Start up drinks brand Suso is gearing up to launch a magazine and website, reports Marketing Week. It’s not yet decided whether the magazine will be charged for.

I’d normally dismiss this story – not all offline brands are successful when it comes to producing magazines or websites. Many clothing to supermarket brands have launched customer publishing ventures only to see them fizzle out. Or they continue to live on as an alternative (and expensive) method of advertising a retailer’s own products.

You need deep pockets to maintain a magazine and its offshoot website. After all, readers are unlikely to be keen on paying a cover price for a branded magazine they feel only exists to sell to them. And only a few FMCG’s are going to want to partner with a drinks branded magazine, so advertising revenues aren’t going to set the world alight.

That said, a Suso magazine might have one thing going for it – no one knows who or what it is yet. Assuming that sceptical customers automatically reject any overtly brand led magazines or websites, no matter how impartial, a Suso branded title may not yet put anyone off.

We’ll see.