I think I may know how to save the American magazine industry.
Well no, really, I don’t, but I do have an interesting theory.
Let me explain: In Tokyo, grocery and convenience stores don’t carry Vogue Nippon and Elle. They stock teen titles, general interest pubs and an interesting item called an E-Mook.
Essentially, today’s E-Mook (mook is a shortened word for a cross between a magazine and a book) is a designer look book packaged with some sort of complimentary item, like a cotton tote or a makeup bag. Or, in the case of the Marc by Marc Jacobs version, a towel. They cost around $15. Everyone from Cath Kidson, to Marc to See by Chloe releases these.
I bought a couple for “research,” including the Milk Fed 15th anniversary book. (Yes, Milk Fed, Sofia Coppola’s amazing mid-’90s fashion line, still exists in Japan.) It came with a really nice canvas tote emblazoned with the Milk Fed logo, as well as a look book featuring the spring collection. I also got the Nimes E-Mook, accompanied by a stripey bag.
These novel items got me thinking about the free gifts that come with British magazines. Britt says that she’s never bought something off the rack just because it comes with a free gift, mostly because said gifts are usually crappy. I must admit that I have. I got a very nice Orla Kiely passport holder once, as well as some delicious orange-flavored milk chocolate.
In general, though, the gifts are sub par. But they still get me excited. This may be because I’m a shopaholic, or it may be because like most consumers, I like to feel that there is “value” being “added” to my purchase.
This lead me to wonder: Why don’t American magazines regularly offer a “free gift with purchase”? This marketing tactic has proved effective over and over again.
It may not save the magazine industry, but it might increase newsstand sales.
Tags: E-Mook, Milk Fed, Nimes, Orla Kiely, Sofia Coppola, Vogue Nippon
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Every time any member of my family flies through Heathrow, their instructions are clear: buy the magazine with the coolest freebie for me. My sisters and I have long thought, American magazines should adopt this same attitude. Do we need more crap? No. Does it make the magazines a bit more inviting? YES!
When I lived in London, this was the standard practice. Yes this influenced how I bought magazines…and a lot of the magazine industry's customer sales $$$ depends on newsstand sales. It may help, but it may also help to look how this practice has impacted sales in the UK and also how the emook sales have been impacted. I'm sure there are some purchasing similarities across the cultures.
Free gifts in australia are called “Bonuses” and generally add $2-3 to the newstand price, especially in australia's harpers bazaar.
Gift with purchase may actually drive newsstand sales and even advertising sales, but it unfortunately wont save the industry. The big push has always been subscriptions which advertising sales are based. I've noticed free gifts with subscriptions but that is such a commitment!I don't think much can save the print industry (tear), we are a world with a desire to have info now, not at the beginning of every month! This new age should have pushed the print industry to rethink what they put in the magazine (photos of celebs and models the public saw moments after they were captured), but it hasn't… a magazine must show info that isn't readily available in a million other forms, change the layout, add a high tech element,keep the issue secret until it actually comes out…so I have something to look forward to…whatever it is a free gift isn't going to cut it!
I'm from Australia where the magazine freebies are usually pretty crappy – tote bags (though admittedly some are really sturdy and great for carrying groceries), notebooks that remain unused, sickly sweet smelling cosmetics and etc – best ones are samples of Diorshow. But heaps of Asian magazines (not just in Japan, but Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc) have heaps of freebies because there is just so many magazines out there they have to differentiate themselves. Some of them are pretty bad, but I have to admit, I love the little See by Chloe totes, Paul & Joe pencil cases, and etc. In Australia at least there's been some criticism that add-on freebies are a short-term solution and undermine the quality of the magazine.
A gift would be great if it were something really cool – not those awful nylon totes or similar like the ones that come with some subscriptions or free with beauty products. It wouldn't have to be expensive, just interesting and NOT with the magazine logo plastered on it, please. I buy a lot of mags, and what I look for are beautiful photos and interesting articles with fashion people, not celebrities, not political people, not anything else. If I want to know about other subjects I would buy a mag specializing in them.
Is hard to think about this !! Maybe magazines are getting in the past but i think although many blogs and web pages are in the internet, the paper is the paper, eyes like to see beautiful pictures in paper
i love milkfed!!
the magazine industry needs saving?
Paulina, have you seen what a magazine looks like on an iPad? It's incredible–better than paper. Things are about to change big time!
Great points!
Can't wait for IPAd because if it is as good and as quick turning pages and i can down load a mag from any country immediately not having to wait weeks I'm a buyer. I live in London and have to depend on crappy UK Vogue.
Oh, I buy them over here because of the freebies, for sure. But it does depend, I won't buy them unless I dig the gift (or like the magazine a lot). But I mean, a sample of Bad Girl lash and a magazine for under £4? Sold. I wish the american magazines did this.
i agree with this. the main problem facing the magazine industry is the seismic shift in our culture and the way we consume information. it's akin to what happened in the music industry, and what's been happening to the newspaper industry, except no one in the mag industry bothered to take notes. while the magazine industry has an advantage over newspapers in that magazines have much more original creative content (at least in my opinion) the issue is still the same. how do you monetize information, when it's so readily available.also the one thing that often goes unmentioned is that many of the magazines that are now floundering were highly mediocre (to put it nicely). not that they wouldn't have faced declines, but if the content produced were truly compelling, and targetted to the consumer, then the problem wouldn't be so bad.
I love British Vogue! Much better usually than American and cheaper than a 20$ Italian or Paris one that I can barely read much of.
Gifts with purchases of magazines can be quite tricky. Sometimes, I am totally put off when I see a chinsy little make-up bag coming with a magazine. I think to myelf 1) Why am I paying more this when I don't even like it and 2) Where am I going to dump it after opening. I do like the gifts that come in some English magazines (one time I got a bikini), but I think if gift resembles the quality of a magazine. I mean, really, are people going to buy a vogue just because it comes with a hideous pink face towel?
I don't mind the articles about political people, mostly because I don't pay as much attention as I should to politics otherwise, but I agree about the insufferable celebrity articles (I don't need to hear about how “down to earth” they are). But seriously, if American Vogue writes one more article about plastic surgery and face lifts I'm going to torch the entire pile that is sitting on my desk.
Most importantly, the gifts are usually more of the same Made-in-China crapola that clutters our lives, destroys the environment with pollution-causing production, and clutters our beautiful landscapes and oceans with non-biodegradable garbage. I'd be heartbroken if magazines added even more garbage to the landfills in order to make more money.And all that said, I'm with Britt: The gifts are usually too lame to justify the purchase.
Covermounts artificially inflate readership numbers. More people may be buying your mag, but how will you till which cover girl, or which article, is contributing to your success in the publishing industry? It seems odd to direct this comment towards a fashion magazine, but I think freebies are really endorsing over-consumption. If I were an editor, I'd much rather people be buying my magazine because they love the content.
People would probably be more tempted – it's like the toy surprise in a cereal box right? If this is working elsewhere maybe they should try it… I really love to buy magazines and hate seeing so many fail now. But I guess the reality is that our future is destined to be paperless- which in the big picture is best anyway.
I don’t know about you but I think the newspapers industry is primed for re-invention, according to McKinsey the demand for news is increasing while the newspapers seem to be struggling where is the disconnect in running their business http://bit.ly/9R9Ie6
I am not sure, as so many have reverted to looking up info on the net. Most of us use work breaks and some work time to check out current events. I am not sure that the newspaper industry will be around, unless they do come up with something to draw in the masses!