The Business of Magazines

[cesarcmma]

Should we said R.I.P. to Arena Homme Plus?

there were rumors of it closing in the last issue...and nothing about a possible issue for FW has poped up anywhere

anyone knows something?

 

[Pedro]

^ you must be patience and wait until the end of the month, it's due on Oct 28.
On Sep 24 Nick Knight shot a drag editorial for the magazine, here.

 

[cesarcmma]

^^Thank you and everyone for the articles

 

[tigerrouge]

The Wall Street Journal reports ad page increase (online.wsj.com

Magazine Ad Pages Rose in Third Quarter

The number of ad pages in U.S. magazines inched up for the second consecutive quarter, giving publishers more hope that the declines that killed dozens of well-known titles in 2009 are behind them.

Ad pages in the third quarter increased 3.6% from the same period last year, according to figures released Monday by the Publishers Information Bureau. The results follow a second quarter in which ad pages increased 0.8% compared to the same period in 2009. The second quarter was the first increase in ad pages since late 2007.

The publishers trade group said 136 magazines reported an increase in ad pages in the third quarter compared to 25 magazines in the same period in 2009.

Among the biggest gainers for the quarter were Hachette Filipacchi Media's Elle Decor (up 56.2%), Time Inc.'s People StyleWatch (up 54%) and Condé Nast's Glamour (up 36.6%). Time Inc.'s Entertainment Weekly and All You, Condé Nast's Vogue and the Time Out Group Ltd.'s Time Out New York all posted ad-page gains above 30%.

Some of the biggest declines were posted by Reader's Digest Association's Reader's Digest (down 37.5%), Alpha Media Group's Maxim (down 24.2%) and Bauer Publishing's In Touch Weekly (down 22.5%).

The Publishers Information Bureau said ad revenue and pages increased in seven of the 12 major advertising categories, which account for more than 85% of total advertising spending.

Automotive ad pages increased 42% in the third quarter and technology ad pages increased 12.3%.

Hachette Filipacchi is a unit of Lagardère SCA. Conde Nast is a unit of Advance Publications Inc. Time Inc. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

 

[tigerrouge]

Media Guardian takes a look at how British magazines are faring (guardian.co.uk

Women's magazine sector is bullish about the future

Digital options grow but glossies are also confident about their survival in print.

The women's magazine sector may be going through an era of change, but some things stay the same. In February 1693, Britain's first women's publication was launched. The Ladies' Mercury only lasted for four issues, and consisted entirely of a problem page, but it pretty much set the template for the glossies we get today: relationship and fashion advice.

More than 300 years later – via a range of publications from the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine (launched in 1852) to Good Housekeeping – women's magazines appear to be in surprisingly good shape.

Although some individual titles have suffered, overall the last ABCs saw a huge year-on-year growth of 14.6% in circulation: we buy – or rather consume if you take into account the launch of the free magazine Stylist, which distributes around 421,000 copies – nearly 7m fashion and lifestyle magazines every month. Not bad when you consider they have to fight off newspapers on their patch, and the threat of free online content. According to new research from the National Magazine Company, released today and commissioned to celebrate its centenary, 38% of women trust magazines, compared with 26% who trust newspapers.

"The female space is a lot more resilient than almost every other print media that we can think of," says Douglas McCabe, a print specialist with the research company Enders Analysis. "Print magazines simply suit the kind of content that is centre stage in those titles – fashion, beauty, great photography. While there is a lot of online content of that nature, it's a limited substitution. That doesn't mean the industry is without problems, although the upmarket titles are better placed than ones further down the pecking order."

Cosmopolitan posted one of the biggest falls – down 9% – in the ABCs for the first six months of this year. However, the 38-year-old magazine is about to launch a free edition, Cosmo on Campus, to be distributed at universities, and its website, says the editor, Louise Court, is performing strongly.

Vibrant community

"We have 9.1m page impressions a month and 842,000 unique browsers," she says. "We have a really vibrant community on the website." The site has changed the way the magazine works, she adds.

"Unlike a lot of magazines, our website team sits on the editorial floor with us and we do lots of initiatives together. The challenge for a monthly magazine is to make it feel timely even though it's created weeks before. With the website, we can update stories, cover breaking news. And if you want to find out what your readers think about something, you can get feedback immediately on the website."

Does the circulation fall not point to a website that cannibalises the magazine? "Not at all. Cosmo's circulation has always been somewhere between 400,000 and 450,000. The majority of our magazine subscriptions come through the website so they're obviously going on there and liking what they see." She says there are no plans to start charging for site access, but "ultimately, I'm confident that it will make money". Is Court optimistic about the future of women's magazines? "It is exciting. Magazines are about communicating and women love communicating, so it is about embracing all the new technologies to get your message and brand across."

