COMMENT: Grazia’s woes signal the magazine sector’s troubles are only just beginning
It’s not quite six months since I picked up the first edition of Grazia and counted the ads.
The ACP and Hearst joint venture made an impressive debut indeed – 172 pages, including 62.5 ad pages – an ad ratio of 36%. It was a great start for the weekly fashion fix. But it’s amazing how things can go down the gurgler in six months.
Today I’ve picked up the February 9 edition. At 108 pages, it’s still thick. But the ads have vanished.
There are just 12 ads throughout the whole edition (and that’s including an ad for sister TV station Nine and a couple of half pages from Australia Post that look like they might be fillers). That’s an ad ratio of just 11%. Virtually none of the ads are in premium slots – there’s a run from page 5 to page 17 with no ads; then another all the way from page 17 to 39.
Don’t let anyone fool you – it’s carnage out there. Publishing is a business that has always been based around content, yet the very best content in paid-for mags is currently ripped off from free blogs and websites! How’s that going to work in the long term?
I agree with you Tim that ACP deserve a *slight* pat on the back for continuing to keep the editorial proposition strong despite the disappearance of the ads. I am no great fan of ACP as a beacon of publishing principles – but they are giving Grazia a chance of success by continually investing in it and that deserves some credit at least. Grazia won’t survive (mid year closure I forecast based on its paltry paid for copy sales) but they are giving it a run at least. Magazine ad sales…ouch indeed.
As Alec Baldwin says (in the best movie ever made…prize for guessing correctly)…'”I used to be in sales…it’s a tough racket”
Glen Garry, Glen Ross
Since when was 36% ad content considered anywhere near a healthy start for a new magazine? Most would aim for 60:40 – with 60 being the ad quotient. On a launch issue, considering how many advertisers want in on the launch excitement/television advertising etc. 62.5 ad pages out of 172 is pathetic. I’m surprised it lasted more than three issues.
The problem is that Grazia are trying to target a specific demographic(25 – 40) but their readers are coming from the 18 – 25s. How do you justify to Louis Vuitton to spend on a full page ad when readers are more likely to shop at Supre? At the same time, how do you pitch to Supre when your editorial is about Prada?
Grazia are going to struggle even more with ad content when the readership numbers come out next week.
Nice work Jack Lemon! Name a charity of your choice and I will make a $20 donation to it on your behalf.