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Beauty/Fashion Mags Shop for Page Lifts

Lucia MosesSEPTEMBER 25, 2006 -

Beauty these days is hardly skin deep: celebrities are flogging their own makeup lines; twenty-somethings are applying anti-aging cream; even retailers like Target have become fashion-forward. Yet some beauty/fashion publishers are failing to capitalize on this and have had to rely more on non-endemic advertisers such as automotive, consumer electronics and food to fill their coffers.

Through August, ad pages for Toiletries & Cosmetics and Apparel & Accessories, the cornerstone of beauty and fashion magazines’ businesses, were essentially flat, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. But that hasn’t deterred the category’s publishers.

Through October, Hachette Filipacchi Media’s Elle increased 13.1 percent to 1,919 pages compared to the year prior, reports the Mediaweek Monitor; Glamour’s pages rose 6.8 percent to 1,546, and Condé Nast’s Allure was up 7.8 percent to 1,285 pages thanks to an influx of new advertisers such as Kodak and Toyota. Allure has had to broaden its scope of non-endemic ads. Over the past five years, beauty spending fell to a 60 percent share of its business from 80 percent, said publisher Nancy Berger Cardone.

“There’s not a publishing company that hasn’t recognized what’s happening in beauty,” Cardone said. “My competitive set used to be the fashion/beauty titles. Now it’s every magazine. The fitness titles have continued to grow their business, the celebrity magazines have picked up beauty business. I feel like I always have a bull’s eye on my back.”

Rodale startup Women’s Health, for one, has seen significant increases in fashion and beauty advertising. Fashion pages grew 70.1 percent this year through September over last year and included such new advertisers as Victoria’s Secret, Nike and Ecco; beauty pages grew nearly 18 percent thanks in part to new advertisers like L’Oréal, Coty and Nivea, said associate publisher Randy Frank Leeds. “Both fashion and beauty are core aspects of a woman’s lifestyle today,” she stressed.

While beauty/fashion spending has migrated to other publishing categories as well as other media, a soft economy and consolidation of retailers such as Federated’s store brands haven’t helped matters.

“With Macy’s, you had a lot of spending in different banners,” said Brenda White, vp, director of print investment, Starcom Worldwide. “What you are seeing is a consolidation: You’ve got [fewer] brands out there. That’s something the fashion/beauty magazines are concerned about.”

To alleviate the pain, beauty and, to a lesser extent, fashion advertisers, are adopting new platforms that they believe can better reach their target customers and measure the efficiency of their ad spending.

“We’re living in an age where return on investment is critical,” said Peter Gardiner, chief media officer at Deutsch. “It’s so much easier to see that online than in a magazine. They suffer from their inability to prove results. For beauty, online has become a powerful place to advertise. Fashion, even though it’s so much more image-oriented, is going to be slower to move away from magazines, but a lot of fashion brands are involved with buzz events, quicker ways to get word of mouth.”

Some traditional fashion and beauty books are fighting back with non-print programs like Condé Nast’s Fashion Rocks concert and Hearst Magazines’ 30 Days of Fashion, a marketing program of fashion shows, parties and other style-related events. “We’ve been pushing a lot of fashion/beauty to go beyond the page,” White said.

But not all magazines are seeing a slowdown in spending. Hearst’s Harper’s Bazaar has rebounded following a string of editor changes, said Valerie Salembier, senior vp, publisher. “The two strongest categories for us continue to be exceptionally strong,” she said. “January to September fashion and beauty are up 124 pages. Frankly, I’m thrilled.”

Meanwhile, Condé Nast’s Jane is still working on a comeback, after advertisers opted to take a wait-and-see attitude while the new management team restored stability. Ad pages through October fell 27.1 percent to 478, but publisher Carlos Lamadrid said a turnaround is in the works. Jane has doubled its space allocated to beauty and fashion editorial. New advertisers on board include Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and LVMH fragrance and beauty.

Although it’s been more of a challenge as of late, media buyers applaud publishers’ efforts to stick to their knitting. They caution that as publishers grow less reliant on fashion/beauty, they should ensure that non-endemic business doesn’t undermine their editorial brand. “You have to make sure it still is relevant to the reader,” White said. “Advertising is part of content, when it’s done right. The readers aren't going to want to hear about dirt bike riding.”

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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 12:46 PM