Last month, Nicholas Coleridge, the managing director of Condé Nast UK, predicted that in the future, 40% of magazine sales will come from apps for devices such as the iPad. Condé Nast, which has already launched iPad apps for its magazines in the US, is about to launch its first app for Vogue and Wired magazines in the UK, initially as a one-off experiment to see how it sells. The future success of a digital version is dependent on its readers having access to tablet computers – it isn't surprising that around 18% readers of the technology magazine Wired own an iPad, but only 8% of Vogue readers do.

"It's a big step for them as a publisher," says McCabe. "They haven't always been the fastest movers online, but this seems sensible. [An iPad app] works in a way that general internet browsing doesn't – there are no interruptions – and it protects the brand. It is much more likely that this will be the route [magazines] go down, I think browser-based web services are less likely to be publishing companies' core strategy. The other thing about iPad apps is that people are prepared to pay for them."

According to KPMG's most recent media and entertainment barometer, 56% of women access more media now than in the past, but while people are consuming more media, they are spending less on it. Of the 1,000 people surveyed, 19% had paid nothing for print magazines compared with 12% six months earlier, though 70% of people read print magazines. Only a quarter said they preferred online access – 89% said they would rather read print.

Lucy Yeomans, the editor of Harper's Bazaar, whose circulation was up 8%, feels the same way: "I'm a complete early adopter of technology, but I still want to read a magazine in bed. There are only so many hours I can look at a computer every day. But more than that, magazines are not just shopping catalogues."

Shopping catalogues

New media means that relationship has evolved into a two-way conversation, which enhances the brand, says Yeomans, who is relaunching the Harper's website in a couple of weeks; it will feature, among other things, more blogging. "I'm excited about the internet and the fact that we can talk to our readers in new ways and more frequently. For instance, at the recent shows I went backstage at Chloe to talk to the designer – before that probably wouldn't have made it into my editor's letter four months later, but now the second it happens I can tweet it."

The key to thriving online, she says, is to remember what makes her print magazine successful and to replicate that. "I feel there is information overload out there and how I see us – and I think this is what has gone down well with readers – is being a kind of curator. We're going to every fashion show, every exhibition, we're reading every book and we're curating it down to the things we think are really relevant to our woman's life."

In an industry racked with uncertainty, the women's sector is upbeat. Whether on glossy paper or glossy screens, magazines will be with us for a few more anniversaries yet.

 

[tigerrouge]

Mediaweek.co.uk reports on new development for Wallpaper:

IPC launches debut iPad app for Wallpaper magazine

IPC Media has launched its first iPad app - a free version of its design, fashion and lifestyle monthly magazine Wallpaper.

It is the first iPad app to be launched for one of IPC’s magazine titles and features exclusive sponsorship by Tudor Watches. It is free for consumers to download.

The app will complement the Wallpaper iPhone app, which launched earlier this year. Other IPC iPhone apps include NME and Marie Claire.

The idea behind the Wallpaper iPad app stems from the October issue of Wallpaper, which featured two guest editors: film director David Lynch – famed for directing 'Blue Velvet' and 'Twin Peaks' – and theatre director Robert Wilson.

The app features exclusive films from both directors, along with film portraits of Brad Pitt, Willem Dafoe and Isabella Rossellini.

Gord Ray, publishing director of Wallpaper, said: "Following the success of our iPhone app, we’re now giving readers yet another way to experience the Wallpaper brands. Watching these films on the Wallpaper iPad app is a visual pleasure – the quality is outstanding."

Wallpaper claims its iPhone app has notched up 110,000 users since its launch in April this year.

 

[tigerrouge]

And a look at the state of men's magazines (same source

Publishing for the post-Loaded generation

Geoff Campbell, managing director of Bauer Media's men's lifestyle brands, tells Harriet Dennys how the publisher is rethinking the focus for FHM and Zoo to engage with a new generation of magazine readers

If the Daily Mail is to be believed, 2010 is not a great time to be a man: the pressure is on to be a brilliant cook, a high-flying professional, a stylish dresser, a top sportsman, a hands-on parent and, of course, a fantastic lover.

Nor is it is a great time to be a men’s magazine, with pretty much every title in the mainstream paid-for men’s market in significant decline since the middle of the decade, down from the heyday when Loaded’s mix of donkey-racing dwarves and radioactive wolves sold 450,000 copies on the newsstand every month.

Dennis gave up the ghost and closed Maxim, Bauer threw in the towel and shut Arena and, most recently, IPC ran up the white flag in the bloody battle for men’s attention and offloaded Loaded to Vitality Publishing, leaving Bauer as the only major publisher with more than one men’s title in the cut-throat market.

