The Business of Magazines

[Benn98]

From what I understand, it's basically politics. I'm guessing it's some kind of unofficial agreement between the magazine's EIC (or higher up) and the brand. The brand agrees to buy ad space in the magazine (which means $$$$ for the magazine/publishing group), and in exchange the magazine agrees to feature the brand's products prominently. There is no reason for the magazine to play smart and refuse to proceed to that kind of thing as it'd mean pass on a big amount of money, and the brand could refuse to lend it their products etc. And it's not just for covers. If you pay attention, pretty much every brand that buys ad space in a magazine is featured in the editorials.

It's actually nauseating, and to make it even worse, some of these major houses are insisting that magazines shoot the full runway look c/w shoes etc. Imo that renders the stylist's input as futile!

 

[Benn98]

Yes but these are small numbers for Vogue and for America. Why is InStyle so popular? Maybe because the clothes are very expensive in Vogue?


Instyle March 2012 800k vs Vogue March 2012 400k

True, Vogue is probably more upmarket. I think since InStyle's more accessible, they wield a larger circulation (Subscribers + digital sales + SCS). That doesn't mean they don't shoot expensive brands.

 

[Benn98]

Benn98 Thanks for those articles, so happy Lupita sold well, not surprised someone like Stone sold so little, that is truly not enough for May!

My pleasure.
In the end shifting Lupita to July proved a smart move. It's a small triumph for diversity crusaders.

 

[loladonna]

My pleasure.
In the end shifting Lupita to July proved a smart move. It's a small triumph for diversity crusaders.

I honestly think Blake Lively was supposed to be July but her website wasn't ready so they rushed Lupita's cover and pushed Blake to August to accommodate.

InStyle is popular because it's an all-in-one magazine with focus on beauty, fashion and decor. They also present the clothing in attainable ways. Their editorials rival any high fashion magazine IMO and in a lot of cases are better since they aren't pretentious and don't just rely on grey background "jumping" photoshoots. InStyle editorials are often shot on location which makes them more interesting.

 

[Benn98]

I honestly think Blake Lively was supposed to be July but her website wasn't ready so they rushed Lupita's cover and pushed Blake to August to accommodate.

InStyle is popular because it's an all-in-one magazine with focus on beauty, fashion and decor. They also present the clothing in attainable ways. Their editorials rival any high fashion magazine IMO and in a lot of cases are better since they aren't pretentious and don't just rely on grey background "jumping" photoshoots. InStyle editorials are often shot on location which makes them more interesting.

Very true Loladonna!! I actually prefer their celebrity portfolio's at times. There was this ed with Saoirse Ronan which was amazing, the conceptualisation of it was on par with those of niche magazines.

 

[coutugh]

I don't know if this is the right thread to post this but does anyone know if celebrities get paid to be featured in the magazines? Do they just keep the high-end clothing or paid exorbitant sums just to show up to the photoshoot? Some sources say that they are not paid or paid measly amounts as it's a huge exposure. I am curious if Rihanna got paid for the W cover, her spread as well as the group photos with Iman and Naomi.

 

[WilliamsLe010919]

I don't know if this is the right thread to post this but does anyone know if celebrities get paid to be featured in the magazines? Do they just keep the high-end clothing or paid exorbitant sums just to show up to the photoshoot? Some sources say that they are not paid or paid measly amounts as it's a huge exposure. I am curious if Rihanna got paid for the W cover, her spread as well as the group photos with Iman and Naomi.

as far as I know models get paid but celebs don't. They can ask for money but mostly do it for free as the exposure is huge

 

[Benn98]

Quote:

Condé Nast's Lucky Magazine Merging With Online Retailer BeachMint
Move to Strengthen Shopping Title's Web Presence Amid Focus on Digital

By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg
Aug. 11, 2014 5:57 p.m. ET

Magazine publisher Condé Nast is merging its Lucky shopping magazine with an online retailer, strengthening the title's Web presence at a time when readers and advertisers are increasingly focused on digital instead of print.

