Can You Believe It? More Cut Backs — Mediaweek

I’m starting to feel seriously relieved that I am no longer working at Conde Nast. I loved it there, but jeez it’s just bad new bears every day from that place. I can hardly find anything else to write about except for cut backs all across the board. So let’s talk about it. Typical formula here — ad spending is done, so let’s get rid of some staffers. For the most part its on the sales and marketing, rather than the editorial side. Last week, Conde Nast Media Group let go of 20 people, which accounts for a decently-sizable 15% of its staff. The big cut on the corporate side derives from the cessation of large-scale,  cross-platform deals that those sales departments were in charge of.

Hachette Filipacchi Media has also let go of 3 staffers in the consumer marketing department, while Alpha Media Group seems to be looking to consolidate positions to stretch the staffers they do have. Blender publisher Ben Madden has quietly taken on double duty as group publisher, adding sales responsibility for Maxim. Maxim is an interesting case, since the top spot at publisher has been open since the magazine was acquired by Alpha earlier this year.

Both Bledner and Maxim have been hit hard in this economy, but Blender has taken a particularly rough beating, so much so that it is switching from perfect binding to staples. It’s that thin kiddos!

 

It Might Get Nasty at Conde Nast — NYPost

The publishing giant could be showing true signs of danger for the first time. While the magazine publishing industry is seeing red nearly universally, it is Conde Nast that seems to be struggling the most. While the industry is down 24% so far in this first quarter, many of Conde’s titles are down 30% with others plunging even further with Portfolio and Wired posting drops of 60% and 57%, respectively.

Industry members are critical of the company’s relatively conservative response to the soft economy. With so many publications struggling  some argue that staffing and expense cutbacks of 5% are simply not enough. With so many publications in the luxe-class, it is not surprising that they are struggling to secure the kind of advertising they have in the past. And with a firm policy of not discounting of their rate cards (a common industry practice) it has become even more difficult to continue their relationships with advertisers who are hoarding their budgets.

There has been much shifting on the publishing side for the company in the past month, much of which has been documented on this blog. Company stalwart, Lisa Hughes, has taken on The New Yorker. Former Wired publisher, Chris Mitchell, filled Hughes post at Conde Nast Traveler, and David Carey, one of the company’s group presidents, has just added The New Yorker and Traveler to his portfolio. While fresh eyes on publications can certainly help, I wonder if it will be enough to take on the massive blow the industry has been dealt.

 

Leading Magazine Wholesaler Shuts Down — Mediaweek

It was announced on Sunday that Anderson News, a top distributor of magazines to newsstands, is suspending their business operations just one day after they released a announcement that assured the public they were negotiating with publishers to stay afloat. Clearly things didn’t go very well in these “talks” because it only took one night to convince execs that the situation was grim enough to shut down.

This news was not a shock, since publishers refused to meet the wholesaler’s “bailout” demands of an extra 7 cents per copy to continue to deliver their titles to the newsstands back in January. Anderson’s main competitor, Source Interlink Cos., also issued the 7 cent demand, but rescinded it just days later due to poor publisher response. They have yet to shut down business, and promise they have adequate resources to remain viable.

However, Anderson and Source together make up 50% of the nation’s mag retail sales delivering titles for Hearst, Conde Nast, Time Inc., Bauer Publishing, American Media and Wenner Media. With one of the giants shutting down it should be a challenge for Source Interlink to pick up the slack.

7 cents per copy may not sound like a lot, but observers noted that this would cost the mag industry $150 million annually, and with already tanking ad revenue mags are looking to scale back not dump more moola out the window. With Conde Nast exerting more energy for its digitial unit, and now companies refusing to pay this price for the print issues, could this be a sign that magazines may need to move completely into online platforms?

 

Want Something? Search and Have NearbyNow Find it For You — AdAge

This article from AdAge may be the first real reason that makes me depressed that I don’t own an iPhone. While I have always found the multitude of apps available to iPhone users to be pretty astonishing, this one takes the cake. As the article states, NearbyNow is in the business of finding the closest retail shops that carries merchandise consumers are searching for online. They had recognized a spike in retail searches occurring around the 8th-10th day of each month, and finally realized it coincided with the days Lucky Magazine hits newsstands.

So they got smart and struck a deal with the Conde Nast publication to create an iPhone app to make this web service mobile. Every product featured in the magazine will have a home on the application, so now you can search from the nail salon for where you can find that smashing dress you found on the pages of Lucky while you’re getting your toes done.