The fortunes of Bauer’s FHM and Zoo have been chequered over the years, with FHM losing its editorial way at certain periods and Zoo becoming embroiled in an unfortunate fracas involving columnist Danny Dyer, who has since been replaced by outspoken sports personality Ricky Hatton (just as soon as he is out of rehab).

As one rival publisher notes with a hint of schadenfreude, Bauer will need "a grand plan to restore FHM and Zoo", which dropped 16.7% and 21.6% period on period to 192,586 and 80,026 copies respectively in the August 2010 ABCs, with FHM overtaken by NatMag’s Men’s Health in August last year (see box, below).

The man in charge of that plan is Geoff Campbell, who first read FHM on the beach in Australia with his friends back in 1995 and has grown up with the magazine ever since, becoming publisher of the Singapore edition in 1997 and the Australian edition in 1999, before returning to the UK three years ago to become publisher of FHM and Zoo. "Cut me and I will bleed men’s magazines," he says. "I have men's magazine ink in my veins."

The rise of '4D Man'

The bespectacled Campbell, soberly dressed in a navy suit, is not the cartoon-like, larger-than-life character you might expect to find in the testosterone-fuelled world of men’s magazines - Martin Daubney, stand up - and he further confounds the stereotype by quoting Aldous Huxley. "In life, try to learn something about everything and everything about something."

In short, the 47-year-old Campbell isn’t a lad, he is a "4D man": a rounded individual who takes a selective approach to building his male identity, as illuminated by Bauer’s "4D Man" research presentation in August.

The swaggering 'lad' may have been the cohesive, binding force of the Britpop generation, but today’s 4D Man is a more sophisticated creature altogether - "diagnostic", "diverse", "dynamic" and "deep", in fact. "The 4D man is a really interesting encapsulation of the change that has occurred in men’s culture over the last two decades," Campbell says.

"The lads’ group has not ceased to exist - it is still a life-stage - but that life-stage has compressed as the expectations on men have multiplied and hit them much earlier in their lives. Girls matured much faster culturally than men in the 1990s and men are only just catching up now."

The editorial response to the squeezing out of lads’ culture has been to "refocus" FHM, introducing three clear sections - Access, Filter and Upgrade - to fulfil the Huxley mantra of offering "something about everything". "Like the new Mini, we have completely reinvented an old product while remaining true to the core values of the original idea, bringing it up-to-date for 4D man."

Campbell is proud of FHM’s 750,000 ABC1 readership - which he claims is almost double the total ABC1 readers of GQ and Esquire combined - and of the newly reintroduced fashion and style supplement FHM Collections in October, which contributed to the biggest FHM advertising issue for two years.

FHM has also launched its annual Stand Up Hero six-part competition to find Britain’s best undiscovered comedian, in partnership with ITV4, Signal TV and Steve Coogan’s production company Baby Cow.

Safe to read on the bus

Meanwhile, the latest issue of Zoo, under the guidance of new editor Damien McSorley, features 12 pages of "Posh Girls Get Naughty" - just in case there was any doubt this is still "unashamedly a lads’ mag".

Regulars such as "WTF?" and "The Week in Boobs" contribute to the weekly magazine’s "irreverent, devil-may-care" tone but, as Campbell is keen to stress, it is a publication that is "safe to read on the bus".

"There was a time when Zoo and its rival Nuts were pretty difficult to read in public, and our view is we want to change the focus to being topical, funny, cheeky and relevant [to the lads’ life-stage]. Zoo should sometimes be controversial and in your face, but in a positive, fun way."

Illustrating the point, he holds up Zoo next to Nuts to compare the treatment of two Big Brother girls. "You would be happy to take Zoo home and have it lying around your house, but as for Nuts…" he trails off.

Campbell compounds the insult with a dig at Nuts’ 3D issue (see below), but claims Bauer is not driven by constant glances at its competitive set. "You can’t escape your shadow," he says. "We don’t focus on making ourselves distinct from Nuts; we focus on making a brilliant magazine for our consumers. To thrive in the men’s market you have to focus on producing an outstanding, innovative product - quality separates our titles from the lowest common denominator."

And in the week Bauer reveals its plans for the long-rumoured new men's weekly, Campbell points out the publisher’s engagement with the male audience is increasing. FHM has 100,000 Facebook followers, 15,000 Twitterers, 1.2 million unique users on FHM.com and an FHM YouTube channel, where Kelly Brook’s World Cup video shoot generated 500,000 views.

All well and good, but it is not 1995, Oasis have disbanded and Abi Titmuss was last spotted playing Lady Macbeth in the Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft. So can the ever-dwindling lads’ mag industry ever get its buzz back? "The lads’ market won’t reach the scale it reached in the past," admits Campbell. "It is a tough market and no-one in my position would say otherwise."

