BA (HONS) JOURNALISM SOPHIE TAYLOR CASE STUDY JSM2003 YEAR 2

“HOW DOES COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE MAINTAIN RELEVANCE IN AN EVER‐FRAGILE MARKETPLACE?”

CONTENTS:

 Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………pg.3  Opening Vignette…………………………………………………………………………..pg.5  History…………………………………………………………………………………………pg.6  Cosmopolitan Today……………………………………………………………………..pg.7  Growth of Organisation…………………………………………………………………pg.9  The Nature of the External Environment in which Cosmopolitan is received………………………………………………………………………………………..pg.9  Internal Strengths…………………………………………………………………………pg.10  Internal Weaknesses……………………………………………………………………..pg.11  Diversification………………………………………………………………………………pg.12  Marketing Strategy………………………………………………………………………..pg.14  Statement of Major Problems………………………………………………………...pg.15  Proposed Solutions………………………………………………………………………..pg.17  Closing Vignette………………………………………………………………………….....pg.18  Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………...... pg.19

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

All over the UK, there are businesses closing due to the current recession. Hardly a day goes by without a major retailer, bank or car manufacturer reporting huge losses. The recession has hit almost every industry to some degree, but possibly one of the worst instances is that of British media. More than 4000 jobs in media have been lost since July 2008.The magazine industry in particular, has always been fickle to some extent, but none more so than the present. So with budgets tighter than ever, where does that leave consumer magazines, namely the women’s glossy magazine sector?

Cosmopolitan has been one of the top‐selling women’s magazines for years, but how do they fair in today’s economic climate and what are they doing to remain on top? On 26th February 2009, NatMag’s, the owner of Cosmopolitan, announced they were to slash 15 per cent of its UK workforce, close to 100 jobs, in an attempt to reduce its cost base and meet the challenge of the tough economic climate. These are bleak days for the economy, and bleaker days for the magazine industry. As advertising crashes and forfeits glossy pages, freelance budgets and jobs, many magazines are frantically trying to stay alive. However, in order to do so, the publication must perform a balancing act between holding on to their high‐end advertisers, remaining fun, luxurious and escapist, and yet not alienate readers whose own wallets have become as emaciated as the featured models themselves!

Despite all the doom‐and‐gloom, high quality women’s magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, experienced a surprise increase in the last half yearly circulation figures, showing the strength of up‐ market titles in face of the credit crunch. Perhaps this display of resilience reinforces the theory that women will still fork out for affordable luxuries in a recession. It would seem that more women are buying one quality glossy a month rather than three or four cheap weekly magazines. This desire for quality is perhaps a reaction to the economic downturn. Instead of a quick read they want something that will last and more up‐ market glossies provide them with that. With recession coverage overkill and the sobering reality of tightened purse strings, distraction and a bit of relief are what people both need and want.

The Internet will continue to pull money from print and in these difficult times commercial and editorial must work together to combat huge losses. NatMag is making its consumer titles available to download in digital form, having signed a deal with John Menzies Digital. The publisher follows felloe media companies Bauer, IPC Media and Hachette Filipacchi, which have already launched digital versions of their titles on the newsagent’s website, magazineondemand.co.uk. To raise consumer awareness of the rollout, NatMag has tied up with The Telegraph to launch a three‐month promotion, offering the newspapers’ readers free access to the digital magazines.

3 To a large extent, the survival of Cosmopolitan will depend greatly on the money that advertising brings in. It is no longer appropriate to assume that the magazine is only useful for advertising expensive perfume and branded make‐ up. The magazine needs to increase the range of products it advertises to ensure consistent and ongoing revenue.

Titles with falling circulations all target younger groups who have less disposable income and are more likely to be affected by job cuts. That's certainly the case in the women's weekly market. Women's magazines, especially fashion magazines such as Cosmopolitan, tend to address well‐educated young readers who are seen as loyal, independent, and ready to spend. This explains the overall in conformity of magazine content, with their sections devoted to celebrity features, fashion, beauty, health, interior and lifestyle. But magazine publishers, like the media industry in general, are now viewing youth as an increasingly elastic category.1

1 Ann Gough‐Yates, Understanding Women’s Magazines, Routledge, 2004, pg.4

4 VIGNETTE

“Nice to meet you Sophie. I’m afraid Lindsey Higginson; the lady you organized your work placement through is no longer with us. We’ve just had a big redundancy cull. You know‐ the credit crunch and all!” said Rosie Mullender, senior features writer, on my first day at Cosmopolitan. As I sat at my well‐ equipped desk reading a work experience manual that Rosie had so kindly put together for me, I overheard Tracy Ramsden, one of Cosmo’s columnists talking to Mel Hunter, the News Editor.