How could i forget to mention, of course, where the money goes? Advertising space will be sold on this application to make this venture a go for Lucky, while NearbyNow will be paid by the retail locations they send shoppers to.

 

Conde Nast Folds Domino – Mediaweek

So just a few days after I posted on the possibility of niche publications takign the cake in this softened economy, Conde Nast shuts down its “hip shelter” publication Domino (and I’ll take this time to mention that they are shutting down the website too but you can still follow that link to operations shut down in March). Yet while I would classify Domino as a niche publication, I think that the specific niche is more important in this case. As Conde Nast CEO, Chuck Townsend, noted the decision to fold this publication was completely due the weakened economy and the shattered housing market.

Let’s face it — how many people are really looking to redecorate their homes right now just for the hell of it. Domino always set forth some great affordable ways to decorate and make the best of small spaces, but when it comes down to it when purses are pinched I don’t think most people are considering even changing up the curtains, let alone a remodel. This article also noted that some critics have wondered if the publication’s title made it difficult for the book to find a home in the marketplace. I found this interesting because I have always questioned the meaning behind the title of this publication, and even hafter working at Conde Nast for almost a year I was never able to get a straight answer from anyone who worked there. That said — loved this mag and it will be missed — now I’m definitely glad I saved all my old issues for a rainy decorating day!

 

Does It Finally Make Sense for Conde Nast Digitial? — Mediaweek

Condé Nast Forms Condé Nast Digital Unit

At long last have we reached the day when Condé Nast made their digital playground make some sense? It was announced on Monday that Sarah Chubb, who has long been at the helm of CondéNet, an old web of “destination sites”, will now head up Condé Nast Digital, where (hopefully) everything will be neatly consolidated. CEO, Chuck Townsend, cited ease of cross-platform ad sales as the driving force behind this decision.

I have worked at Condé Nast for over a year now, and thus I have seen the messy network of digital properties firsthand. Why do I go to style.com to see Vogue and Men’s Vogue instead of just vogue.com? Why do I go to concierge.com to see Condé Nast Traveler, and why does brides.com have about four titles consolidated on the page? Frankly I always found this very complicated and confusing.

Now, after reading this article I was feeling optimistic and hopeful, and my original title for this post was “It Finally Makes Sense at Conde Nast Digital!”. However, after just texting with my colleague who is the Assistant Interactive Editor at Traveler, I felt the need to change my attitude and the name for this post. I commented that she must be thrilled that they were no longer going to have to wade through the mess of concierge.com, to which she replied: “Well, we are branching off, but concierge will still exist. It’s super complicated and some things are still up in the air.” GREAT! Just when I thought I could visit an appropriately-titled site with content that compliments the print publication, I am shot down. Let’s hope Condé Nast Digital just needs to go through some growing pains to make this all work.

 

Is Niche the Only Way to Go- Mediaweek

Self, Cookie, Big Winners at Conde Nast

This article from Mediaweek summarized the results of publishing house, Conde Nast’s, annual publishers’ meeting. The trade publication set forth their position that Conde Nast has weathered the storm of plummeting ad revenue through adopting a laid-back, steady approach to maintenance and growth. Self, Cookie, Details and Golf World each received awards for their performance during the economic reccession.

While all the publications, with the exception of Golf World, still experienced a decline in ad pages, they each managed to suffer significantly less than the overall decline in their respective genre categories. Seeing as the awards were given to the publishers at these titles, it would only follow that these publications were able to sustain their performance under the guiding hands of their business staff.

Yet, what I found particularly interesting in this article was that all the awards went to relatively small, niche publications within the powerhouse publishing group. As the economic recession continues to be felt by all, subscriptions are being canceled or not renewed, and newsstand sales are down. With fewer eyes on the pages, advertisers lack incentive to invest, and thus the chain reaction follows that publications have fewer dollars to operate.

I believe that the niche publications have prevailed since their readers are more inelastic than those who pick up the more mass market publications. For example, those who seek out an upscale parenting publication like Cookie or a magazine entirely dedicated to all things golf like Golf World are representative of extremely targeted market segments. Nearly all the content in these publications is somewhat applicable to the reader. However, when the majority of readers of Vogue most likely could never afford half the items shown on its pages, and used the publication for more aspirational purposes, it is unlikely that they will continue to purchase when times are tough. Thus is niche the publishing route of the future?