But, ever the optimist - or perhaps heartened by the thought of Prince Harry giving FHM Royal approval by flicking through the magazine on duty in Afghanistan - he adds: "I still think lads have an enthusiasm for being entertained, and it is our challenge to provide that for them every week."

Campbell on…

FHM being overtaken by Men’s Health in the August 2010 ABCs "We don’t compare ourselves directly to Men’s Health. We don’t think anyone ever makes a choice at a newsstand between a health and fitness magazine and a men’s entertainment lifestyle package - it is not a binary choice."

Free men’s magazine Shortlist "You can’t compare paid-for circulation with free distribution - the two just aren’t comparable in our view. And it is really hard to understand just how successful Shortlist is without any National Readership Survey results. Where is the NRS figure that was promised 18 months ago? We are just as intrigued as everyone else."

Danny Dyer-gate "We think that is ancient history. Danny is no longer a columnist with Zoo and we have made our statements. It is water under the bridge."

Nuts magazine publishing a 3D issue "The comparison between our 3D issue and Nuts’ 3D issue is really clear. We booked 14 pages of 3D advertising in our 3D issue, which took several weeks to sell in. Perhaps you should ask IPC how many ads they sold into their 3D issue."

 

[tigerrouge]

And that new men's weekly is a male Grazia (brandrepublic.com

Bauer plots trial of 'Gazetta' for men

Publisher will pilot magazine in Grazia and via retail partners.

Bauer Media is to launch its much-anticipated men's magazine on Tuesday 26 October.

Previously known as "Project Rex", Campaign understands the title will be called Gazetta.

Created by the team behind Bauer's Grazia magazine, the pilot issue of the new weekly men's title will be stapled into the centre of Grazia with the strapline: "This is for the man in your life".

The pilot issue, which is set to feature a male Hollywood star on the cover, is 60 pages and uses the same paper stock as Grazia. The magazine will have a strong news and fashion agenda and will also feature food, travel and automotive content.

Gazetta's launch represents an attempt by Bauer to testmarket new titles without necessarily pouring millions of pounds into a full launch.

The title's initial print run will be 500,000, of which 280,000 will be included within selected copies of Grazia.

The remainder will be distributed free to a selection of Bauer's database of 25- to 44-year-old men and via retail partners including Topman, Reiss and Matches.

Launch advertisers for the title include Harrods, BMW, Moschino and Calvin Klein.

Ella Dolphin, the publisher of Grazia, who joined Bauer in June from Associated Newspapers, has been leading the project. She said: "For the past two years, Bauer has felt that there's a gap in the market for an upscale, weekly men's magazine."

Jane Bruton, Grazia's editor, is editorial director on the new title. Andy Pemberton, the former editor of Bauer's Q magazine, is the editor and the stylist and writer Tom Stubbs is the style director. Bauer is aiming to roll out the magazine from the New Year.

 

[tigerrouge]

Cosmo on Campus gets off to a good start (mediaweek.co.uk

Advertisers line-up for Cosmo on Campus

The National Magazine Company's first free 56-page student magazine, Cosmo on Campus, has attracted a vast array of advertisers, making up more than a third of the magazine.

The ad-funded magazine launches across 65 universities in the UK including London Met, Leeds, Leeds Met, Manchester and Edinburgh and targets 18-21 year olds.

High-street retail group Arcadia, which owns Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins, is partnering with the magazine to offer a reader discount and the chance to win £500 to spend on a new wardrobe.

Other reader offers come from fashion and beauty brands such as Office, Batiste and Amplified Clothing.

The spin-off magazine to big sister behemoth Cosmopolitan has also attracted beauty and fashion advertisers New Look, Accessorize, Next, Lipsy and Clarins.

Each issue will be timed to launch at the start of each university term, with three scheduled for 2011. The magazine has an initial print run of 250,000.

Justine Southall, publishing director at Cosmopolitan, said: "Having conceived the magazine and web channel as a recruitment marketing vehicle for the Cosmopolitan brand, we have been overwhelmed by the response from clients and agencies.

"Cosmo on Campus is the perfect medium for advertisers wanting to reach female students aged 18-21. As a result of the advertiser support and enthusiasm for this first issue, we are planning three in 2011 to coincide with the university term times."

Cosmopolitan magazine, whose strapline is: ‘A magazine for Fun, Fearless, Females’, recorded an ABC circulation figure of 401,750 for the January to June 2010 period.

The title was the third biggest selling women’s interest magazine in the UK after Conde Nast’s Glamour and NatMag’s Good Housekeeping respectively.

NatMag recently reported a return to profit for 2009 having slumped to a pre-tax loss £42.8m in 2008.

