Analysis Of Allure Magazine Usa Media Essay

Analysis Of charm magazine Usa Media Essay tempt, the first and solely magazine devoted to salmon pink, is an insiders reach to a charwomans total image. tempt investigates and celebrates witness and fashion with objectivity and candor, and places appearance in bigger cultural context. ( charm Media Kit, 19th imperious 2008, p1)Well known for its pioneering approach to beauty, intelligent and truthful coerage of reliable issues that surround women, such as The dangers of breast implants, eating disorders and Models addicted to heroin. lure has been recognized for its strength and timberland in journalistic writing, as come up as its keen aesthetic sense seen in its photography. (Refer to adjunct 3) And with it, summoned a strong following of readers that has so atomic number 18d to 1,150,000 (refer to appendix 1) since its beginning in 1991. (Allure Experts lecturer Panel, Fas-Fax 31st December 2009)The Allure magazine is targeted towards urban women 18-49 years old w ith a middle income and a tertiary education. (Refer to appendix 1 2) They have a certain amount of disposable income which they enjoy spending on themselves and pride themselves in making informed choices on the products and services that they consume. In their social circle, they are influencers informed and up to term on current affairs, trends, movies, restaurants, beauty products, fashion, music, etc. They like to be the first to know and the one that informs their friends. (Allure Experts Reader Panel, Fas-Fax 31st December 2009) Conscious ab turn out their appearance thought not obsessed by it, Allure is targeted at everyday women who are cultur all in all toldy universal who dont take themselves too seriously and most of all possess a sense of humour. (Quantcast Audience Profile- Allure.com, July 2010)Allures editorial and advertising content reflects this, the products advertised and featured in Allure range from high street fashion labels Calvin Klein Jeans, DKNY, Guess , Sisley to designer brands Fendi, Gucci, Marc Jacobs and Coach. As for cosmetics and beauty products, the same applies ranging from Maybelline, LOreal, Olay, Revlon, Garnier, to higher-end products Lancme, Clinique, Shiseido, Federic Fekkai, all tastefully selected with the above target market in mind. Unlike other womens magazines, Allure in like manner contains advertising for cosmetic procedures i.e. Botox, pharmaceutical products i.e. contraceptive pills and prescription beauty products i.e. Latisse, an eyelash serum that encourages growth, showing that it does have a very specific reader.The Keatsian adage of beauty being truth and truth beauty seems also to lead the editorial philosophy of Allure establishment editor and current editor-in-chief Linda swell. (Delving Beneath The flake off To Cover viewer, MOSAICA, November 1998, p1) As a results of Wells innovative and bold direction, Allure has carved itself a niche amongst the traditional writing style of womens magaz ines which concentrated solely on the latest fashion trends and beauty prescriptive by tackling head-on whatsoever of the more serious issues that affect women.We were the first womens magazine ever to write about the dangers of breast implants, Wells explains. We did the first story on models that were addicted to heroin. Weve written about eating disorders in a port that no magazine has done. I think magazines were afraid to pull the curtains back on Oz and find out that Oz is just this little man. We pull the curtain back and say, Heres whats going on in the world. (Delving Beneath The Skin To Cover Beauty, MOSAICA, November 1998, p1)Delving beneath the surface of beauty, fashion and womens health, Allure has been praised as the one magazine that consistently gives consumers the cultivation that they need. With numerous awards in tow, including National Magazine Award, the Editorial Excellence Award (from Folio), and the Circulation Excellence Award (from Circulation Managemen t), Allure is also highly regarded and recognized by the beauty industry for its truthful and informative reporting. It has won 29 awards from the American Academy of Dermatology, nine journalism awards from the Fragrance foundation, and the Excellence in Media Award from the Skin malignant neop inhabitic disease foundation. (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p1)According to Linda Wells, appearances are really in-chief(postnominal) in this current day. Hence it has becomes important to women, the federal agency in which they take care of themselves and in the methods and process of taking care of themselves how it makes them feel. It lifts their confidence. It gives a woman a sense of price and control. Confirming those feelings and the importance of keeping up appearances these days is something that is crucial to Allure. (QA