Independent fashion title Russh is the latest player to feel the pinch in an increasingly consolidated magazine market, following news last week it was losing key senior staff and was referred to debt collectors for an outstanding debt.
But the woes of Russh won’t necessarily spill over to other independent magazines.
Launched in August 2004, Russh quickly established itself as an independent alternative to mainstream fashion titles. Other independents, such as Yen and Frankie, signalled a growing trend for niche, forward-thinking fashion and lifestyle magazines. In November 2007, Russh also claimed to be the first Australian fashion title to be syndicated overseas when it launched into the Japanese market.
But while distribution is reportedly on the up (Russh is not audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulations), the magazine has been afflicted by a series of resignations of key staff, including editor Charlotte Scott, CD Trevor Stones, art director Melanie Kamsler and contributing features editor Catherine Caines.
The last year has seen the Australian magazine market in a state of flux as the three biggest publishers – ACP, Pacific Magazines and News Magazines – each snapped up valuable acquisitions to narrow the market even further.
But OMD’s head of print, Simon Davies, believes independent publishers still have a strong foothold in the magazine market for both consumers and advertisers – provided they can clearly define their position in the market.
One potential reason for Russh’s woes, Davies said, is that it is “competing head-on with established international brands”.
“A magazine needs to be clear on what it is and where it’s positioned in the market and have a point of difference and value for readers. Yen (Paper Tiger Media) and Frankie (Morrison Media) do that. Yes, they have broader competitors, but there’s no one in the exact same space – it’s more about street culture, a young trendy audience.”
Yen co-founder & co-publisher Melissa Bergin said: “Mainstream publishers can spend millions of dollars on research to find out, at the end of the day, women are tired of advice on how to kiss their boyfriend. We knew that five years ago when we launched Yen, because we’re in constant contact with our audience.”
Interaction with readers is key to success, Bergin said, and Yen readers help shape content and editorial direction of the magazine through email, SMS, interactive polls, and the magazine’s MySpace site.
However, when it comes to cross-media advertising deals, mass reach and ease of booking, do the big players such as ACP, Pacific Magazines and News Magazines have a winning combination?
“It’s less about cross-platform when you’re talking to specialist, specific audiences . . . it’s about targeting your ad spend to reach those defined groups,” Davies said.
“Having said that, if you look at the surfing market, Morrison do that already [with titles like Australian Surfing Life] with DVDs on the cover of the magazine and links to their website.”
Davies also cites the recent V-Raw activity for V Energy Drink as an example of a big brand using niche titles to reach its desired audiences. Based around a MySpace community, V-Raw has given aspiring young designers, writers and other media types the chance to score real jobs or internships with Yen, Dazed & Confused, as well as music labels, fashion labels and more. Paper Tiger publications Yen and Dazed & Confused featured the program in advertorials, advertising and editorials and brought “credibility, contacts and content” to the program.
Yen magazine counts adidas as another major sponsor (for the Curvy events and books, which celebrate Australia’s best female designers and illustrators) and advertisers include car marques BMW, Peugeot, and Fiat, cosmetics giant Cody, and Telstra, which recently sponsored an editorial page in the magazine and provided a new Hiptop Slide phone to the featured fashion designer, Jessie Hill. Readers were encouraged to contact Hill on the Telstra phone to ask questions about her career and label.
Bergin cites this as an example of Yen’s ability to put a “big corporate brand in a different, cool light”.
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