 

[tentalicious]

Elle Launches In Vietnam

Lagardère Active is proud to announce that it keeps expanding its ELLE network with a new international edition: ELLE Vietnam. This new ELLE edition in Vietnam will be published under the name Phai Dep - ELLE and will be the first international upscale woman’s title to be launched on the Vietnamese market.

This launch (the 15th since 2000) brings the total number of ELLE editions to 43 worldwide, and the number of editions in Asia to 10.

ELLE Vietnam will reinforce the ELLE network which strength makes ELLE the world leader on the upscale international women’s magazines segment.

The ELLE network means 21 million readers worldwide and a total circulation of 6.4 million copies per month, 99,000 editorial pages and 51,500 advertising pages per year,

It also includes 28 websites worldwide, with 17 million unique visitors and 178 million page views.

ELLE Vietnam will be published as of October 21st, 2010 under a licence agreement with Ringier Vietnam and their local partner: the Hanoi Women Entrepreneurs’ Association. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha and Huong Color have been appointed respectively Editor in Chief and Managing Editor of ELLE Vietnam

According to CEO of the International Magazines Division of Lagardère Active, Jean de Boisdeffre :

“Like in the other 42 countries where the brand is present, the concept and strength of ELLE will contribute to promote the women’s position in the Vietnamese society and provide them with a unique vision over the world. We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Ringier Vietnam, a reliable partner with a recognized expertise in magazines, and to bring to Vietnam this new edition of ELLE. We will provide to this 43rd edition of ELLE all the support that our world leading network is capable to generate, for a very successful edition.”

According to Thomas Trüb, General Manager of Ringier Pacific:

“Vietnam is the fastest growing market in Asia, and its women consumers are leading the way. ELLE will become a key partner in bringing the latest in international fashion trends to Vietnam, identifying and promoting the country’s talented young designers, and contributing to the increasing sophistication of women magazines in Vietnam.”

[via asiamediajournal.com]

 

[candlebougie]

interesting article by Franca Sozzani (Vogue Italia) about Models vs. Celebrities on the Cover.

The real question is: would a real celebrity sell more copies of Vogue? In general it doesn't change much. When we tried with Madonna or Eva Mendes the numbers didn't change a lot.
(...)
"On July, 2010, three fashion magazines used the same Miu Miu dress, Vogue Uk, Elle Uk and W in America. Vogue UK had a model on the cover, Elle UK a singer - Lily Allen - and W Eva Mendes. In England, however, sales of Vogue were higher. But the model was Freja Beha Erichsen, the new icon for models. Eva Mendes didn't have an impact on W."

full article here:
http://www.vogue.it/en/magazine/editor-s-blog/2010/10/october-19th



_

 

[sethii]

• October 20, 2010, 5:05 PM JST

Meet Japan’s ‘Brand Mooks’: Half-magazine, Half-book, All Hit
By Juro Osawa

Like everywhere else, times are hard for the print publishing industry in Japan.

A screen shot of the new YSL “brand mook” as shown on publishing firm Takarajimasha’s website.

​

Sales of books and magazines have dropped 27% to 1.936 trillion yen, or $23.73 billion, last year from a 1996 peak of 2.656 trillion yen, according to the Research Institute for Publications. Magazine sales have been particularly weak, sinking 31% over the same period, and a number of monthly and weekly magazines have fallen by the wayside.

But even in this gloomy market, there is a bright spot: A new breed of fashion publication, called the “brand mook” in Japan, has won the heart of readers –- or perhaps more accurately, Japan’s ever-loyal fashion brand fans — generating sales numbers rarely achieved these days by any book or magazine.

Mooks –- the term was coined as a cross between a magazine and a book – have been around for some time. They physically resemble a magazine in content and format, but are designed to stay on the shelves much longer than an issue of a weekly or monthly magazine, somewhat like a book.

The brand mook takes things a little further: basically, it eliminates the concept of independent editorial content altogether. Devised in 2005 by Tokyo-based Takarajimasha Inc., the brand mook typically consists of a mook entirely dedicated to one brand -– usually featuring a publication containing not much more than a catalogue of new items, but crucially a logoed item for a fashion brand such as a limited edition tote bag. And however high-end the brand name, the brand mook packages typically sell for around $15 apiece: fashion fans are aware they’re not getting a luxury item of the kind they could find in the brand’s stores, but the exclusivity of the package is the hook.

