This was just too comical to not mention…
The Media section of the Australian said ACP aren’t making enough money, and the bosses at PBL happy. And PBL may combine competing magazines which share similar audiences.
Two nominated mags (besides the men’s ones) is Cleo and Cosmopolitan.
“there is concern the two titles are cannibalising each others’ markets and may be forced to merge”
Can you image…
- Perennial competitors, Bron and Sarah would have to work together! Or would one lady have to make way for the other? No prizes for sharing who you think deserves the job as EIC of Closmo, but where would all the glossy mag hags go? They can’t all fit on the one masthead and there are only so many jobs at inhouse mags, Madison, Shop, Grazia (which isn’t doing so well apparently), Dolly and Harper’s Bazaar… perhaps the girls should hope that Aus Glamour still have some jobs available?
- Speaking of Aus Glamour, Cleo are hoping to get a jump start on the soon-to-be-launched title by making a handbag sized version of the mag. Didn’t they try that a few summers ago and it wasn’t worth it? The old girl’s gotta try something I guess.
- If the girls go out of a job, who else will buy up the junk at that bargain basement shoe store next to McDonald’s?
Who/what else do you think will be affected if Closmo ever happened?
P.S. We got a mention in the Australian too.
4 Inch Heels Only 
Less of a mention and more of an obituary.
hahaha… they should just close them both. its a sign of the times if both their circs go down.
Oh Maghag, I’m so glad you used my comment days ago as the impetus for a blog entry. Lacking inspiration are we? Oh well, I don’t mind because at least we get an update. Please try to write here more frequently.
Just wait until Tuesday for the shit to hit the fan…then you might really have something to blog about.
Keep it coming 🙂
This is probably not the forum to be commenting on the brave new world (paradigm shift: publishing we find ourselves in) …but here goes
So lets cut to the chase what’s wrong with the fashion magazine per se? and why are the punters not buying mags like, say, 10 yrs ago? i can’t help but think its a simple equation, its CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT STUPID.! sorry it had to be said, everyone i know/knew 10 yrs ago, in the biz, would religiously buy, talk about, and collect the much anticipated next issue of many magazines, but those same people and i suspect others like them don’t have the same lust for the fashion mag as it stands today, again its about content, its become so homogenized so blantly conservative so utterly uninspiring i for one can’t come at parting with my hard earned $’s, i want too.!.. but i rarely see something thats worth collecting or talking about, (i dearly love publishing and i love print)
so the new kid on the block ”the net” is also partly responsible, it walks and talks, its interactive, i can get involved, like this.! and in doing gives me part ownership in doing so, ect, i could never do that 10 yrs ago, and it also must be said, the monopolistic hold the big publishers had, (past tense) was difficult to take then, but now its verging on intolerable, the difference now is, i don’t have to buy the openly conservative magazine which by any standard just isn’t worth the effort, and so the punters have abandoned print as a consequence, so what’s to be done? that, as i, and many others see it is simple ”get interesting or get out”
if you want the punters to come back to the fold INSPIRE THEM.! publishers seem ignorant of the bleedin obvious.? they’ve become DULL by any standard, if print doesn’t get interesting its throwing good money after bad, the figures show what Im saying to be true, so where is the aspiration gone in their business model? all Im seeing is the ostrich drilling its head deeper into the sand hoping ”the net” will go away, pull your heads out and smell the rose people.!!
look, as a journalism student and part of the all-elusive Generation Y, it entertains me to the enth degree to think about PBL honchos scratching their balding heads and thinking ‘why oh whyyy?’ is nobody buying their magazines. is it the economic recession? no. the canibalism of cleo by cosmo? no. it is, dear white-middle-aged men, because the content of the magazines is fucking boring.
women want to be inspired and challenged. if we wanted to know ‘how to read a man by his hair cut’ we’d… oh wait. no one wants to know that.
all these ‘new look’ magazines (im talking to you jackie frank) are a pathetic attempt to get us to spend our $8.20. ‘new look’ has suddenly become a synonym with ‘shit house.’
c’mon c’mon tell us what happened on tuesday!