Condé Nast is forming a new company with closely held Web retailer BeachMint Inc., based in Santa Monica, Calif., called The Lucky Group. 600135.SH +0.99% It will house both Lucky magazine and BeachMint's retail websites, which include fashion e-tailer StyleMint and shoe e-tailer ShoeMint.

A spokeswoman for Condé Nast said the magazine publisher will have a majority stake in the new venture.

Bob Sauerberg, Condé Nast's president, described the steps as "the first in a series of initiatives we are undertaking as we re-engineer our organization."

BeachMint, which launched in 2010, hasn't yet turned a profit.
More on Publishing

Lucky has struggled on the print advertising front. "The print version has been hurting badly," said Steve Cohn, editor in chief of the Media Industry Newsletter. Mr. Cohn said that ad pages in Lucky's September issue fell 36% to 88 compared with September 2013. Lucky has sold 501 ad pages year to date through the September issue, down 14%.

"September was a difficult month, but every ad was paid for, which means there were no bonus pages," said Gillian Gorman Round, Lucky's general manager, who will serve as president of Lucky Group.

"We're doing this because we're a brand that has always been about shopping," said Ms. Gorman Round.

Readers will be able to shop directly from the Lucky website starting in early 2015, said Helen Melluish, BeachMint's vice president of marketing.

Ms. Melluish said that the Lucky e-commerce store will feature merchandise from all of the brands in each issue of Lucky magazine. BeachMint's brands won't be given any particular advantage, she said.

"Everything that readers will see in the magazine will be able to be purchased directly from the Lucky website," said Eva Chen, editor in chief of Lucky magazine. Ms. Chen will continue in that position and add the title of chief creative officer of Lucky Group.

Condé Nast said Lucky magazine will continue to publish 10 times a year. Josh Berman, BeachMint's chief executive and co-founder, will serve as CEO of Lucky Group.

Separately, Condé Nast said that it is putting its Bon Appétit food/lifestyle monthly magazine and recipe-driven Epicurious website under the editorial control of Adam Rapoport, Bon Appétit's editor in chief, creating what it described as "one of the world's largest digital food advertising platforms."

Condé Nast is a unit of Advance Publications Inc..

Source: WSJ Online

 

[Flashbang]

Yahoo Staffs Up Its Style, Health, And DIY Platforms

Yahoo’s hiring spree continues: the site has recruited five new members from a slew of well-known fashion pubs to join their Yahoo Style team, helmed by editor-in-chief Joe Zee. First up: Sarah Cristobal, formerly editor at V,joins Yahoo Style in the same capacity. Cristobal’s digital-centric former roles include senior fashion editor at AOL’s StyleList, digital senior editor at Harper’s Bazaar, and associate editor at Style.com. Meanwhile, Dora Fung has been tapped as Yahoo Style’s market director. She held a market and beauty director role at CR Fashion Book for a year, after spending seven years as the New York fashion and production editor at Vogue China. Former W producer Bifen Xu has also joined the team as special projects director, with a focus on photography. Yahoo Style’s anticipated launch date will coincide with September Fashion Week.
Additionally, both Nick Axelrod and Andrea Oliveri have been added as contributing editors to the team. Axelrod recently decamped from Into The Gloss, where he had been editorial director since he co-founded the site in 2010. He will simultaneously be launching Axelrod, a consultancy agency of his own, while continuing at Into The Gloss as an advisor. Oliveri’s day jobs: celebrity bookings director at Details and WSJ. Elsewhere on the site, Michele Promaulayko has been named editor-in-chief at Yahoo Health. She will be making the jump from her post as editor-in-chief at Women’s Health, effective August 25th. Her replacement at the title has yet to be announced.Lastly, Lifetime TV personality Katie Brown was named editor-in-chief of the site’s DIY and crafts platform.

fashionweekdaily

 

[Benn98]

Wow, this is exciting. Marissa Mayer is on a poaching roll! I do hope all these decisions will pay off eventually, haven't checked on Joe Zee's material for the company since he departed from Elle. Appointing Bobbi Brown was still an impulsive move, they will suffer the consequences yet.

 

[Srdjan]

Glamour launching in Iceland next year.

