- 11.24.09
- Filed Under: Business
- 15 Comments
Is it true? Is InStyle Weddings the next glossy to bite the dust?
We read on Gawker that Time is officially closing this gorgeous magazine and although we wouldn’t say we’re shocked…we are certainly sad. So, yet another conversation about the demise of magazines is getting started around the web. It’s really hard to watch, knowing that so many people behind these great publications are losing their jobs, are seeing their hard work come to an end.
The closing of magazines like Elegant Bride and InStyle Weddings, magazines that really have provided a little haven of gorgeousness, is SUCH a reality check for everyone in this industry. It’s another reminder that we have to tighten our ship, that we have to keep costs low and innovate quickly, that we have to grow inexpensively and thoughtfully. It’s a sad but really important lesson for all of us that are working to build our own publications on the web.
What do you guys think are the lessons to be learned?
That is very sad news. It was one of our favorites!
This is so sad. I truly love InStyle Weddings magazine. But like you Abby, I’m not shocked. I think one of the largest lessons to be taken from these recent magazine closings is that times are changing and you can no longer “fight technology.”
There are many places, people and businesses who view blogs as trite, twitter as a passing fad and social media as a waste of valuable marketing dollars.
I think the remaining publications need to step up their online presence. We know who they are, of course we do. But we don’t know them, their teams, who they really are. You get that with bloggers. You develop a sincere sense of relationship through blogs. They are daily doses of inspiration instead of monthly dollops.
I would read the InStyle Weddings blog if it were updated daily. If there was a blog author I connected with. If the content spoke to me.
Look at Southern Weddings Magazine. Lara gets it. They will be going strong for years to come (because they fully embrace the changing environment) which sadly, Conde Nast (and others) will continue to phase out print publications.
Still, I feel horrible for the teams that lost their jobs. Very sad news indeed.
Great comment Andrea…couldn’t agree more. There is an intimacy that bloggers just get a little better than magazines.
And by the way…HOW CUTE is your blog!!! Love, love, love.
If it is true I’m going to cry. There is nothing better than curling up on the sofa with a great magazine, pouring over the glossy pages, innovative ideas and (my personal fav) the way they layout the images.
The big lesson for the publishing world is to definitely take the the blogosphere seriously. Blogs can get information out quicker, they can pack more into their “pages” and definitely can appeal to a larger mass of people because of the free aspect.
I think you nailed it on the head!! We have to evolve and make use of all the latest technology to grow organically at a grass roots level. I think you’ve been the perfect example of what you can do just from word of mouth and making use of social networking. I don’t know how print, specifically print ads, can keep up with that.
love you!
M:)
Thanks for the blog feedback Abby! You just made my day.
I agree with Andrea, that (great) blogs offer a glimpse into the personalities of the writer, and that fosters a relationship between the reader and writer. The magazines are closing because they’re losing their advertisers, right? Are wedding vendors cutting back on print advertising because of budgetary reasons, or because they’ve found other advertising/marketing avenues that produce better results?
I know that we can see a difference when our company gets a mention in a blog (direct links from that blog) or even a paper press mention. Brides will tell us they saw us in/on that publication. For our company we stopped advertising on paper, because we can actually track where our advertising is working online, where so many brides get their information.
That’s so sad – InStyle weddings has been a favorite resource as I’ve planned my wedding.
Abby, I suspect you’re on the right track when you suggest, “we have to tighten our ship…keep costs low and innovate quickly…grow inexpensively and thoughtfully”. As a business owner, I think it’s all about being fiscally conservative but creative & innovative with everything else. I don’t know anything about the business models used by InStyle, but don’t think the magazines are closing because magazines are obsolete. Instead, they’re closing due to business practices that didn’t hold up in the current economy, coupled with a lack of innovation and creativity to up with the current competition.
So interesting. I also think that while the wedding mags are oh-so fun to peruse through and they’re is such a different experience associated to print vs web… the wedding magazine reader is only truly committed for a brief period of time. When I was getting married the once-a-month glossy fix just wasn’t enough. You’re engaged for what? 8 months, probably a year or so? You want to take in as many ideas as you possibly can in that period of time. And let’s face it.. is a quarterly publication really enough??
But I think you’re all right. They’re are sooo many other factors… What was the business model? Were advertisers satisfied with the results? It definitely makes me think about the blogging world too… how many wedding blogs can there be? How many successful wedding blogs can there be? What’s next? How do you grow and still maintain a relationship with your readers?
Wonder if editors only published 1 or 2 issues annually if that would preserve a few of these? Not sure, and as Elaine mentioned, readers want more eye candy, not less. Vendors do often tell me they’re switching from print to internet advertising because it tends to be less expensive and yields results. Definitely a factor that affects magazines in this industry.
Does anyone know if regional wedding magazines focused are having trouble? I haven’t noticed anyone pulling their local magazines. Any info would be much appreciated!
I came across an interesting comment on Twitter yesterday. Someone tweeted that they had just unfollowed a number of celebrities on the grounds that ‘someone needs to tell the celebrities that Twitter is about having a two-way conversation’.
The flood of social media options means that celebrities are longer at a distance – they are right there on our laptops, seemingly speaking directly to us. We feel a far more personal connection. If we don’t feel that connection in return, well, we cut them off. And it’s not just true of celebrities – I’m sure most of us will at one stage have unfollowed someone who didn’t play by the Twitter ‘rules of engagement’.
And it’s the ability to have this personal connection that often differentiates print v online media, as Andrea eloquently points out above. When I first started blogging, I kept it quite impersonal, and primarily shared photos of our house and garden reno. I quickly learned that making it personal is far more effective in terms of attracting readers, so now I (carefully) share photos and stories of my family, our dogs, and our lives in general.
In terms of lessons to be learned – for print media, I think it’s imperative to have tight integration between the print version of your publication, and its online twin. Most mags have websites, but they are highly static – many don’t have blogs, and still more aren’t on Twitter. Personally I find this staggering. In addition, traditional forms of advertising will have to adapt to the new model, where advertisers/suppliers/vendors are cleverly intergrated into the user experience (for example – SMP’s LBB) in innovative ways. I’d also expect to see more product placement in mags in the same way that we’re now seeing far more frequently in movies/TV.
In terms of lessons for online media – continuing to make it personal is key. Clearly SMP is way ahead of the game here – firstly by setting up Back Stage, and then by having the entire team blogging and actively contributing to discussions. More, please! I’d also suggest deepening rather than broadening your content and experience – but that’s really already been discussed in a previous post…
Thank you for providing this forum for us all! As you can see from the length of my post, I’m really happy to have this space to share some of my thoughts
Tait, all of our Upstate New York publications are still in tact. Well Wed, New York Bride and others. Actually, Well Wed is very strong and has a great PR team. They come out quarterly and they have a blog that they update 10-ish times a month. The blog is cute, could be better, but I personally can’t see their boutique style magazine going anywhere.
Alice, I really appreciated your insight. I agree a personal connection is key. Really it is all about fostering a dialogue with your readers.
Andrea, thanks for the heads up on the NY wedding pubs. Regional publications can target ads so much better than national publications can. Seems like they would be the last to go.
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