And judging by Takarajimasha numbers, it seems to work pretty well. The publishing house — also home of magazines like “Sweet”, “Cutie” and “Smart”, all targeted at younger fashion fans — said this month that cumulative sales of its more than 70 brand mook titles so far, including publications for the likes of Marc by Marc Jacobs, Jill Stuart and Vivienne Westwood, have just topped 20 million copies. Some of them, like the Yves Saint Laurent mook published last November, which came with a black bag with an embroidered YSL logo, sold a million copies. The company last week released its second Yves Saint Laurent mook, printing one million copies for the first edition. By comparison, regularly published magazines that print about 400,000 copies of each issue are considered highly successful. Incidentally, the new mook for the iconic Paris fashion label will set you back 1,300 yen – somewhat less than you could expect to pay for most products with a YSL logo on them.

Some in the publishing industry expect a lot more out of brand mooks, hoping this new genre may revitalize the market for books and magazines. “Brand mooks are bringing to bookstores many people who don’t otherwise go to bookstores,” said Kyohei Shibata, a researcher at the Research Institute for Publications. Takarajimasha’s TV commercials certainly also appeal to those keener on keeping up with fashion trends than simply reading – like this one for the new YSL mook.

Of course it’s uncertain exactly how much difference brand mooks can make, especially when the Japanese publishing industry is bracing for a sea change in the new era of electronic book readers and expanded multimedia content.

But for now, bookstores are trying to take advantage of this opportunity. Some of them dedicate a whole section to brand mooks in a highly visible part on the shop floor, displaying them on a table instead of keeping them on shelves. They also strategically place other magazines and books, hoping that brand mook fans may pick up a few extra items.

And if you’re a harried fashionista who doesn’t have time to scope out a bookstore, never fear: your neighborhood convenience store, ubiquitous in Japan, will more than likely stock the YSL brand mook in its magazines section, somewhere between the bento and the cold green tea.

blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime

 

[missbluejean]

Jody Quon Out at W

Jody Quon has abruptly resigned from her position as creative director of W after just 3 issues, The Daily has learned. Stefano Tonchi's #2 was brought over to Condé Nast in April 2010 after a 6-year tenure as photo director at New York magazine. "It was a mutual decision and her position won't be filled," confirmed a W spokesperson.

"I’ve been a big fan of her work in New York magazine, her use of talent and her imagination," said Tonchi six months ago, at the time of Quon's hire. "I see her as somebody who cares as much about the cover of a magazine as the last page of a magazine." Indeed. During her tenure at New York, Quon was widely praised for her grabby covers, which offered major newsstand appeal. Perhaps that's why the first three W covers, with those sleepy grey backgrounds, have been so surprising. Could Quon's departure result from post-Kardashian fallout? Could it be that the luxury advertisers didn't like the overly-exposed bounty of a reality goddess (especially since she's been previously photographed in the nude for Bazaar...and not to mention, Playboy)?

Quon's departure leaves design director Joseph Logan as Tonchi's top creative. According to a W spokesperson, "Everyone's position will be staying the same."

dailyfrontrow

 

[cottonmouth13]

What's happening at W?? Sigh..

 

[missbluejean]

^ A bit more info from WWD ...

A W RESIGNATION: Stefano Tonchi's Dream Team at W took a hit last week. Jody Quon, W's freshly minted creative director, resigned and is leaving Condé Nast less than six months on the job.

"Very sad, very sad," said Tonchi in an interview on Friday afternoon, talking about his reaction to the news.

And why did she leave? "Very much that she didn't feel comfortable anymore and kind of agreed that it was maybe not the best match," he said, describing her reasons for leaving.

Tonchi said he was surprised by the decision but knew something was afoot when he returned from the fashion shows in Europe.

"I really came back 10 days ago and there was a lot of tension in the office, much more than before," he said.

When asked to elaborate, he said, "I was away and when I came back there was a certain tension. That is all."

Insiders said Quon clashed with staffers at the revamped magazine. When asked if there was a culture clash or a personality clash, Tonchi said, "Probably both," but said he couldn't elaborate or speak for Quon.

"From my side, I was very happy with what she has done with the magazine and I appreciate her professionally, and, more than that, her elegance," he said.

Quon was part of a late April announcement when the magazine made four major editorial hires, which also included editor at large Lynn Hirschberg, executive managing editor Lawrence Karol and fashion news and features director Armand Limnander. Mr. Karol left a few weeks ago to decamp to Architectural Digest with Mr. Tonchi's blessing.

When asked if he made any attempt to keep her when she offered to resign, Tonchi said, "We talked a little about issues and things and I think her feelings were very strong. She had all the right to make her own decision, it's her life and she has to live it.

"I respect her decision," he continued. "I accepted it."

Tonchi said he had no intentions to replace her.

Quon could not be reached for comment.

 

[Pedro]

Stefano Tonchi is being hypocrite, it's obvious that the new W is a failure and he should have assumed all the responsibilities.

 

[t-rex]

I'm sure this is only the beginning of problems we'll hear about at W.