 

[Benn98]

Thanks Srdjan! Happy for Iceland. On another note, surprised there's no Vogue Sweden? Elle Se seems to be doing well enough.

 

[Srdjan]

You are welcome. It's very specific in Scandinavia/Nordic countries. There is Elle is Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, while there is Cosmo only in Finland (other three countries had it as well, but all were ceased). There was Glamour in Sweden as well, wasn't successful. Still, I find it strange, because what I noticed during my stay in Denmark/Sweden that international glossies are popular there (you can find them almost everywhere they sell local magazines). Maybe they prefer original content to the translated one.

 

[Benn98]

You are welcome. It's very specific in Scandinavia/Nordic countries. There is Elle is Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, while there is Cosmo only in Finland (other three countries had it as well, but all were ceased). There was Glamour in Sweden as well, wasn't successful. Still, I find it strange, because what I noticed during my stay in Denmark/Sweden that international glossies are popular there (you can find them almost everywhere they sell local magazines). Maybe they prefer original content to the translated one.

Thanks Srdjan. I would've imagined with their stable socio-economic status luxury titles such as Vogue or Bazaar, or at least a commercial edition such as Cosmo, would be easy to maintain. Clearly not, there must be more than meets the eye.

 

[Benn98]

Quote:

U.K. Titles Put on Varied ABC Performance
By Nina Jones

LONDON — British women’s lifestyle and fashion magazines registered another six months of decline as a sector, according to data released by the U.K.’s Audit Bureau of Circulations. The sector fell 2.7 percent in the January to June period, compared to the same period last year. The men’s lifestyle sector, however, managed a 0.9 percent rise during the period, compared to a year ago.

In terms of paid-for titles, Hearst’s Good Housekeeping was the best-performing print publication in the women’s lifestyle sector, with its print circulation rising 2 percent over the year to 403,442. The title did, however, decline 1.8 percent compared to the previous June to December period. It also had the highest combined print and digital circulation of a women’s lifestyle title, of 406,803, putting it ahead of Conde Nast’s Glamour, which had a combined print and digital circulation of 405,045. Both titles saw their combined print and digital circulations decline compared to the previous six-month period, Good Housekeeping’s by 1.9 percent and Glamour’s by 2.5 percent. compared to a year ago.

A clutch of major women’s fashion and lifestyle titles showed declines in print circulation during the period, compared to the previous six months. IPC’s Marie Claire dipped 11.4 percent to 200,047, while Hearst’s Elle was down 9.8 percent to 150,427 and Red lost 5.8 percent to 188,298. Conde Nast’s Vogue fell 0.4 percent to 192,082 and Harper’s Bazaar at Hearst fell 1.7 percent to 105,310. compared to a year ago.

Those that notched up gains included Tatler, which rose 1.2 percent to 82,245 - with Conde Nast noting that the magazine will be the subject of a three-part BBC 2 documentary this October. Vanity Fair gained 2 percent to 82,990 while Hearst-Rodale’s Women’s Health rose 3.9 percent to 109,566. In Style U.K. rose 0.6 percent to 145,468, with IPC Media noting that its new editor Charlotte Moore, appointed in January, “has refocused the title’s positioning, delivering…inspiring fashion content and arming readers with…shopping and styling knowledge.” compared to a year ago.

Of men’s titles, Square Mile, a lifestyle title targeted at London’s financial sector, saw an 8 percent rise over the period, to 51,918, while the free title Shortlist was up 0.2 percent to 535,505. GQ fell 1 percent to 113,663, while Men’s Health was down 3 percent to 196,894 and Esquire fell 3.9 percent to 52,859. compared to a year ago.

Those titles that saw a rise in their combined print and digital circulations included Women’s Health, up 2.7 percent to 115,517; Vanity Fair, up 1.2 percent to 91,065; Tatler, which rose 1 percent to 84,025 and InStyle U.K., up 0.5 percent to 147,211. compared to a year ago.

Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Conde Nast U.K., pointed to the “stability” of the publishing house's titles during the period, and said that its “digital platforms [are] performing well ahead of expectations.” Anna Jones, chief executive officer of Hearst Magazines U.K., said that the publisher is focused on growing its “brand audiences and reach, by enabling our consumers to engage with our content and interact with our brands in the most relevant way for them."

