August 21, 2007
Advertising
The Web Way to Magazine Ad Sales
By Maria Aspan
The September issue of Vogue arrives on newsstands today, clocking in at a record 727 advertising pages. That “extra-extra large!” size, as the cover proudly proclaims, is more than 100 pages fatter than last year and seems to provide evidence of a healthy appetite for print advertising in the fashion industry.
Most of those pages were sold with the added value of an Internet feature that Vogue is introducing today: a broadband channel that aims to serve as both an entertainment destination and a shopping Web site.
The feature, ShopVogue.TV, offers links to purchase the products featured in the magazine’s print ads, while simultaneously showing videos of runway shows, fashion ad campaigns and serial shows created by Vogue. The channel will also have a user-generated component, with visitors encouraged to upload photos of their own fashion looks in an area designated Fashion U Share.
For Vogue, which is owned by the Condé Nast Publications unit of Advance Publications, the channel is a major push into the world of fashion-related video entertainment; the channel will start with more than 240 minutes of original online video content. Vogue has particularly high hopes for the multi-episode series it will feature on the channel, like “60 Seconds to Chic” (a quick-makeover show), “Behind the Lens” (a documentary-style series) and “Trend Watch,” which started on syndicated television in 2003.
“America seems to be very interested in entertainment about fashion,” said Thomas A. Florio, publishing director of Vogue, in a recent interview at Condé Nast’s Manhattan headquarters. He cited the success of television shows like “Ugly Betty” and the film “The Devil Wears Prada” (both of which take place in magazines that bear more than a passing resemblance to Vogue) as well as of reality shows like “Project Runway" and “America’s Next Top Model.” According to Mr. Florio, the programs on ShopVogue.TV will give “more of a nonfiction perspective” on the fashion industry.
And while Bravo’s popular “Project Runway” may seem like the champion of the behind-the-scenes fashion genre, Vogue is hoping that its high-definition Internet videos will offer some competition. Episodes of “Behind the Lens,” for example, will document recent fashion shoots for advertising campaigns; one segment focuses on a shoot with Gisele Bündchen for Vogue Eyewear, and another shows an exclusive interview with Trey Laird of Laird + Partners, who recently shot a campaign for Gwen Stefani’s new fragrance, L by L.A.M.B.
These episodes try to convey an insider feel “without any of the negativity of the reality shows, and the B-level people in the industry,” Mr. Florio said. “The real world is the glamour, the product. It’s not forced, it’s not a Kmart sticker over the runway.”
Mr. Florio says he hopes that the shows on the channel become as popular as television clips on YouTube. “We shot it to be viral, we expect it to go beyond our site,” he said of series like “60 Seconds to Chic.”
Beyond entertainment, the broadband channel is meant to move product for the magazine’s advertisers. According to Mr. Florio, more than 85 percent of Vogue readers said the ads in Vogue’s September issues define the overall tone of the magazine. “It’s our Super Bowl,” he said.
ShopVogue.TV once existed in static Web form at ShopVogue.com, allowing visitors to see online versions of the print ads that were in the current issue, three times a year. At the new site, visitors will be able to shop by brand, trend, department or even price (an option that Vogue expects to become especially popular after November, when the channel will be refreshed for the holiday shopping season.) And videos from recent runway shows will also appear online, allowing visitors to see — and purchase — fashions from the current season.
Each advertiser that purchased a national ad page in the September issue qualified for inclusion on the Web site. Advertisers that bought multipage spreads were permitted to post additional content, like behind-the-scenes video from their campaign’s photo shoots. Visitors can get an inside look at the making of a glamorous fashion ad, and, if the spirit moves them, buy the product being advertised as well.
Fashion magazines may be latecomers to the online-retail sphere. This month, Hearst Magazines said it would acquire the established shopping-bookmark site Kaboodle; Hearst and Vogue’s entries both arrive years after the success of designer shopping sites like net-a-porter.com.
But Vogue is emphasizing the channel’s entertainment value over its pure advertising impact. “We really wanted to make it feel like a program, not an advertorial,” Mr. Florio said of the new shows. “We don’t want to be in a business that’s about selling goods online. We’re in a branding business.”
ShopVogue.TV is not technically a retail site; the “shop” function allows visitors to click through to the Web sites of the advertisers or their online merchant partners. Vogue does not take a cut of any of the sales made through its site. (Condé Nast, which is privately held, does not disclose its finances and declined to say how much was spent on this campaign.)
Vogue expects to draw about half a million visitors to the channel in the first few months, or first “season.” The channel will be advertised on fashion Web sites, on the sides of 270 Manhattan buses, and, of course, in the print pages of September Vogue.
The interactive agency Schematic helped design the channel, although all of the original programming was created and produced by Vogue. Vogue Studio, the magazine’s internal creative agency, worked with many advertisers on both print ads and online video content.
According to Dennis Keogh, the senior vice president for United States marketing at Coty Prestige, which handled the L fragrance for Gwen Stefani, Vogue’s assistance was vital. In addition to a fold-out insert in the magazine, the “Behind the Lens” interview with Mr. Laird was produced specifically for ShopVogue.TV. Visitors can watch either that episode or b-roll from the campaign’s photo session with Ms. Stefani, and simultaneously click through to Nordstrom's Web site to buy the fragrance.
“We’re working very aggressively on digital media these days as well, and this is such a wonderful communication platform,” Mr. Keogh said.
He said he had no concerns about the entertainment portion of the ShopVogue.TV channel overshadowing its purpose as an advertising destination. “Even if they don’t get that far, it’s building awareness and interest in the brand,” he said.
