It is no secret that the sales of magazines and more specifically, fashion magazines, have been decreasing for many years. Since the internet and social medium have been increasingly used by the public, there seems to be a lesser demand for printed magazines.
It has been interesting to see how various magazine producers choose to combat this wicked problem. With multiple variables such as price, the environment, and easy access, the best way for magazine publishers to succeed is to switch to a more digitally focused format. At Mpls. St.Paul, there seems to be a lack of urgency in the development of the online website.
The research conducted involved several different types of sources. The first and most relevant was research found on multiple websites that shared various statistics about the decline of printed magazine sales. They also included what magazines were doing better than others and what the future of magazines could look like.
A survey was conducted in which people were asked about their magazine usage, with a focus on fashion magazines. This provided lots of ideas and statistics about the industry. These sources gave background and inspiration for how Mpls. St.Paul can move forward.
*Include specific facts, images, and charts to show my findings
Overall, the research from multiple sources shows that the fashion magazine industry is decreasing in sales and publishers are starting to notice. Magazines such as Vogue and Elle have created a strong profile online and have been successful.
With these brands in mind, it is important to look at what they are doing differently than others. A good place to start is keeping up to date with all fashion trends and events. Although Minneapolis is not the fashion capital of the world, it is still full of fashionistas and big events that people flock towards. The survey results indicate that online magazine subscriptions are not popular amongst audiences, but they don’t mind online advertisement.
Appendix
Bazilian, E. (2014, February 6). Celebrity Weeklies, Fashion Magazines Continue to Struggle on
Newsstand. Adweek.Retrieved from
https://www.adweek.com/digital/celebrity-weeklies-fashion-magazines-continue-struggle -newsstand-155527/
This article was all about the slow decline in paper copy magazines. The sales from 2013 were far worse than 2014. The sales for 2014 did not decrease but they plateaued. The author, Bazilian, wrote that online magazines were doing much better and seemed to be the way to go. There were different kinds of magazines like sports, fashion, guns, etc. and it listed how each of them was performing in sales revenue. Fashion magazines had one of the highest percentages of decline.
One major downfall of this website is that after one use, the user has to subscribe to it, so I was no longer able to view the rest of the article. This actually helps me determine what I think would be a good way to design the Shop & Style section of the magazine because it was very frustrating realizing that I couldn’t use the
information that was once available for me.
Carey, J. (2017, January 13). The Magazine Market isn’t Dead, is’t Different. journalism.co.uk.
doi:https://www.journalism.co.uk/news-commentary/the-magazine-market-isn-t-dead-it-s
-different/s6/a698229/
Holliefender. (2014, October 24). Will fashion magazines survive the digital age?. In Future of
Journalism.Retrieved from https://holliefender.wordpress.com
This article proved to be very helpful in my research on the topic of fashion magazine sales because it was all about print versus online. It states that tons of magazines that were once print are being switched to a focus on an online format.
Holliefender also mentions the impact that social media is having on magazines. Influencers on different platforms have been seen more and more in online photoshoots for magazines. Many influencers are known for their fashion sense and their audience spends a lot of time online so these magazines include them to draw in this audience.
It was also interesting because one man that the article quoted spoke about making these magazines shoppable, like Instagram, which I haven’t seen done but could work really well. Overall, this website was probably the most beneficial for me to understand the difference between print and online fashion magazines and it gave me the most ideas for how to fix my wicked problem.
Hormeku, E. (n.d.). Interview With Fashion Editor Claire Sulmers. In FashionWeekOnline.
Retrieved from https://fashionweekonline.com/interview-with-claire-sulmers
The interview with fashion editor, Sulmers, was very insightful because she is doing exactly what I want to do so I was able to understand more of the job from what she had to say. Sulmers spoke about the difference between print and online and went on to say that “online is immediate”.
This is important to remember because it is much easier to make mistakes and run out of things to include in a website when things are changing daily online. This difference can be a struggle for magazines and is evident in the Mpls. St.Paul website.
Many of their articles were very old and no longer relevant. An aspect of online information that users enjoy is the in-the-now aspect of the internet. Without this inclusion, potential consumers are less inclined to click on the magazine website. The article also talks about Sulmers favorite designers and more fashion-related topics.
Issuu. (2019, March 12). 10 Digital Fashion Magazines to Follow in 2019. In issuublog.
Retrieved from https://blog.issuu.com/digital-fashion-magazines/
Shop & Style. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.Retrieved from http://mspmag.com/shop-and-style
Leave A Comment