Even when I was at Journalism college studying my MA to become a journalist, I knew the writing was on the wall. In fact, my thesis was on this very subject so it was hard not to feel a little angry. I'd missed the good old days of reporting and gotten in at the very messy end.
Which was why I was very grateful when I turned out to be more interested in radio presenting!
I read with interest this week that Smashbox cosmetics line have given up print advertising. They made the decision two years to stop. A move which even parent company Estee Lauder were a bit unsure of. It's paid off. Smash box are Estee Lauder's second fastest growing company after Tom Ford.
Instead the company put its money back into products and also used the fans themselves. Fans are encouraged to get involved with the company and also, film videos in one of their studios. They don't have to include the brand (despite being surrounded by their stuff) as long as they include 'filmed in the Smashbox studios' after their piece.
It's interesting because the glossy depend on advertising to drive content. I'm sure we are all aware of this by now but I used to refer to it as play for pay. This is when a company will shower a newspaper/magazine with free gifts, trips in order to make the round ups of their magazines. So brand X launching a new moisturiser will send said moisturiser to the company or create an exclusive launch party for celebrities and journalists. Remember how we showed you the Steven Klein for NARS party a month ago? It's to launch a collection! (If you think I'm lying then read 'The Vogue Factor by Kristie Clements. She was the Australian editor of Vogue and she describes her experience of being beauty editor perfectly)
The best part of this is that advertising also drives it. So the glossy adverts paid for by brand X will also be expected to be echoed in their editorial. Why would you feature X's deadly rival Brand Y instead? Are Y paying you? Possibly....they are all in on it.
I am not saying that bloggers are the sainted escape from this because they aren't. Some are as guilty.
It's interesting because if Smashbox are reporting results in sales then other brands could just as easily stop print too. Which means that the glossies could see an even bigger drop in advertising. Hmm. Print adverts are expensive but they do pay for a large proportion of the magazines staff, events and editorial. To be fair though, Smashbox were taken over by Lauder about three years ago. This may be the combination of being taken over and having a higher backing amount also. It's very hard to say that the turn around is caused purely by advertising. It could just be the financial backing.
Not to mention that they sell cult product primers which have really taken off as a beauty essential over the past few years. That also helps.
Interesting.....
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