“Can I see a copy of the 2006 June edition please Mel?” said Tracy. Mel scurried around in her drawer and finally pulled out a battered and well‐worn copy. “God, look at how much fatter it was‐ it’s like an Elle magazine,” she said with a look of horror, as Mel held her head in her hands!

5 HISTORY

Cosmopolitan has always played its part in the ever‐changing role of women’s magazines and has been a major influencing factor in the many publications that comprise the UK’s 300‐year history in the industry. It came to occupy a crucial place in popular reading and in the contested meanings of femininity. Cosmo, its characteristics and its cultural significance are the product of a specific cultural and material history. “How Liberated Are You?” a quiz from a 1978 issue of Cosmopolitan asks. “How Good Are You In Bed?” asks Cosmo today. The former invited readers to reflect on gender roles in their relationships, home life and workplace 30 years ago. The latter asks you to be slightly more experimental in the bedroom and dare to be adventurous. Cosmo is famous for, amongst other things, changing the face of women’s magazines but also changing and pioneering the roles of women in society.

The magazine itself hasn’t always been female dominated. Launched in 1886 by Schlicht and Field as a family magazine, named ‘The Cosmopolitan’, it changed hands a number of times before reaching the iconic status it has found today. Paul Schlicht told his first‐issue readers that this publication was a “first‐class family magazine”, adding “…there will be a department devoted exclusively to the interest of women, with articles on fashions, on household decoration, on cooking and the care and management of children etc… also with a department for the younger members of the family.”

After only two years of launching the company, Schlicht and Field went out of business leaving it wide open for the ex‐editor of Harper’s Monthly, E.D Walker, to purchase the rights to the magazine and send the title soaring. Instead of following tried and tested formats, Walker introduced new sections into the magazine such as colour illustrations and reviews pages. Walker sold the company to John Brisben Walker after popularising the title within just one year. It was later sold to William Randolph Hearst in 1905 who immediately began to expand the magazine, by employing top writers and investigative journalists. The National Magazine Company (NatMags), where the UK edition of Cosmo is written and produced, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst, established by William Randolph Hearst in 1910. The business comprises NatMag’s with two joint ventures, NatMag Rodale and COMAG. NatMag’s produce 14 consumer titles in the UK and websites for these titles through Hearst Digital.

As decades past, Cosmopolitan changed from strictly articles, to short novels and stories, ensuring sales soared to somewhere near 1.7 million by the 1930s. The title had proved to be a triumph and even after the Second World War, magazine sales topped the two million mark. Sadly, demand for the magazines content decreased in the 50s and circulation figures slumped. Despite the reduced revenue, the magazine subscriptions alone were enough to get the title through a hard time. Even today, Cosmo is one of the most subscribed to magazines in the world, reflecting this profitable venture. At a time when magazines were being over‐shadowed by the rise of paperbacks and television, it seemed that the ‘Golden Age’ of magazines had given way to special interest publications targeting specialised audiences.

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Circulation figures continued to decline for another decade until Helen Gurley Brown took over as editor‐in‐chief, during 1965, renaming and remodelling the title as ‘New Cosmopolitan’. After only two years, it was decided that the magazine should convert back to its original name ‘Cosmopolitan’, which thankfully seems to have stuck. Brown took the title to new lengths, initially by emerging as a solely women orientated magazine with a demographic exclusive to females.

In Brown’s early years as editor, the magazine received a lot of criticism. Many people were shocked at the new message of the one‐time literary magazine. Brown however took no notice and continued to print the magazine that she had envisioned.

The UK edition of Cosmo began in the early 1970s and was well known for its sexual explicitness, with strong sexual language, male nudity and coverage of subjects such as rape. It caused a sensation. It was the first magazine aimed at young women that dared to tackle sex and relationships head on. It was the first magazine to encourage women to take their careers seriously and it was the first to talk about feminism in a way young women could relate to. The introduction of the British edition proved to be the market leader in its category from 1972 until being taken over by Glamour in 2001.

COSMOPOLITAN TODAY

‘Cosmopolitan is more than a magazine; it is an empire, a brand, a state of mind.’ So said The Times newspaper in a powerful editorial wishing Cosmo a happy 30th birthday in February 2002. A brand with international clout, Cosmo has 60 international editions, is published in 36 languages and is distributed in more than 100 countries, making it one of the most dynamic brands on the planet. The last yearly ABC figures for 2008 showed a solid performance from Cosmo with loyalty growing as subscribers hit a record 59,000 up 38% year‐ on‐ year under editor, Louise Court.

Over the past 30 years women’s roles have changed considerably‐ choices have widened and women now expect to be treated as equal to men. And yet Cosmo is still one of the top women’s magazines in the world. It has done this by recognising that the things that really matter in women’s lives never change. Society may be different from the seventies in many ways, but the underlying issues for women remain the same.