 

[tigerrouge]

Developments for style.com (telegraph.co.uk)

Style.com and Condé Nast split

Style.com set to join forces with Fairchild Fashion Group's WWD.

Leading US fashion website Style.com is splitting from Condé Nast with immediate effect to become part of the Fairchild Fashion Group who own WWD (Womenswear Daily).

Style.com was the website for Condé Nast magazines US Vogue and W, but with W getting its own site last year and Vogue.com launching in September, there has been much speculation over the future of the site with many thinking it might go the same way as Men.style.com, which folded last year into gq.com.

Fairchild chief executive officer Gina Sanders emphasised the two titles will remain separate entities serving different audiences. WWD serves industry executives in fashion, retail and beauty through its daily newspaper as well as its paid subscription Web site, WWD.com, while Style.com, as Sanders put it, "is directed to consumers with an obsession with fashion."


Celebrating its 10th year, Style.com averages around 2 million monthly unique users and nearly two billion page views annually and is particularly popular for fashion show coverage during the collections. Their editorial team will move to Fairchild's offices at 750 Third Avenue immediately.

The split seems to be amicable and a mutual decision with Sarah Chubb the president of Condé Nast Digital saying the move made a lot of sense all round and that she gave her blessing. "There is always this sort of Kremlinology at Condé Nast of 'Someone won! And someone lost!,' she said. "This is a corporate move that makes sense to us. Aligning them gives Style.com a big brother or sister. I wouldn't have OK'd it without it being a good next step for Style."

It is not yet clear whether the highly anticipated reality show set in the Style.com offices will still go ahead, although Sanders has stated that they don't intend to disrupt projects that are in progress.

 

[tigerrouge]

Sci-tech magazines benefit most from iPad sales at the moment (adage.com

Making Sense of Early Sales for Magazines' IPad Editions

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- This is an experimental year for magazines on the iPad, but six months after its arrival, it's not too soon to start looking over the early results.

For its April through July issues, Popular Science's iPad sales were equivalent to 12% of its print newsstand sales.

Different genres of magazines are having decidedly different starts. Everyone suspected that certain magazines would fare better, of course, than others in the iPad's early days -- science and tech titles, for example, would probably have more fans among the first iPad owners than, say, a home decor magazine. That's why Popular Science made sure it was one of the first on the iPad, while Meredith, whose portfolio includes Family Circle and Better Homes & Gardens, doesn't plan to release app editions until 2011. But many iPad editions' early sales reveal wider disparities than you might have expected.

Popular Science, for example, averaged sales of 14,034 across the iPad editions of its April, May, June and July issues. It's hard to say whether that's a lot or a little because nobody even tried to sell a tablet edition before April. But we can put iPad sales in context partly by looking at print newsstand sales. How are brands' analog popularity translating into popularity on the iPad?

Popular Science's issues from April through July, the ones that averaged 14,034 sales on the iPad, averaged 115,101 newsstand sales in the offline world. Its iPad sales were equivalent to 12% of its newsstand.

Wired, another obvious techie type, beat everyone's predictions when its debut iPad edition sold 105,000 copies, way above print newsstand sales of that issue. In addition to its readers' obvious affinity for gadgets like the iPad, however, Wired's arrival on the tablet benefited from enormous publicity. It later sold 31,000 iPad editions of the July issue, 28,000 of the August issue and 32,000 of the September issue -- equivalent to 37% of the same issues' newsstand sales.

Beyond sci-tech titles

Outside the science and technology category, Men's Health averaged 3,174 iPad edition sales across its April, May, June and July/August issues -- equivalent to less than 1% of the big business it does on print racks.

Print newsstand sales are a slightly crueler yardstick for the biggest offline sellers, such as Men's Health, because they've got a higher level to measure up against but the same limited pool of iPads to draw from. Only 5.25 million iPads have sold in the U.S., according to a Forrester Research estimate. Sales figures also have to be considered in that light: Print newsstands are everywhere, but relatively few Americans own the devices necessary to buy magazine apps.

But the figures still show you a bit about how far the first six months have, and haven't, brought us.

People to Vanity Fair

People magazine, which arrived on the iPad with its Aug. 30 issue, is averaging 10,800 downloads per week; Time Inc. declined to say what proportion of those downloads represent existing print subscribers claiming free copies, although the company said its research shows that half of People subscribers who own iPads have downloaded the app.

People is the second-largest newsstand seller in the country, and, like Men's Health, its iPad sales are equivalent to less than 1% of its single copy sales.

Glamour -- one more major newsstand seller -- sold 4,099 copies of its first issue on the iPad, the big September issue. That's again equivalent to less than 1% of its newsstand sales.

