Pitch Guidelines for Azure Road

What Is Azure Road?

Founded by longtime wine, food, and travel writer Lauren Mowery, Azure Road fills a void in the current media landscape: a single publication devoted to ideas and innovations in conscientious living. Imbued with taste and trust and an unwavering focus on humanity and sustainability, Azure Road speaks to a like-minded readership, sharing stories and guides that align with its North Star values.

Azure Road nurtures the idea that mindful living can be beautiful, accessible, and inspired; that conscientious values can be woven into the experiences and routines readers already hold dear, rather than propose daunting changes. In service of that purpose, Azure Road highlights and curates the proprietors, products, and destinations innovating in these spaces so readers can make informed lifestyle and purchasing decisions.

Mission

Transparency is paramount. Azure Road builds reader trust and reduces decision-making friction by addressing the problem of greenwashing in consumer news and resources. Magazine subjects, both editorial and advertorial, are vetted to meet a minimum of 3 North Star values which are modeled off the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. North Stars include waste management, water management, heritage value, community support, and carbon footprint, to name a few. The North Stars are denoted by relevant icons, allowing readers to search for content and recommendations based on their personal values.

Content Needs

Azure Road features three categories with sub-topics: Travel, Lifestyle (home, beauty and wellness, and fashion), and Culinary (food and drink). We are looking for a mix of snappy round-ups, timely seasonal pieces, evergreen 101 and primer, as well as a range of short form and longer form deep dive stories.

Round-ups will include a 150-300 word intro, depending on the topic, plus 5-7 recommendations. Short form ranges from 500-800 words and covers lots of formats from explainers, profiles of an innovative person or company, personal essays, etc.

Examples

Longer form will run 1000-1500 words, depending on the topic.

Examples

The Last Days of Mezcal, Bloomberg (some stories like this, will lend themselves to a round-up of recommended products at the end.)
Inside the Rule-Breaking Movement to Make High-End Sushi More Sustainable, Robb Report
Six Senses Fiji Offers A Blueprint For A Sustainable Luxury Resort Vacation, Forbes
Low-Waste Bars and Restaurants Are Building a New Paradigm, Wine Enthusiast

Pitching

Every pitch must include why this story suits Azure Road’s audience and which North Stars the subjects of the piece meet (see below.)

Photos

Please reference whether you have personal photos or can source from the story subject or if AR needs to find stock imagery. A pitch without photo solutions will be answered. We only accept hi-resolution, horiztontal images. Stories submitted with vertical, grainy, or poor resolution images will not be accepted.

Azure Road North Stars

Azure Road differentiates itself from other sustainable storytelling sites and articles by requiring every source and subject – whether a product, restaurant, tour operator, or company, etc. – meet a minimum of 3 North Star Values. These values are denoted as icons in the story. Readers will eventually be able to search by icon. The North Stars are based on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals recast for lifestyle, culinary, and travel content vetting.

Why force all editorial AND advertorial content to meet 3 North Stars? To reduce greenwashing, build trust with the audience, and remove friction in the buying or booking process for readers, as they’ll know AR has already vetted companies for their sustainability pillars. The goal is to make it easier for readers to live their values, so they don’t spend precious time researching every buying decision to verify the tenacity of sustainability statements.

How do AR writers verify statements? This can be done in a variety of ways. Some company websites are transparent about the work they’re doing. This makes research easier. Other companies might require that you send the list of North Stars and ask which values they meet and how. Obviously, there is a measure of trust extended to companies and there may be times we make mistakes/get it wrong. We’re not in the business of certifying claims; rather, we’re doing our best on a limited budget to parse out the truth based on the facts and details we’re given. In other words, use your best judgment and feel free to ask me.

12 North Stars

Diversity & Inclusion: Equal opportunities for all identities, abilities, and orientations
Community Support: Dollars spent predominantly benefit communities or programs send $ back
Gender Equality: Supports female-driven businesses, projects, and collectives
Artisan and Heritage Value: Cultural and historical places, artifacts, and activities are preserved, not eroded
Energy Efficiency: Reduces usage and/or focuses on renewables
Waste Management: Recycles, upcycles, reduces, and reuses
Water Management: Recycles and reduces
Carbon Footprint: Measures, reduces and offsets usage
Production & Consumption: Responsible food and agriculture practices
Wildlife & Ecosystems: Supports conservation of native habitats, land and marine life
Certifications: Active sustainability credentials (B Corp, LEED, SOStain, etc.)
Climate Actions: Pledges and/or action plans in place (1% for the Planet, etc.)

Press Trips and Samples

Both are allowed and encouraged. State in the pitch if the story is based on a press trip and who hosted it.

For round-up stories (like 5 organic bedding companies), the article must be approved first before requesting samples on behalf of Azure Road. This is to avoid duplication in possible content already being worked on as well as preserving the integrity of Azure Road by only requesting products for greenlit pieces.