Montreal-based Spafax has won the contract to publish a Mercedes-Benz magazine in Canada. Beginning this fall, Spafax will circulate about 30,000 to 50,000 copies of Mercedesmagazine per issue to all Mercedes showrooms and retailers nationwide, as well as through direct mail to Mercedes owners. The biannual magazine will be published in separate English and French versions and Spafax will use layout templates originally developed for the Germany version of the magazine.

Arjun Basu, editorial director for Spafax, says Mercedesmagazine is a great addition to the company’s custom publishing portfolio. “From a business point and a creative point, it really fits what we do,” he says. “They are a brand about not just elegance, luxury and things like that, but they’re a forward-thinking brand as well. We like to think of ourselves as all of those things.”

Several details, such as cost of ads and number of editorial staff that will be hired, still have to be determined in the coming months. Because of its controlled circulation model, Mercedesmagazine will be completely reliant on ad sales to generate revenue but Basu is confident that it won’t be hard task. “You think of the Mercedes lifestyle, you think of the high-end, well educated and wealthy demographic,” he said. “Any advertiser from financial to lifestyle to health and beauty to fashion who wish to speak to those people will be interested in the audience that the magazine delivers.”

Basu believes the market for automotive custom publications depends on the brand, which in Mercedes’ case, shouldn’t be a problem. “This isn’t a magazine going to potential customers. This is for people who bought the car already,” he says. “As long as Mercedes’ customer base grows, we have a market for this magazine.”