Devoted to online marketing, viral marketing, and web marketing

While the Vogue launch of its new broadband channel has been has been talked about as an entertainment and shopping site, in reality it's been created for the purpose of branding.

As part of the branding effort, the company has launched two series, “60 seconds to chic,” and “Behind the lens,” along with “Trend Watch,” which started in 2003.

Thomas A. Florio, publishing director of Vogue, said "We really wanted to make it feel like a program, not an advertorial. We don't want to be in a business that's about selling goods online. We're in a branding business."

Included with the branding and entertainmane value of the site, Vogue is also connected visitors with advertisers to help them move product, although it's more subtle and a secondary purpose. They don't want to give a feel of advertainment.

The "shop" function on the site will take you to the web sites of Vogue's online partners, but they don't get a piece of the sales. Again, they are focusing totally on the branding aspects of the site, and allowing their partners to reap the benefits of any sales.

This is a site worth checking out for online marketers as an example of how to brand through a web site and build something that adds a lot of value for your partners. While it could help anybody working on branding their company, it especially lends itself to luxury and high-end companies.

One thing I would have done differently, would be to add an embed feature to their video channels, which the allege were made for going viral, but only allow downloads or sharing through email. They could feel they don't want their content showing up on sites that may harm their brand, but I think most people using their material would share it in the way and for the purpose intended.

For example, I was going to put one of their videos on this site along with the story, but they don't get that benefit now. Other than that, the site seems well made and a good branding tool. It's definitely worth taking a look at.

Vogue expects to have about 500,000 visitors to the channel over the first several months.