GQ and Vanity Fair, which sell both iPad and iPhone editions and only provided figures combining the two, fall in between. GQ's iPad and iPhone edition averaged sales of 13,310 across the issues from April through August, equivalent to 7% of those issues' newsstand sales. Vanity Fair averaged 8,925 sales across its June, July, August and September issues, equivalent to 2% of those issues' print newsstand sales.

What advertisers want

Nobody was expecting sales to go gangbusters on a new platform with a limited number of owners, among other hurdles, but the emerging sales figures may still have repercussions -- on ad prices in iPad editions, for one thing.

"The majority of advertisers who jumped on board in the beginning recognized this wasn't about scale," said Robin Steinberg, senior VP-director of publisher investment and activation at MediaVest USA. "2010 and possibly 2011 are mostly viewed as exploratory years. We are in a laboratory learning as we go. Short term, we are entering these types of initiatives to gain understanding and get exposed on a test-and-learn basis. The question is: Was it at the right price? And moving forward, should it be the same price? Doubtful."

Magazine app sales figures are important but not the only measure, publishers and advertisers agreed.

Men's Health pointed out that its iPad app, which works like a digital newsstand, sells other products and gives readers free previews of every issue, expanding the reach of its brand and its advertisers.

"A digital platform offers a wide scope of opportunities to interact with the user, and selling magazines is only one approach," said Matt Bean, brand editor at Men's Health, part of Rodale. "The bigger picture is we're closing in on 200,000 total downloads of the newsstand, and will continue to expand and evolve with the market to find new ways to satisfy both our readers and our advertisers. The monthly issue is an important touchpoint, to be sure, but it's not the only one, and we've found a variety of ways to leverage this audience, from marketing non-magazine titles on the platform to collecting email addresses to driving users to other digital brand extensions."

Magazines' iPad editions won't really get in gear until big publishers and Apple agree on some kind of system for subscription offers. But even before then, they'd like a simple "magazines" category in the iPad's App Store. "They've got to look for Glamour to find it," said Bill Wackermann, senior VP and publishing director for Conde Nast's Glamour, W, Details and Brides. "Imagine you created a magazine and said 'It's in this pile, you've got to find it.' We all need to be there because digital magazines aren't going away, but it will be different when digital newsstands are available."

For now, it's too soon to even say whether iPad edition sales are consistently growing, much less how fast. "I don't have enough data to say yes, we're at a level that will sustain, or that it will increase," said Howard Mittman, VP and publisher at Wired.

It will be tough to determine much, in fact, until iPads and subscription offers become commonplace, said Gregg Hano, VP and group publisher at Bonnier, who oversees titles including Popular Science. "Until we get to that day, it's going to be very, very hard to say whether or not young women want consumer, beauty and fashion content on a tablet, as opposed to young men wanting to consume technology content," he said.

 

[Pedro]

More changes are expected at W...

Things to Discuss: Why the Departures at W?
2010 October 26

(NEW YORK) On Thursday, it was Jody Quon. On Monday, publicist Caitlin Carpanzano, who accepted a position with Gilt City. When Stefano Tonchi took the helm at W, a slew of departures—mostly Patrick McCarthy/Dennis Freedman loyalists—followed. But now the new regime is experiencing turnover after six months on the job. Pourquoi?

Blame power dynamics. During Quon's tenure at New York, she specialized in grabby, topical covers that were both conceptual and newsstand-friendly. No wonder Adam Moss consulted her on most creative decisions. But a fashion magazine is a different beast, especially given W's ultra-wide range of subject matter: Who, what, when, where, and why of design, travel, culture, and fashion. Quon's challenge was formidable: How to address the magazine's new identity to both old-school W loyalists (who crave Kate Moss and obscure European countesses) and the increasingly-important newsstand reader (who needs tantalizing by a Kardashian)?

Quon also had to contend with Baron & Baron wunderkind Joseph Logan, a skilled design director who appears to favor the austere aesthetic pioneered by Fabien Baron. (He's bringing on a new art director from Baron & Baron in the next few weeks to replace Nathalie Kirsheh, who recently decamped to Details.) And the third party to consider: fashion director Alex White, whose relationships with photographers like Mert & Marcus and Inez & Vinoodh are a valuable asset that Tonchi doesn't take lightly. Widely considered to be among the best stylists in the business, White is not known to take a backseat role in creative decision-making.

"Very sad, very sad," Tonchi told WWD, reacting to news of Quon's departure. His take on why she left? "Very much that she didn't feel comfortable anymore and kind of agreed that it was maybe not the best match...I really came back 10 days ago and there was a lot of tension in the office, much more than before." Too many cooks, too petite a kitchen?
ASHLEY BAKER

Source : dailyfrontrow.com