I read the latest issue of Cosmo yesterday – I couldn’t help but feel superficial and shallow. Maybe as I get older I don’t appreciate it as much as I used to, but the content seems to have been like, OMG – dumbed down? Give us readers a bit of credit, Cosmo. I stopped reading Dolly and Girlfriend a long time ago for a reason …
That’s because they don’t employ talented people to edit magazines – just good-looking ones, with great shoes. Not their fault though – it comes from the top. They retrenched all the balding white-middle-aged men long ago. It’s all women with 4 inch heels, massive credit card debt, and a skinny cappacino (yes, sorry, I need a sub-editor, before they start whining) in hand.
I love Cosmo.
it helps to keep my table from rocking from side to side.
Clos, Colosleo, Cosmocle….Oh I’m completely befuddled by that. Really? So Cosmo + Cleo become one. Makes sense as they could be rolled off one press and are literally one magazine anyway. Now, NW and Womans Day…oh and while we’re at it Ralph and FHM…oh and Belle and Gourmet Traveller…the mind simply boggles and wonders at the combinations that could become fabulous hybrids.
Newdy, GT BELLEVELLER…the list could go on.
Nice to see you back maghag. Me thinks gossip will be plentiful within the next few weeks….the building is buzzing. Just in time for the annual ACP Xmas do too….
Wow and he’s me thinking my comments were a tad harsh? it seems there’s an audience for the truth out there? fantastic.! if i may add to my previous rant re; ”inspire them or get out” its this, apart from the terribly dodgy independent mags (all submission based), you get what you DON’T pay for, advertisers won’t pay for kaos) has there EVER been an Australian company (the likes of ACP/Conde Nast-licensees et al) that have given anything back to the industry? i refer to the likes of POP mag, Emap does, i think Conde Nast owns it or did?
it strikes me as selfish and not a very sound marketing plan to constantly take and give nothing back? (like they can’t afford too, how many boats and helicopters do you need to cross a road) if there were money behind an Australian version with an EDITOR that really did have an eye and didn’t play ”friends & lovers” would that not be something that might inspire contributors and thus down the line inspire the mob, in a time where inspiration is surely needed, cos there’s one or two holes in the boat girls and you are surly sinking
as an aside to a comment above re; the balding men of yore, your right there are no more middle aged men, balding or otherwise left in the industry, in fact, i would go further and suggest maybe thats part of the problem, that there are no men left in the fashion publishing, look at the contribs page credits, there needs to be a balanced view in any publishing venture
i recently went on a ”go see” and out pops a 20 something who shouldn’t have been employed she was nice enough and perfectly charming but she had no idea what she was looking at..publishers are loath to spend their way out of this, they think, great.. lets save some dosh hire some tool that walks and talks but says and knows nothing, a box ticker, gee what a great strategy, and these publishers KNOW how to run a business, this may sound harsh but there’s no room at the Inn for that kind of stupidity
Peter, You’re a photographer right? Perhaps it’s time to throw in the towel and give up trying to shoot for magazines. If people don’t appreciate what you do maybe what you’re doing is wrong?
Maybe you’re the tool that’s useless? And all independent magazines aren’t bad, well maybe ones that would take you on might be…
I think Madison is an example of a magazine which has got the content mix right. Having said that, I do think Cosmo and Cleo have improved immeasurably since Bron and Sarah took over. I stopped buying Cleo when Nedahl Stelio was editor, it was absolute crap. Even her letter at the start made me want to bang my head against a wall.