with Linda Wells, twenty-eighth April 2009, Kaitlin Tambuscio, p2)Allure has a very strong and consistent editorial formula that has not changed over the years. (Refer to supplement 4) Each issue has a specific editorial focus which changes according to trends and seasons, but it also has refractory features in certain issues through the year, every year i.e. Readers Choice Ballot in February, Readers Choice Awards in June, The Free Stuff Issue in August and Best of Beauty Editors Choice Awards Breakthroughs in October. (Refer supplement 8)In this analysis I am going to use three issues of Allure dating April 2005, August 2007 and March 2010. All three consists of six sections, listed in order Beauty reporter, Fashion, Insiders guide, Health, Features and Regulars. in that respect are umteen sub-sections within these headings but for the discussion of this paper, I am only going to discuss the a couple of(prenominal) that bear out out.Dedicated to beauty and acting as an insiders guide to a womans total image, Allures editorial content consists primarily of two categories, the external appearance hair and make-up how-tos i.e. Back Stage Beauty Top 10 trends, cosmetic procedures (risks and benefits) i.e. Feature A Shot in the Dark a growing number of women who are administering TCA peels and dubious fat-fighting injections to themselves, fashion trends i.e. Fashion Stakeout on Chloe Sevignys fashion choices, and skin care i.e. Beauty Reporter callowness Movement a review on six anti-ageing products, as well as internal public assistance physical and mental health i.e. Body modernistics Testing Diets and Mood News Sad vs. Angry. (Allure Magazine May 2005, Cond Nast Publications, p72, 88, 89, 139, 143, 252 168-190)Every issue consists of a balance of these two categories spread over the six sections of the magazine, contributed by a variety of writers and photographers. The sections in Allure magazine that forms the editorial format which in my opinion makes it jut out from its competitors are described as follows.Under Contributors, it highlights the contributors for that issue which are often vario us far-famed and freelance writers and photographers. This I feel gives consistent variety in terms of editorial as well as aesthetic value to the features. Beauty by numbers uses numbers and statistics to reveal come toing, unique and often humorous information about a topic in the issue which is related to beauty. (Refer to cecal appendage 5) Insiders authorise is a step-by-step guide by experts on three various topics including travel, beauty, entertaining and etiquette I.e. How to whiten your teeth? How to care for your shoes? How to stay cool under pressure? How to travel on your own? How to be a good houseguest? (Refer to Appendix 6) And finally, Beauty 101 a detailed pictorial guide on how-to create a look i.e. Low Ponytail, which also includes four tear-out cardboard cards for favourable reference. (Refer to Appendix 7)Founded in 1991 by Editor in Chief Linda Wells, and directed by sin chairman and Publisher Agnes B. Chapski since May 2008 (Allure Media Kit, 19th Augus t 2008, p2), Allures masthead consists of almost one hundred staff (Refer to Appendix 9). It is possess by worldwide publishing company, Cond Nast Publications which is one of the worlds most celebrated publishers. Their commitment to journalistic integrity, powerful reporting and superior design combined with world-renowned editors, writers and photographers, which their magazines consistently feature meld together to form an incredible stable of talent unmatched by any other publishing company. (A Brief History of the Cond Nast Publications, 1993) just about examples of the prestigious lifestyle magazines that Cond Nast Publications have under their belt are Vogue, GQ, Wired, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, amongst umpteen others. (Refer to Appendix 10) Hence, it is no surprise that under the same publishing umbrella, Allure has also made its nurture as one of the most successful and innovative publications, backed by soaring circulation figures from its initial 250,000 in 1 991 to its current 1,150,000. (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p1)The Magazines Handbook suggests that the average advertising/editorial balance of consumer magazines should be around 6040 (McKay, Routledge 2000, p142). containing enough advertising to generate revenue but still giving the reader value for money in terms of editorial. When the advertising content in a magazine is ofttimes more than 60%, it becomes cluttered with too many ads and according to Litman will lose the editorial interest of the reader. (Litman, Journal of ad 1997, p4) This is further backed up by Halls Magazine reports 2009, which show that in the last ten years, the advertising/ editorial ratio of magazines has unplowed