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August12, 2008 - Ed Thinks You Put the Snap in Whippersnapper >> |
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******* ******* PLUS: Ed's feeling a little unsure of his own talent lately. (Say what????) Read all about it at ed2010speaks.blogspot.com and give him an ego boost while you're at it, k? *******
******* Rolling Stone announced today it will move to a standard-sized format effective with the magazine’s Oct. 30 issue on newsstands Oct. 17. The biweekly will shift from its current size of 10 x 11 3/4 to the new size of 8 x 10 7/8. “The new format will provide our readers with even more editorial pages and improved paper,” commented Rolling Stone editor in chief Jann Wenner. “The result will be an elegant and distinctive design, which has always been the hallmark of Rolling Stone. What the magazine has done for over 40 years is evolve with the times—that’s the magic behind the brand, and I think this is a strong time to make the move to a new format.” Wenner Media chief marketing officer Gary Armstrong added, “The reformatted trim size affords our advertisers even more opportunities to reach a large audience of young readers. We’re excited to take it to the marketplace.” MORE ONLINE
2. New York Times
Some packages like the curvaceous old Coke bottle become so iconic that they are recognizable at 30 paces. So it is with Rolling Stone, whose large format has stood out on magazine racks for more than three decades. It won’t for much longer, however. With the Oct. 30 issue, which will go on sale Oct. 17, Rolling Stone, published by Wenner Media, will adopt the standard size used by all but a few magazines. In an interview in his office, Jann Wenner, founder, publisher, editor and general guiding force behind the nation’s biggest music magazine, was characteristically brash about the change. Leaning back in his chair, one leg slung over the side of it, he said, “All you’re getting from that large size is nostalgia.” But as he knows well, nostalgia is a powerful marketing force, as is a package that instantly evokes not only the product, but an era. It is tempting to apply that logic to a 41-year-old magazine that seems to put as many pensioners as teenagers on its cover, but Rolling Stone’s readership, bigger than it has ever been, has a surprisingly young median age, in the early 30s, according to market research firms. MORE ONLINE
3. WWD
After a springtime of transition, Interview will unveil a thorough makeover in the September issue with a new logo, layout, paper stock and trim size and even a special foil and ink-treated cover. And if readers still don’t pick up on the improvements, the phrase “It’s New, Pussycat!” emblazoned on the cover should do the trick. The best description here is not a repositioning of the magazine,” said Brant Publications chairman Peter Brant, who in January purchased the remaining share of the company owned by his ex-wife, Sandra Brant. “The magazine has a great history and we want to stay as close to that history as possible. But what we’re trying to do is to make it more elegant to suit who we think the reader and advertiser are, and make it more perfectly put together in design so it has more value.” The result is an overall richer-looking magazine with a cleaner layout. Editorial director Fabien Baron said Interview, launched nearly 40 years ago by Andy Warhol, reflects how magazines can be a higher-quality counterpoint to the “throwaway products, reality TV and point-and-shoot images” that are present in media today. “It’s time for a magazine to have well-executed visuals to counterbalance the culture of point-and-shoot,” he said. “Quality needs to be put into magazines today, otherwise there will be no reason for magazines to exist.” MORE ONLINE
4. WWD
Benetton isn’t the only company aiming to capitalize on the Summer Games, of course. On Tuesday, In Style China will provide a guide to Asian fashion when it will host a fashion show on NBC’s “Today” show from Beijing. The segment will showcase looks from six leading Chinese designers: Han Feng, Shiatzy Chen, Qui Hao, Ma Ke, Xie Feng and Uma Wang. (One of Xie Feng’s is a sporty silver nylon dress inspired by this year’s games). In Style will use Chinese models to walk in the looks (sorry, Meredith Vieira and Ann Curry). Fashion and luxury brands continue to expand into China’s growing upscale market. At the same time, designers from the region also are receiving more attention from the mainstream market — Ke was the first Chinese fashion maker to present a collection during the June couture shows in Paris. Next month, Xie Feng and Chen will show collections in Paris. In Style’s Chinese edition was launched last month with advertising from Louis Vuitton, Tod’s, Chanel, Lanc?me, Dior, Herm?s, Givenchy and Adidas. The fashion and beauty pages of the issue are produced locally, but between 30 and 40 percent of the issue’s content is picked up from the U.S. edition.