And who might you be ”TROUBLE”? i think you missed the point? independent publishers are not the problem per se, its a simple matter of budgets for contributors, (you know, the people who fill the pages) after all we’re in this together right? surly a small budget would help all concerned? quality makes sales? i take it you have a problem with that?
if thats the view held by indy pubs, and i suspect it is, then maybe independents should reconsider going to press at all? its tough out there, always has been, i can’t see it getting easier any time soon, if there’s anybody who should be rethinking their business model, its indys.! they are ripe for the culling in this environment..i don’t get any pleasure saying that, but ”the net” will see to that if you let it stand the way it is, if you have any doubts ask the NYT’s or the BOSTON GLOBE, the L A TIMES, or for that matter the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD and a hundred others
if independents think waking up willy nilly running with what’s poked under the door is the way to an advertiser cheque book? I’m not so sure thats the way forward chaps.! advertiser’s want PLANS not promises
all I’m putting forward is show a bit of consideration for contributors and the market, is that so bad? for the life of me i can’t see how flogging the donkey and not feeding him/her is in any way shape of form something to subscribe to.!
I agree Peter.
I have written for too many “indy” mags that won’t pay their contributors, or seem to appreciate their work. They even begrudge sending you out more than one free copy.
Latest Cosmo cover is so pretty. I love it. But Madison is not just redoing the same old same old. Paula must be a great editor (or good at employing good people, while she swans around…)
I don’t know why the Prince of Darkness won’t just slash all of the fashion mags and turn the ACP building into a brothel. All the editors are doing now is peddling cheap sex in tabloid form anyway.
The problem with publishing at this point is two fold. One: for companies like ACP editorial is just the stuff between the ads. At one point you had to understand magazines to run one, that’s no longer true. It’s a commodity business now. Yields, targets, year on year etc. Two: publishing is now the gap year for posh people between leaving uni and getting married. I suppose I’m saying women here, as editorial is a predominantly a female business. It used to be a real job that took years to learn. That’s no longer true. Readers understand this either directly or sub consciously. They know they are getting the hard sell from advertisers and that the women who edit magazines do not understand them.
While we’re discussing quality, I think we can safely say that of all the stable fash/mag/slag/etc pubs ACP trolley out on their weekly, monthly and bi schedules, there are the Madisons, Gourmets, Belles and a few more. The rest are just bread and butter to go with a slice of biscotti and a cup of berry tea or poke out the top of a tip on tote to just announce to the world that while you may not have the bank balance to sustain a Sex and The City lifestyle de jour, you sure as hell wish you did. Though it would now seem many people are opting out and finding their information online. The weekly $5 for a gossip/fashion rag is $5 that can be spent on an experience like coffee with the girls (or boys) or some other real life activity, rather than US gossip rehashed from Perez or some drooling self indulgent fashion dictatorial – Grazia anyone – that costs about 2 latte’s per week and noone really gets. The ed letter is enough to make you groan and believe there is no recession, the world is rose coloured and oh, while those few that are buying up big on choos and blahniks or pumps at $2600, the mere mortals are left wondering how they can make their measly wage cover the cost of looking good, being fabulous or having the beautiful life. Out of touch or just big noting for the hell of it?
“I went to this party….I love these shoes, I love this dress, oh and it was glorious sitting up the front of 1st class on the new A380”
Newsflash: A great woman once said – well – myth be reinforced here – “let them eat cake” – and we all know what happened to her.
I think it’s high time to start playing real, suggesting suitable alts for those that love to read or spend a few bucks on some gloss and start realising that the world we live in isn’t all Carrie Bradshaw and parties with champagne and goodie bags.
F64/Mr darcy….clapping loudly am i.. reading your comments, well done.! F64 your right that its no longer a career that takes time to learn, reason there is, mainstream publishers have always had deep pockets and short arms, so contenders are like sparrows, cheap cheap cheap, in turn we are served pizza with pineapple, or so it seems? (to be fair it can’t be easy putting out a monthly) that said, what are we’re being served? its kind O like Jamie Oliver trying to get Rotherham to home cook with fresh ingredients rather than burgers 4 nights a week. guess what.! even the miners get it.! their 2 miles down talking about recipes during their break, its billy elliot all over.!
so why can’t we cook up something people want? no matter how you spin it pizza isn’t working guys.! its just not.!
