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May
31

Magazines want you to know they are not passe

What do Time Warner, Conde Nast, Meredith Corporation, Dennis Publishing, Jann Wenner and Hearst Corporation have in common?

They are fierce competitors in the printing industry who banded together to take a stand on magazines, and create this amazing advertisement:

For those who are having trouble reading it, it says: “In these wired times of ours, you might think that people don’t read magazines. That the overwhelming allure of the online world has swept them right out of vogue. But it’s not true at all. From seventeen through their sunset years, folks are reading magazines more than they were just a few years ago. Sure, there’s a fortune being spent online. But, there’s also a lot of money being spent on magazines, with nearly 300 million paid subscriptions”.
(words in bold were the magazine covers with the corresponding name)

I found this ad between the pages of the most recent People magazine and despite my family looking at me like I was crazy, I had to stop reading and snap this picture. I love the ad for a number of reasons – first, it reminds me of being a kid and creating these posters for friends, replacing the words with candy bars and sweet treats on birthdays. Second, it is creative, using the titles of the magazines to tell the story which captures attention (you can’t tell me this wouldn’t make you pause…). Third, I love the mix of magazines, there is one for every age, and if you look at the lettering in “magazine” at the bottom, you will see quite a few other magazines have been featured (the M is from Maxim, G is from Rolling Stone, the ES is from Esquire…)  Finally, I love that the magazine publishers banded together to create this ad! The magazines featured are not all from the same publisher, which means that a large group of competitors had to come together and decide on one piece of advertising that represented them…which I can’t imagine was an easy feat.

We all know that there is a lot of money moving to the web, and the concern for traditional media is rising. But, the fact that these market leaders are willing to combine their creativity and money to create a message like this gives me hope that they may still have a trick or two up their sleeves to keep the attention in print.

Do you still read actual magazines? What do you think about this creative?

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Category: Business & Marketing Strategy
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  • http://www.kiboomu.com Wendy Wiseman

    I read magazines, or at least glance through them and look at the pictures and read the articles. The magazines I still read are obviously the fashion and gossip ones. Cooking too. My 15 year old daughter is also a magazine buff. I understand Newsweek and such going mobile, but not women's fashion, etc.

    As well, I LOVE the copy ad and really enjoyed your article. Great read!

    Thanks
    Wendy

    • kirstenwright

      I'm a huge sucker for the gossip and fashion mags too – and as we discussed on twitter, it is so much easier to carry around a magazine than a laptop ;) Plus…the pictures are just glossier!

  • Katie Favazza

    I love this ad — and another like it: http://the17thman.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/03… — too! I used to work for a political magazine, and have since become a fan and student of magazines. Even though I'm no longer part of that industry, I subscribe to 5 magazines and regularly purchase others. I can't help but pause to clip a story here or a graphic there that catches my eye. I work mostly with the web now, and continually find myself using inspiration from great magazine designs for websites.

    Thanks for posting it and getting other people talking about their love of magazines, Kirsten. Hope all is well with you and your business!

    • kirstenwright

      Katie,

      Thanks so much for chiming in! I have been doing very well. I love the ad you shared too :)

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