Source: WWD

 

[Benn98]

And now for the US Report:

Magazine Circulation Figures Slip 1.9% in First Half

from WWD issue 08/11/2014
By David Yi

NOT THE ENTIRE PICTURE: First-half magazine circulation figures paint a relatively bleak picture, with the entire magazine publishing industry down 1.9 percent compared with the first half of 2013, according to the Alliance for Audited Media. Numbers for single-copy sales were even worse, with a drop of 11.9 percent in the first six months.

The news wasn’t all bad, though: Digital-replica editions, which was reported last year as a rapidly growing sector of the industry, grew 13 percent, representing 3.8 percent of total circulation.

As for fashion titles, both men’s and women’s and lifestyle publications saw a decline in newsstands sales, though subscriptions weren’t hit as badly.

Cosmopolitan, the biggest women’s magazine and top-selling on the newsstands, saw a 24.8 percent decrease in single-copy newsstand sales to 774,077 a month. Total circulation stayed relatively flat at three million subscribers thanks to subscriptions and digital-replica sales. Glamour fell 18.5 percent to 245,472 monthly with a slight increase in subscribers to 2.3 million. Following behind were Vogue and Lucky, which reported declines of 15.9 and 15.8 percent, respectively, in newsstand sales to 226,919 and 84,255. Others falling on the newsstand:

InStyle by 14.6 percent to 376,858, Allure by 13.6 percent to 99,235, Elle by 8.4 percent to 163,889, Harper’s Bazaar by 5.3 percent to 113,618 and Marie Claire by 4.6 percent to 143,482.

Two magazines saw a boost in single-copy sales: W, which reported a 6.8 percent increase to 24,476, although newsstand has never been a major part of the title’s circulation, and Women’s Health, which saw a 3.3 percent rise to 310,768.

Men’s publications equally suffered in the first half, with Maxim registering the biggest decline on the newsstand. The publication, which was sold to private investor Biglari Holdings earlier this year, saw a 33 percent drop in single-copy sales to 99,632. GQ fell 18.8 percent to 130,046; Men’s Health dropped 12.9 percent to 302,652 and Esquire registered a 3.9 percent decline to 87,215. Details saw a 4 percent increase in newsstand sales to 40,005 while covers with stars like Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Christian Bale seem to have paid off: The title’s total paid subscriber base also increased to 6.4 percent. The publication now has more than 524,000 subscribers.

Wenner Media’s Men’s Journal followed suit with growth at 9.9 percent in single-copy sales to 56,732, with a 7.2 percent increase in subscribers. The magazine now has more than 765,000 total paid subscribers.

But the circulation report is only a small speck in the entire landscape of the industry, said Mary Berner, president and chief executive officer of the Association of Magazine Media. “Years and years ago, was it a sign of the vitality of a publications,” she said. “But those days are gone. Subscription numbers are more important.”

Indeed, single-copy newsstand sales constitute a mere 8 percent of a publication’s profits, according to the AAM.

“This is a one-note song in the entire symphony,” Berner said. “Today we have to refer to a magazine’s branded content across the entire ecosystem. That includes print, digital, Web and video — social media to a certain extent. You can’t simply follow this as your only resource to how the publishing industry is doing.”

Joanna Coles, editor in chief of Cosmopolitan, agreed, and went so far as saying the overall industry is doing well.

“I don’t think remotely that it’s a dying industry,” she told WWD. “We’re seeing immense growth. We have 10 million on ComScore coming to the brand and people are logging on three times a day. It’s an industry in flux and dealing with what the music industry dealt with 10 years ago.”

Coles said looking at the newsstand figures alone to determine the health of a magazine brand was “naïve.”

“The numbers are slightly misleading because everyone knows that the newsstand is dying. Bookstores are going away, competing with digital. You can’t look at it from a singular point of view any longer. You have to look at the impact of a magazine more holistically — even from just three years ago. Our social media has over six millions fans, and the level of engagement in terms is growing. So it’s a trade-off with newsstand sales.”