come the day print disappears will indeed be a very sad day, lets hope that never happens.! on a lighter note ”a solution of sorts” a buddy in London has just informed me the Katie Grand, editor of POP and muse to the likes of Prada et al, has finally been added to the Conde Nast Stable, Conde tried in vain to buy POP and thought, right this is going nowhere, instead we’ll offer Katie & Co a deal they can’t refuse and so the whole staff lock stock & barrel have crossed the floor, Can’t wait to start flicking the new Grand Central.
a few comments prior to this i mentioned POP as a stand up indy, (spooky) how cool would it be if Conde or similar publisher here would do the same, the synergies that might create? wow..Im getting light headed just thinking about it.! i would like to think given the resources there is an advertising market in Australia for such a product, Imagine scooping all the indy pubs ads space and then some because of the new model? and Imagine an indy with a direction, will wonders never cease.!
Australia has more mags per capita than anyone else on the planet, Imagine trying something NEW.!! whatever the money thinks about this ”pigs might fly” statement the fact remains there’s never been anything like it here.! not with mainstream resources behind it, can a pig fly i ask you?
Come in Santa..over..???
Anyone guess what our theme might be for this year’s PBL Media Xmas party bash?
Cleo and Cosmo offices (even Shop) – I have never seen so many fake designer bags in my life. I don’t think they’re well dressed at all, and they’re crass and vulgar on top of it. Some very lucky connections perhaps? And add to that they’re not the brightest lights ever – how on earth do they get those jobs anyway?
Fake designer bags = smart in my book. Why pay thousands when you don’t need to. They don’t pay enough to buy real ones
Maybe the theme will be “credit crunch” and they will only serve middies and water, with a couple of pretzels…
There are only so many versions of “How to Titillate him in Bed” that one can read over the years. The articles tend to be regurgitated over the years.
Also, IMO, Grazia has to go (and Cleo should have been put out to pasture ages ago). It’s pointless to spend five dollars a week for ‘celebrity’ articles that can be read on the web up to a fortnight prior. I started buying it but stopped after reaching my tolerance level for ‘last minute’ insipid content. Why spend a fiver per week (twenty dollars a month) on Grazia, when I can spend less than eight dollars a month on Vogue or Marie Claire (or InStyle). I’ve bought most ACP magazines since I was fifteen, and I can’t say I’m thrilled with the evolution of ACP women’s magazines. The only magazine that has retained its dignity is the Women’s Weekly, content wise. Cleo, Cosmo, Grazia and Madison (Marie Claire rip-off) are like constipated sisters, squeezing out as much as they can, digging into the vaults for articles. I mean, seriously, how many times can women read the same inane story?
BTW another Woman’s Day editor quits…
Fake designer bags = pretending to be someone you’re not.
Grazia isn’t haute couture, vogue or any of those buzzwords they think working in inner Sydney makes you instantly become. I am bored by the soy bean diets and ‘real women’. The so called real women at APC are bedhopping with each other’s partners on different floors and intertwining like the incestuous little family the mags have become. Noone really cares about quality content but following fad and the same direction everyone else is doing. Don’t dare put someone exotic and different on the cover because it could mean losing the last bit of advertising revenue keeping their stack afloat.
I suppose what I would say overall about fashion magazines is this. You are, kind of, thinking about it back to front. You, the reader/consumer, expect to get something you are interested in. Wrong, you are there to support and keep the editor in the lifestyle to which she has been accustomed. Editors put things in magazines they think are interesting. They are reflecting their lifestyle, not yours. They can then go to all the fashion shows, parties, get nice free stuff and a (fairly) big cheque for the “work”. Consumers of these magazines are kind of fashion canon fodder. Editing a fashion magazine is a like a hobby, but with an audience. By buying the magazine you are saying to the editor “yes, your vision of the world is perfect and correct, please tell me what to think next month/week”. Editors do not want to know about you and your life, there’s no echo of their own opinion in that, albeit a very dull one.
