Fashion Magazine's Journey from Print to Digital
Throughout the past 10 years, the use and need for technology in today’s society has rapidly increased. Many of us not only have a smart phone but also use a laptop or a tablet on a day to day basis. With new ways of accessing information and having answers at the touch of our fingertips, it has become a problem for the world of print journalism.
In recent years, magazines and newspapers have had to adapt to the way technology and innovation is changing. Many people don’t want to have to go out to buy a hard copy of their favourite magazine/newspaper, they want it through their phone or tablet like they get the rest of their information. This is done by most of us subconsciously, so used to the high-techno driven world we now live in. When looking into fashion magazines, publications have had to adapt the way they give their content to consumers.
Digital editions and TV have become the norm for many fashion magazines. Publications such as Vogue began to create digital editions for online, apps and even on sites like YouTube so viewers can get Vogue on the go. Many other publications such as Cosmopolitan and Elle have followed suit.
An internet phenomenon which has only grown in strength is YouTube. People of all ages use the site and can now get it as an app on their tablet or smartphone. Publications like Vogue and Cosmopolitan have their own channel where you can view all of their interviews, how-to videos and information that you may have not received from their magazine. All in all, it’s another way of accessing their information which attracts the growing audiences that crave instantaneous information.
A large innovation incline in the past years is the use of tablets. With the rise of the internet and social media, some magazine readerships could be seen to be declining as people could find fashion and gossip on websites online for free. Unfortunately, magazines simply had to adjust to this change. To do this, high fashion magazines created their own apps and digital sections on their website. A prime example of this, is one of the most well known high fashion magazines around the world, Vogue. At the top of their site, you can go onto Digital Editions, Vogue TV or Miss Vogue. The digital editions take you straight to each digital monthly editions of the magazine. However it must be acknowledged that you can only see a few pictures and it then asks you to pay £2.99 to download it. With Vogue magazine having a hard-copy price of £3.99 per issue, it brings up the question; is that £1 less really worth it? That question is obviously debatable, all depending on the way people as consumers like to get their information.
On the other hand, Vogue TV allows you to watch a variety of video’s from interviews with celebrities, models and professional fashionistas on everything and anything fashion. This gives readers the chance to catch up on their favourite fashion site without having to pay or flick over the pages they aren't interested in. An going issue with magazines such as Vogue is the advert to content ratio in their copies. In 2007, Vogue ran 2,020 pages of advertising within that year, at an average of £16,000 a page. In total that made them over £30 million. Despite many of the images being outstanding quality and very visually pleasing to readers, many buy magazines to actually read the articles. This raises the question of whether many of the readers who bought Vogue to simply look at the images, now use Vogue’s website for free, to do the same thing? As mentioned previously, Vogue TV can also be found on Vogue’s own YouTube channel. Yet, for fans, having not only images, but interviews and digital content as well as articles all in one website is very convenient. With all of these being able to be accessed for free through any laptop, tablet or phone it can be see as a positive for both consumer and creator.
Handbag size versions of magazines were first introduced in the UK by Glamour magazine in 2001. With it’s new size and style, it knocked Cosmopolitan off their number one top spot for Glamour to become the biggest selling women’s monthly style magazine in Europe. After which nearly all of the main women’s fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Company and Marie Claire have all followed suit in having a handbag size version. Ultimately, this brings up how consumers want to have things in the easiest way possible. The A4 size magazines often weren’t the easiest to carry around or fit in a handbag. With the release of A5 handbag sizes, it portrays societies needs to get their information in the easiest format.
Over the years, the fashion world have adapted well to the change from print to digital. Fashion has been able to come alive to readers screens rather than just on paper. Large events such as New York/Paris/London fashion week has only been viewed in person by a handful of lucky celebrities or people in the industry. However with the rise of the internet, for many fashion lovers, their dreams have become reality. You now don’t need to buy an expensive ticket to watch these shows, you can tune in online and watch them live for free. Many fashion magazine websites upload video’s, interviews and clips from specific fashion shows onto their websites on the day for viewers to see. Ultimately, this brings it back to consumers having instant information. Maybe watching online isn’t the same as seeing it in person, but this choice wasn’t even possible many years ago.
Social media has had an enormous impact in the way fashion magazines work as a whole. Interaction is a key aspect for many magazine companies. When they interact with their readers, it creates an essential connection which always keeps the readers coming back. Social media is, in many ways, a blessing for magazines and similar companies as they can now deal with consumers on a much more personal level. Not only this but they can update their social media pages with updates on new issues, specific information and spoilers of what may be coming. Instagram, a picture sharing app for smart phone and tablets allows anyone to have their own account and upload whatever images they like. Similar to Facebook, people/things you follow then come up on your timeline. All major high fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Company, Cosmo, Marie-Claire etc all have accounts on these sites. It simply lets readers see what the team have been doing i.e. behind the scene photo shoots and you can like the picture or comment and ask questions.
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| Marie-ClaireUK Twitter Page |
Twitter, which is currently one the biggest social media sites used, has become an essential for fashion magazines and the writers/editors themselves. As consumers, you can receive live updates on events, fashion shows and instant fashion news on the go. It is used a lot for finding freelance writers and advertising jobs in the fashion community. A lot of the time, if a fashion magazine needs a freelance writer they put the job on Twitter, allowing you to follow the link and apply from their website. Once again, it is that instantaneous information and connection with consumers that makes the progress towards digital very rewarding.
Conde Nast is a mass media company which head some of the biggest fashion magazines in the country such as Vogue, Glamour, Tatler and Vanity Fair. The company began to release their content at different times of the day to get the most traffic. They believe that people use a PC/Laptop mostly in the day time and a tablet is more of a ‘second screen’ in the evening. The smart phone is used throughout the day but mostly in the mornings, lunch times and evenings. In 2007 the company’s website was getting roughly 860,000 views a day and the traffic increase jumped to 8.3 million last year. Not only this but their number of social media followers rose from 753,000 in 2011 to 4 million in 2013. This can prove that the rise of the internet and social media has made a drastic change to fashion magazines over the years. The world is constantly changing and whilst many fashion magazines have adapted well, many magazines which may have a lower readership and income may struggle to keep up.
For many consumers, hard copy magazines will always be something they want. However, technology is developing every day and the changes we have seen in the last 10 years is only the beginning. Whichever way both fashion magazines and journalism are moving as a whole, it is essential that outlets are going to have to be innovative to stay afloat in this ever changing world.
By Georgia Spears
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