Cosmopolitan said though its single-copy sales have hit a bump, their September issue generated the most revenue in the publication’s history. As for the dip in sales, Coles attributed it to “taking a risk” with experimental cover stars.

“We expanded our pool with two untested stars like Ariana Grande [for February] and Chrissy Teigen for June,” she said. “Sometimes that means you’re a little too early. Last year we had Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian so it was an incredible year to beat.”

Source: WWD

 

[Benn98]

Media Monday: Mags’ six-month readership data
by Michelle Herbison ON 18 August 2014

In Australian media news this week, magazine publishers have received readership and circulation data for the six months to June 2014 from the AMAA, three Sydney newsreaders team up for a comedy segment on SBS 2′s The Feed, BeIn Media Group to takeover Foxtel channel Setanta Sports Australia and a Computable News engine turns text into big data.
Magazine readership and circulation data released

Media publishers are announcing their circulation figures after the Audited Media Association of Australia (AMAA) released its Audit Bureau of Circulations data for the period ended June 2014.

NewsLifeMedia

NewsLifeMedia is the number one digital magazine publisher in Australia with 43.6% share of total digital sales.

The company sold more than 3.8 million copies of its print and digital magazines in the six months to June 2014.



Inside Out – 46,774 total sales per month (45,332 print, 1,442 digital), with 1.7% total masthead growth period-on-period. Readership: 87,000. Total social media audience: 808,284,
Vogue Living – 41,983 total sales per month (41,051 print, 932 digital), with 1.1% growth. Readership: 327,000. Total social media audience: 1,219,070,
Country Style – 62,590 total sales per month (62,073 print, 517 digital), with 0.4% growth. Readership: 398,000. Total social media audience: 529,184,
Vogue Australia – 52,133 total sales per month (50,325 print, 1,808 digital), with 0.9% growth,
Super Food Ideas – 140,299 total sales per month (135,051 print, 5,248 digital). It remains Australia’s number one food publication. Multi-platform readership: 882,000,
ABC Delicious magazine – 94,652 total sales per month (92,211 print, 2,441 digital), with 19.5% growth. It is “Australia’s number one premium food glossy”. Readership: 724,000. Total social media audience: 224,251,
Donna Hay magazine – 93,175 total sales per month (80,138 print, 13,037 digital). Is again Australia’s best-selling digital magazine. Readership: 845,000. Total social media audience: 321,744,
Taste.com.au magazine – 80,272 sales per month (76,748 print, 3,524 digital), with 41.1% growth. Readership: 644,000. Total social media audience: 191,579, and
Vogue.com.au – Australia’s number one fashion brand online. Unique audience of 429,000 and 4.779 million page views in June 2014, as well as 1,769,471 total social media audience.


Bauer Media

Bauer Media’s homemaker titles all experienced circulation growth for their fourth consecutive audit, with the company’s share of the homemaker category at an all-time high of 26.8%.

Readership across all of the Bauer homemaker titles is at 1.195 million, with more than 170,000 connections on social media.



Real Living – 81,217 sales per month (grew by 1,156 copies),
Australian House & Garden – 114,045 sales per month (grew by 476 copies), and
Belle – 45,230 sales per month (increased circulation by 1.6%).



Bauer Media chief executive officer Matthew Stanton said: “We are proud to see continued circulation growth across all Bauer homemaker brands, reinforcing the titles recent readership surge, while boding well for the launch of homes+.”

Source: Marketingmag.com.au

 

[honeycombchild]

That UK report has to be wrong? It has Marie Claire having the largest circulation figures out of Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar & Red. There's no way that can be correct...

 

[Benn98]

That UK report has to be wrong? It has Marie Claire having the largest circulation figures out of Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar & Red. There's no way that can be correct...

You are quite right Honeycombchild, apologies. Please have a look at the Mediaweek link below, they are much more reputable:
http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/article/1307900/magazine-abcs-marie-claire-suffers-steepest-decline-lifestyle-sector

 

[Benn98]

I will have to take WWD's reports with a pinch of salt in the future. Circulation updates for the first cycle usually gets released in Aug, and they're the first to publish.