I know an editor that would write abusive letters to the readers (in between talking to her friends on the phone) if they complained about the magazine – saved only by the editorial coordinator who would rewrite them for her without her knowledge.
Hey, do we know why Amy Sinclair left?
I Don’t Know but OHH MYY GODDD, I was reading my Nan’s “Take 5 Magazine ” the other day, and, there is a photo of her and the Ed of Take 5 at a meetng they had with Kevin Rudd regarding Child Protection.
She has put on SOOO much weight, looks dreadful, obese almost. She was wearing this potato sack of a dress which added another 20 kilos,
A big daggy old sack dress to a meeting with K Rudd? Ohhh dear! Looks as though your fashion sense hasn’t improved any Amy!
I thought what you wore around the office was bad!……it’s gotten worse!!!……EEEEKKK
Bit harsh don’t you think Scarlett?
No “Ultimate Quirkyalone”
I worked underneath Amy @ NW, you my friend, Have Not!
I wouldn’t comment unless I’d worked for her,
You would have NO idea!
Scarlett you are a bitch. You must be very unhappy with yourself/life to write that about someone else.
I feel sorry for you.
Ummmmm, Me, Who asked you????
I am very happy with my life! Thankyou! and myself, couldn’t be happier!
You must be a big blob are you?
The big one’s always comment when it comes to weight issues luvvie!
Ummmmm, Me, Who asked you????
I am very happy with my life! Thankyou! and myself, couldn’t be happier!
You must be a big blob are you?
The big one’s always comment when it comes to weight issues luvvie!
Who asked Me?……I don’t believe I have to be asked before I make a comment here Scarlett.
I weigh 64kg & stand 174cm tall, if you consider that a big blob you are more troubled than I thought!
if you are very happy with your life then why do you feel the need to cut others down?…..I think it says alot about a person when they are so pointlessly mean to another human.
I don’t know Amy at all and who knows she could be a horrible person to work for but your no better slagging her like that……the world is bad enough as it is why add to the negativity by putting out that energy in the universe?
I’m guessing you are a female – so think about the sisterhood! there is nothing uglier then women bagging women…….it reeks of jealousy
over & out!
Ohhhh Me! Go away now! Get off your soap box love, noone wants to listen to moaners like you,
GET OVER IT.
You don’t know her, I do, You didn’t work with her, I did,
PING OFF
Scarlett dear, I believe you. Please tell us some funny stories about your time at NW.
I’m almost twice your weight scarlet/me and along with being able to spell I’m capable of seeing you were talking to yourself at 5.40pm/5.41pm on Friday darling. Maybe you should lay off the decaf and stick to bottled water.
lol@subbie, I agree. The post by “Me” at 5.47pm Nov 7th was also written by Scarlett…..
Subbie , another one with no life! Oh Dear!
What is it I didn’t spell right luv?
And I don’t believe I disclosed my weight?
What are you on????????????????
Well, Scarlett/Me, let’s start with no one being two words, not one, as you seem to think. But don’t let it bother your brain cell because I appreciate that it’s people like you who keep subs like myself in work.
Now, as for not disclosing your weight, you are correct. It was your evil twin Me/Scarlett who said she weighed 64kg and stood 174cm tall. I got confused by the identical posts you two made within a minute of each other on Nov 7 (Please go back and read the posts, Darling, you’re a very naughty girl). While a split personality can be a wonderful thing for people working in magazines – it will help you become editor one day – you need to keep track of which party is saying what to whom.
What am I on Darling? Flat heels of course, my editor appreciates me for my talents rather than my looks.
Subbie dahhhhhhhhhhhhling, GET A LIFE.
How about you remember one little thing?,
YOU ARE A “SUBBIE” (as you call yourself)
Enough Said!
so glad four inches in back. this is what this industry needs – a truth pill on what you australian girls deliver to the paying punters. maybe there will be ideas generated that are fresh adn original with cut through.
what about acp melbourne?