More than Perfume on Paper Strips, Please

Sep 26, 2008 @ 10:10am

Why do European magazines always come with something extra?

In London, we picked up a bunch of teen magazines that came with glittery eye shadow and neon lipstick, (which we totally used for Henry Holland's party). The British Bazaar came with a shopping supplement that was so well done we almost forgot to read the actual magazine. ELLE came with a tote. POP came with an Agent Provocateur pullout featuring Daisy Lowe, Peaches Geldof, and the Britt and the Faran. And well, British Vogue just came with the best content ever.

And now we're in Paris, where the new L'Officiel comes with a tube of Dior mascara (!!!) and other mags squeeze books, make-up, tweezers and other swag into their plastic wrapping.

The best part is, the editorial content of these magazines is significantly better than most of what's found stateside, so there's no need for added compensation - not that we're complaining.

So what's up America, when do we get Diorshow with our five dollar magazine?!

posted by chic3

Sep 26, 2008 10:58AM

OOH, I love getting magazines overseas for that reason too… better content and more goodies! Lets be honest though, you can't find a good magazine in Europe for $5. More like $8 plus. Don't get me wrong though, the free stuff is well worth the few bucks. I'm jealous!

posted by LauraMilli

Sep 26, 2008 10:59AM

ohhhh...i LOVED L'Officiel when I studied abroad in Paris. Amazing magazine, and always a free sample inside!

posted by guest

Sep 26, 2008 2:30PM

yeah your magazines suck but while your magazines are $5 ours are always, like, £4, and prices in the US are minute... but yeah, I agree, apart from British Vogue, French and Italian magazine sare way better. I went to Paris in the summer and spent all my money on Numero and Vogue Italia (a month late fior the special black issue, sob).

posted by guest

Sep 26, 2008 3:21PM

Your grammar sucks. Who the hell puts a comma in front of a parenthetical phrase when the sentence ends right there?

posted by guest

Sep 26, 2008 3:57PM

why do u care?

posted by guest

Sep 26, 2008 6:16PM

It's because in the US most magazines sell via subscription--1879 postal act, postage effectively free, so magazine subscriptions cost far less than newsstand price x 12.

In Europe, subscriptions are costly, more than the price of 12 issues. So business is on newsstands. To get people to buy, say, Cosmo rather than Company, they give free gifts. Different business model, different ways of doing business.

posted by guest

Sep 26, 2008 7:27PM

The market over there is much less elastic (in other words, people generally buy a specific magazine regularly without considering the others) and smaller (less population), so to try to get more attention/try to get you to buy their mag they offer the free stuff. This is particularly in Britain, I dont' know about France.

posted by Halie

Sep 26, 2008 9:32PM

I agree! I sometimes buy mags there just for the freebies. I know that means I'm falling for their marketing ploys but I don't care.

posted by guest

Sep 26, 2008 10:39PM

When I lived in Spain, they were giving away chintzy, one-size-fits-all bikinis with Glamour, I think it was. And another time I actually got a pair of ballet flats (again, magically one-size-fits-all). I've noticed a few times in the U.S. when I go to buy a foreign title that the store has separated out the freebie magazines that often come with, and they actually slap a price tag on and sell them separately. Scandal!

posted by guest

Sep 27, 2008 11:15AM

Oh I'm so glad you guys wrote about this! its something that I have wondered about for the last couple of years! In the UK, i have gotten Warehouse tank tops, flip flops, benefit lipgloss, Anya Hindmarch purses - which I use alll the time, books, jewellery, sarongs, scarves, headbands, so much stuff! I'll admit that half of it is useless junk but when the stuff is good, its really good! Its a shame that the US can't do the same but its so much bigger out there and would cost tons more money to give away free stuff. It sucks that if you buy British magazines in the US though they always take the free stuff out! They should keep that stuff in there and then it would make the $10-$12 price tag worth it!

posted by guest

Sep 28, 2008 11:18AM

It is all economics--here's how the industry works. As I posted above, the 1879 postal act in the US made magazine subscriptions cheap by creating a bulk mail rate that costs publishers next to nothing. This is also used for catalogs--it was developed to stimulate literacy and open up national advertising markets.

Europe has no equivalent. Subscriptions cost more because postage has to be factored in. Therefore they aren't a big part of sales. This is important for the advertising end of the business, which is where money is made.

Cheap US postal rates changes the economics of magazine advertising. In the US, about 70% of magazines are sold through subscription because consumers know it is cheaper. Publishers benefit as they can sell advertising months in advance and tailor ad packages based on subscriptions, demographics etc., which also brings down the cost. Newsstand sales aren't as important as they are in Europe.

In Europe, most sales occur on newsstands so you are trying to grab a customer away from your rival titles. Freebies are a way to do this--offer sunglasses, say, in the summer, or flip flops or a novel and this may sway someone away from their favorite title or towards another.

The US won't do the same as newsstand sales aren't as important. The European gift offerings are often in tandem with an advertiser too--so there is product placement offsetting the cost. Besides international customs issues, #10, that's why freebies are removed for international circulation--they are another marketing/advertising tactic and there is no value associated with this overseas as products may not be available. You are also dealing with different international/territorial marketing budgets. The cost of the promos/free gifts, is not part of the magazine itself--instead it can help offset.

Free gifting has nothing to do with the size of the nation or the loyalties of magazine readers. Or the cost of the promos which are part of the ad budgets of the companies who contract with magazines to do this. It isn't charity, philanthropy or cultural tastes, no matter how much it seems like that. It's just a different way of doing business.

posted by 2mewmew

Sep 28, 2008 2:50PM

I hope that Fashionista didn't just discover this now! I went to Europe during spring and I too found the supplements to the already lovely magazines just WONDERFUL. Paris Vogue came with a book of Models that listed details such as Anja's favorite perfume and Vlada's favorite music artists. In London, I decided to purchase Marie Claire instead of Vogue because of the tote that came with Marie Claire. Forgot what was inside Vogue though. But I wish American fashion mags would try to be a LITTLE European.... but then again the European magazines are expensive.

posted by guest

Sep 29, 2008 1:32PM

I too have been using the diorshow from L'Officiel, I got from Paris last month!