5. MediaWeek
As publishers reevaluate the role of verified copies in their circulation strategies, a new study is demonstrating that readers are highly engaged in the copies of magazines found in doctors’ offices and other public places. A study from McPheters & Co. found that public-place copies account for about half of all time spent reading magazines. Also, 87 percent of respondents had paid at least as much attention to copies they read in public places. (The study was based on an April mail survey, which had 2,700 respondents.) The study’s heavy backing by the magazine industry, though, is likely to raise credibility issues among buyers, some of whom question the value of copies readers don’t pay for. One, George Janson, managing partner, director of print, Mediaedge:cia, said of all verified copies, “We have…concerns, especially when magazines are using [them] to make rate base.” MORE ONLINE
6. MediaWeek
In addition to a recession-like ad decline, publishers are facing one of the worst newsstand performances in recent memory. The twice-yearly estimates the Audit Bureau of Circulations will release on Aug. 11 are expected to show single-copy sales down at least 10 percent, owing to a combination of distribution cutbacks, high gas prices and higher cover prices. If the first half looks bad, the numbers look even worse for the second half, when consumers feel an even heavier weight from gas prices, said David Leckey, executive vp, consumer marketing at American Media Inc. and vice chairman of ABC. “The falloff in the first half is more of distribution,” he said. “What we’ll see on a go-forward basis is a worsening economy and discretionary spending.” Few categories were immune to single-copy volatility. Cond? Nast’s Vogue missed rate base in March and April by 1.9 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively, per estimates filed to ABC’s Rapid Report, although the title said it exceeded rate base by 2.1 percent for the period. The fashion bible significantly dropped its verified, or public-place, copies on both issues. Hearst Magazines’ Cosmopolitan missed its guarantee for February and April by 2.6 percent and 5 percent, respectively, on lower-than-usual single-copy sales. It still made rate base for the half. Others missing rate base on one or more issues were Hachette Filipacchi Media’s Elle and Time Inc.’s Southern Living. MORE ONLINE
7. The Wall Street Journal
Last year, the all-important September issues of fashion and beauty magazines such as Cond? Nast's Vogue and Hearst's Marie Claire were thick enough to throw out the backs of mail carriers across the country. The champ, Vogue, weighed in at a hefty 4.9 pounds, thanks to 725 pages of glossy ads. It is a different story this year. As September issues begin hitting the newsstands, two-thirds of the 16 top fashion and beauty magazines by number of ad pages are smaller than a year ago. W magazine, also published by Cond? Nast Publications, a unit of Advance Publications, has 18% fewer advertising pages. Vogue has 674 pages of ads this year, down 7%, while Hearst's Cosmopolitan is six pages, or 3.2%, lighter. Until recently, fashion and beauty magazines had been something of an oasis amid the steady stream of red ink being reported by print-media properties. Last year was a record year for many titles in the category, and a number of publications were still selling ad pages at that pace into the first quarter of 2008. MORE ONLINE
8. MIN online
Obvious connection here to her Cosmopolitan cover lines, with the March 1999 Jennifer Lopez being one of White's first with a big sell-through, and September 2008's Blake Lively likely to be her latest. But White tells min that "I have always had a reputation of delivering on the newsstand. At Child [editor-in-chief in 1988], it doubled; at McCall's [1991-1994], we were +32%; and at Redbook [1994-1998] we were consistently up. Those results helped me get the Cosmo job." But that was not what White expected at her family's Pennsylvania vacation home on Sunday, August 9, 1998, when she got a "come to my office" phone call from Hearst Magazines president (since November 1995) Cathie Black. "Other than knowing that I was not getting fired from Redbook--Cathie doesn't do that on the phone--I had no idea what this was for. So here I was, a novelist who had written four chapters in my first Bailey Weggins mystery [she has now completed five BW books], trying with my husband [tv news anchor Brad Holbrook] to connect my own dots. 'Hearst Online editor' was my conclusion during that two-hour drive to Manhattan, because that's when Internet use was first starting to skyrocket." Instead, it was Cosmo. White's elevation from Redbook was the "quiet" part of the explosive news on Monday, August 10, 1998. "Main event" was predecessor Bonnie Fuller, who succeeded the legendary Helen Gurley Brown in January 1997, was defecting to Glamour and Cond? Nast to succeed the equally legendary Ruth Whitney. (Both women had led their magazines for more than 30 years, and White is a Whitney prot?g?e.) "It's a dot that I did not connect," says White, "but I should have. There were Hearst executives telling me to 'be by your phone' the week before, but I did not think anything of it." MORE ONLINE
9. Gawker
Speaking of cratering ad sales in print media: Your favorite fashion magazine's historically huge September issue is going to be a bit lighter this year. Which god knows is a good thing for our nation's lower backs. Not so good, though, for the equally hardworking slaves to fashion that toil in the caves of Conde Nast and Hearst. W magazine lost 18% of its ads this September! (What, not enough girl-on-girl covers?) And almost all of their brethren are suffering, too. Is it finally a backlash against ostentatious luxury in lean times? Not at all, actually. It's not the luxury companies that are cutting back on their ads, you see; Oscar de la Renta, for example, increased his ad spending 15% to bring you news of his new $5,000 handbags. Rather, it's "midtier marketers" like bebe and Nordstrom's that are responsible for the decline. So while fashion magazines are totems for a certain segment of the overclass, their suffering is not a sign of fewer rich people. Rather, it's yet another indicator of the decline of the aspirational middle class. As goes W magazine, so goes the American dream. MORE ONLINE
************ JOBS ... that GQ is looking for a new fashion assistant. You should be really smart, really patient, really reliable, really good with people, and really familiar with men's and women's markets. This is not an entry level position for Project Runway addicts; it's a serious job for a young stylist or market editor who already has experience working in the fashion closet of a major national magazine. If you are one of those people, send a brief cover letter and resume to Ashley_Boer@condenast.com, and make sure you check out men.style.com before your interview. For even more jobs, go to http://www.ed2010.com/jobs/whisperjobs
or INTERNSHIPS ... that Shape Magazine is looking for a few energetic and eager interns 2-3 days a week for Fall 2008. Internships are available for the fashion, fitness, health, features, lifestyle, and PR departments. PLEASE list the 3 departments that interest you the most in the body of your email. Send all resumes and cover letters to Kristen Maxwell at kmaxwell@shape.com. (OK to mention Ed) For even more internships, go to http://www.ed2010.com/ed-campus/internships/list or
********* Whisper jobs or internships to share? Send 'em to whispers@ed2010.com. Ed'll keep it anonymous for you. Ed’s blogging! Catch up with what the big guy’s thinking at Ed2010speaks.blogspot.com or read the young musings in Ed’s Intern Diaries at www.ed2010.com/boards/section/ed-campus How to unsubscribe from this newsletter: How to subscribe: |
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August12, 2008 - Ed Thinks You Put the Snap in Whippersnapper >> |
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