FT.com / Style - The boom in branded magazines
09/01/2010 01:30
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The boom in branded magazines By Lucie Greene Published: January 8 2010 23:11 | Last updated: January 8 2010 23:11
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These are tough times for fashion bibles. Magazines once the size of phone books are now pamphlet-thin as advertising recedes and consumers decamp to the blogosphere. But there is one glossy publishing sector that is blossoming – branded magazines. Increasingly, luxury brands are introducing innovative editorial-style brochures and “look books” for their clients. Last month Karl Lagerfeld teamed with Purple Fashion Magazine editor Olivier Zahm to create 31 Rue Cambon, a luscious magazine-style catalogue available to all new customers throughout Chanel stores globally. Denim brand Acne’s bi-annual magazine, launched in 2005, includes work by Mario Testino, David Bailey and Tilda Swinton. Yves Saint Laurent continues to publish its “manifesto”– large format “look books” distributed in major cities – and both Cartier and Hermès produce luxurious titles. Retailers, too, are upping the ante with lifestyle magazines, blogs and e-magazines featuring products alongside entertainment and celebrity features. In December the US retailer Forever 21 launched a new print and online magazine distributed across all its stores in the US, Korea and Japan; and Barney’s has unveiled its own e-zine complete with video excerpts from creative director Simon Doonan dressed as a bright green “cranky elf”. This spring Selfridges department store is launching an online editorial platform to partner its web retail. These join a gaggle of others, including Net-a-Porter.com and Asos.com’s highly successful own-brand magazines, which combine product publicity with fashion “editorial”. LATEST HEADLINES FROM CNN
According to the UK research body Mintel, this type of “customer publishing” is booming. It estimates that the industry in the UK alone is likely to be worth £1bn by 2013. Between 2008 and 2009 it grew 16 per cent, and by 2013 it is projected to increase by a further 22 per cent – no mean feat when the rest of the glossy magazine world is in the doldrums. What attracts companies is the direct impact on consumers. “Our research has shown that these magazines create an eight per cent uptick in sales,” says Julia Hutchison, chief operating officer of the Association of Publishing Agencies, the representative for the customer publishing industry in the UK. “On average, every customer spends 25 minutes reading these titles. That’s 25 minutes spent with the brand. Lots of companies are redirecting their ad and marketing spends to this avenue.”
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SEARCH Enter keywords Which raises the question: could this be the future of fashion publishing? And, by extension, the death of independent editorial? “Very few magazines are totally independent now, and there’s no going back from that,” says Ilaria Alber-Glanstaetten, CEO of Provenance, a luxury branding consultancy owned by M&C Saatchi. “For magazines that are, it’s a unique selling point, but they’re going to have to fight for their place on the landscape.” Alison Loehnis, VP, Sales & Marketing at Net-a-Porter, says, “It’s about instant gratification – bridging the gap between seeing something in a magazine and actually buying it.”
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FT.com / Style - The boom in branded magazines
09/01/2010 01:30 Accounting, Retail
Whereas in-house magazines used to be glorified advertorials, today the branding is much more subtle and there’s a genuine effort to tap top editorial talents and introduce original material; Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, photographic stalwarts of the fashion publications Vogue and Visionaire, shot the latest YSL manifesto. The investment makes sense: it gives depth to a brand in an environment they can control. It pushes product without the obvious “sell”, and in many instances may be cheaper than advertising. Asos’ title, for instance, which is known for its mix of celebrity, shopping and entertainment, is now the second largest women’s fashion title in the UK with an annual circulation of 471,522. Terri Westlake, head of media at Asos.com, says, “Customers are savvy; they understand that it’s a brand title (and not independent), but they still appreciate a very good free magazine.” Graham Hales, managing director at branding consultancy Interbrand, agrees, “Customers have bought into the brands anyway, so they’ll buy into the magazines. Look at Apple: if they produced a technology magazine, there’d be a huge audience because people respect it.”
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But can consumers tell the difference between customer and independent publications? “I flick through [brand magazines] but am always very aware,” says London-based consultant Sophie Hughes, a regular customer with Asos.com and Net-a-Porter. “They’re exactly what they say on the tin. I think they’re clever, but they’re still a poor man’s Grazia or weekend newspaper supplement. They’re quite repetitive. Personally, I still prefer regular magazines. I know advertisers play a part in these too, but at least editors are taking a journalistic eye to which scarf is nicest, which face cream is best.” Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Print article
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