,” Bordon says. “Culturally, artistically, in any field – it could be cars, fashion design, even just historical knowledge they didn’t know.”
While Nuvo’s print product provides an unplugged experience — “it’s a slow read, like there is a slow food movement” — nuvomagazine.com keeps readers very plugged in and able to finish reading a story, for example, on their device while on the go. The web platform also provides additional content in between publication of print issues, with at least one new automotive story published online every month.
Nuvo should have mass appeal among the Blackshark community, making the partnership between the two entities a snug fit. Just before taking another call, Bordon underscores the point by again alluding to how presiding over a prestigious publication can be akin to collecting prized vehicles.
“We’re just trying to enhance the experience of life. In the end, that’s all we have are these fantastical, exciting experiences and memories. But it all starts with some kind of a medium.”