closely to the 6040 recommendations. (Refer to Appendix 11) Hence, Allure gives its readers good value as it has managed to come under the recommended 6040 advertising/ editorial ratio as shown in Appendix 12.HISTORY OF ALLURE MAGAZINEAllure magazine was first publish in March 1991 (Refer to Appendix 13) by Cond Nast Publications Inc., it was the first magazine entirely dedicated to beauty. Linda A. Wells is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of Allure magazine. The current editor-in-chief, Wells started Allure because she wanted to create a womens magazine that was both(prenominal) informative and truthful unlike the traditional genre of womens magazines that focused on the latest fashion and beauty products, Wells wanted to give consumers the information that they needed. (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p1) Allure has been and still is currently owned by Cond Nast Publications Inc. since its inception.At the time of its premiere issue, Kathy Leventhal was the publisher she only stayed with Allure for two years difference in May 1993. However, in the time that she was with the magazine, advertising pages rose from 94.9% to 462%, in the first half of 1993 from the comparable period in 1992. Circulation also jumped 41.4% for the first five issue o f the year, to 669,000. (Fabrikant, The Media Business, May 1993)Since Kathy Leventhals departure, Allure has seen a few more publishers come and go. Sandy Golinkin (Carmody, The Media Business, May 1993) replaced Leventhal as publisher from May 1993 but was dismissed in 1999 because of the declining market for beauty advertising. (The New York Daily News, May 2000) Next in line was Erica Bartman who took over from Golinkin but abruptly resigned in April 2000. Shortly after in May 2000, Suzanne Grimes became publisher at Allure and she helped turn around a three year financial slide , posting a 13% increase in revenue in the first and only year she was there, she left to be the vice President-Publisher of another Cond Nast Publications Glamour. (Betzold, Advertising Age, June 2001)Nancy Berger Cardone was Vice President and Publisher of Allure from 2001 she left in 2008 to become Vice President-Publisher of Gourmet. Under her leadership, Allure enjoyed seven consecutive record-brea king years, she increased advertising pages by 50% and create the largest issue in Allures history. It was also during her tenure that Allure won Ad weeks Hot List and Advertising Ages Best Performer. (Gourmet Press Centre, 2010) Finally, replacing Cardone in 2008 is Agnes B. Chapski, she is also the current Vice President-Publisher of Allure. (Allure Media Kit, 19th August 2008, p2)There are two problems that Allure encountered during its life so far the media/digital revolution which drastically changed the way media was consumed, and the Economic Recession which significantly affected advertising revenue. In order to keep up with the digital revolution Allure launched its website Allure.com on the 17th of May 1994, the website is consistent with Allures brand as the ultimate beauty expert resource. It feature the same sections that are present in the magazine such as The Beauty Reporter, Inside Allure, How-tos, Trends, Salon Spa directory, Makeovers and also includes interactiv e elements such as Free stuff, Twitter and Videos. The website also enabled you to subscribe to the magazine. (Website Traffic Spy, 2010)During the Economic Recession Allures advertising revenue plummeted 41% in January 2009 from January 2008. January 2008 had 70 pages of ads and January 2009 only had 41 according to the Media Industry Newsletter due to clients cutting their advertising budgets to cope with the recession and turn to other less established downscale publications which offered heavy discounts.In an interview by The New York Times, cakehole Hanrahan said, Allure adopted a smart strategy to combat the financial recession they negotiated with advertisers in regards to page number but not on price as they had larger bases of ad pages. As it is a one-on-one company, it does not need to report quarterly revenue. This enables them to preserve their well-established pricing-position of being equitable across advertisers and not engage in heavy discounting and negotiation s to secure a small schedule. Instead, they encouraged the advertisers annual commitment to a magazine. (Clifford, the New York Times, January 2009)As you can see, is still very much alive today. With an active website that had a monthly transaction of 487,000 readers in May 2010 and a monthly traffic which averages 208,600 readers a month, we can say that it has effectively kept up with the digital age while still maintaining its market position in print with a circulation of 1,050,000 and a readership of 6,570,000. (Allure Experts Reader Panel, Fas-Fax 31st December 2009)