Vox Media is shutting down Racked to launch a new advertiser site

Vox’s
The Goods is replacing a hole left by Racked
Vox

• Vox Media is folding its fashion and retail-focused
  site Racked and launching a new site operated by Vox called The
  Goods.
• A team of 11 writers and editors, including former
  Racked staffers, will head up the vertical.
• The move comes after layoffs hit Vox Media in February,
  including Racked.
• American Express is the site’s exclusive advertiser and
  will sponsor 1,000 pieces of content and a dozen videos through
  December.

Vox Media is switching gears from covering the business of
fashion to the culture of consumerism that gives readers “the
information you need to be a savvy consumer.”

On Friday, Vox Media will officially stop publishing to Racked’s
website as the site’s staff transitions over to the publisher’s
news site Vox to run a vertical dubbed The Goods that launched on
Monday. The section is launching with 11 writers and editors —
including a mix of Racked employees and new hires — and will
“offer a deep dive into the things people buy, and how and why
they buy them, using consumer trends as yet another way to
understand the world,”
according to a post written by Vox editor-in-chief Lauren
Williams. Eleanor Barkhorn, Vox’s deputy editor, will spearhead
The Goods.

The switch from Racked to The Goods comes
after layoffs hit Vox Media in February, including staffers
from Racked, Curbed, SB Nation and Vox Media’s video
team.  The Goods is launching with the backing
of American Express, which has agreed to sponsor 1,000 pieces of
content, including branded content created with Vox Creative —
the publisher’s in-house advertising team.

Vox
Media

While Racked primarily focused on fashion and retail coverage,
The Goods expands coverage to other areas like technology,
design, food, travel and wellness. Similar to Vox’s angle on
news, The Goods aims to break down the complicated industry of
commerce and shopping and explain it to readers. For example, a
feature
about Pedialyte digs into how the brand morphed from being a
drink for toddlers to becoming a hangover fix for adults. Another
feature examines how brands are marketing and creating
anti-aging products.

“Trends and popular products offer a fascinating glimpse into
people’s joys and anxieties, their moments of prosperity and
times of desperation, and their privileges and disadvantages,”
Williams wrote. “They also reflect how our way of life is
changing — from the technology we invest in to the companies we
choose to trust and support.”

American Express is underwriting the site’s launch

American Express is the launch advertiser of The Goods, which
will run through December and includes sponsorship of 1,000
pieces of content, including 12 sponsored “Explainer” videos
created with Vox Creative that explain the “experience
economy.”

The brand’s campaign is part of American Express’ largest custom
content campaign,
according to Digiday, and also includes ad buys with BuzzFeed
and Bustle.

Within The Goods site, each article includes the copy “presented
by American Express” and display ads promote the company’s credit
card with the slogan “Pay It Plan It.” AmEx will also run ads on
other Vox Media properties like Eater’s video series called
“Kitchen Gadget Test Show” that tests kitchen appliances to see
how they stack up with each other.

After AmEx’s sponsorship ends in December, a spokeswoman said
that there will be additional advertising opportunites for the
vertical since it is part of the Vox umbrella but declined to
name potential other advertisers.