Cosmo’s target audience are ‘…young, ambitious, informed. The majority are in full‐time work. They earn and they spend. Cosmo women spend over one billion a year on fashion. They account for one out of every 11 spent on cosmetics and

7 skincare in the UK. Cosmo readers live well; they spend over two billion on their homes, 3.5 billion on food and almost 1.4 billion on new cars.’2

In recent years the magazine and in particular its cover stories have become more sexually explicit in tone. However, third wave feminists have argued that although the present iteration of Cosmo does not comply with its roots to stop discrimination and empower women, it now contributes to women’s oppression by inspiring uneasiness over their physical image due to the magazines venerated display of women’s sexuality and statuesque body image. Articles presented on the cover of the magazine as to how to improve sexual activity usually feature nothing more than tips on how to make the experience more pleasurable for the male partner, rather than how to make sex more enjoyable for the woman. Despite this, the majority of the magazine‐consuming female population continue to enjoy and trust the magazine.

“People often asked me as the editor in chief what exactly is the secret of Cosmos enduring success? The answer is simple: Cosmo is truly the universal language of love. It’s about relationships; and relationships, as any Cosmo girl will tell you, are one of the great mysteries of the universe. Cosmo is the girl‐power guide to getting them right. More insightful and intimate than the best friends, more of an instant feel‐good fix than the bubbliest of champagnes, more saucy and sinful than the most calorific of chocolates, Cosmo is the relationship bible for today’s modern, young woman. Its fun, fearless and fabulously flirtatious attitude is a manifesto for her life.”3

In the UK, Cosmo has been groundbreaking and pioneering in its campaigns, it has been taboo‐busting in its honest treatment of sex, it has launched careers, pushed back the boundaries with insight into real women’s lives, and its been daring in its portrayal of men (physically and emotionally). This has continued throughout its span and is still ever present in today’s issues with hooks such as the naked male centre‐folds and contributions from male writers giving an insight into the mind of a man.

Up until recently Cosmopolitan was the magazine of choice for many women and was also the highest selling women's magazine in the UK. Due to the launch of Glamour in 2000, Cosmopolitan has lost its title. Glamour broke convention by printing in a smaller size that could fit in a woman's handbag and in the process ultimately ushered in the era of convenience in magazines, something Cosmo has no interest in.

2 Cosmopolitan Media Pack 3 Linda Kelsey, Was It Good For You, Too? 30 Years of Cosmopolitan, Robson Books, 2003, pg.11

8 GROWTH OF ORGANISATION

Cosmopolitan now has its fingers in many pots, so to speak. Seeing itself as a brand, rather than just a publication, Cosmo now has many spin‐offs, including Cosmo TV, a radio station, books, lingerie lines, beauty products and their own award ceremonies and events. Cosmo TV consists of 3 TV networks, 2 Spanish language channels, one in Spain and one in Latin America, and an English language channel in Canada in partnership with Corus Entertainment, which launched on Feb 14th 2008. Cosmo Radio airs on Sirius Radio on Sirius III and XM162 that broadcast programs targeted at an audience of women aged 18 to 34, the same age range as the magazine itself.

Cosmo has strived to create a brand, through extended products. In 2001 The National Magazine Company launched two new titles from the worldwide number one Cosmo brand: CosmoGIRL! and Cosmopolitan Bride. With a full programme of brand extensions and shows, forays into TV and the Internet, and Cosmopolitan‐branded cafes, NatMag are set to stay ahead of the competition in the future.4 CosmoGIRL! ended print production in December 2008 however.

Brands have become the new traditions‐ they shape and give meaning to everyday lives‐ brands are the new traditions in our society. 5

The hierarchical position Cosmo has achieved is echoed through its awards ceremonies, events and ability to recommend people and products.

THE NATURE OF THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH COSMOPOLITAN IS RECEIVED

We are in a recession and that is hard to avoid. The media is saturated with disheartening stories surrounding the current economic downturn and it has been predicted that as many as 200,000 additional UK media jobs will be lost by 2013, on top of the thousands that have already been lost in the first months of global recession. For magazines, the result of this has caused some turbulence. Whereas many titles feared the move towards digitalisation would ruin print publications, the concern is now over how to stay alive, if you will, during such uncertain times. In a nutshell, consumers are becoming much more conscious about where their money goes and what they spend it on. Is a glossy women’s magazine really a necessity and can they get their fill of fashion, beauty, real‐life and celebrity news elsewhere without having to spend £3.30? The answer is yes‐ the Internet, and whilst most top glossy magazines have an accompanying website, the emphasis has been towards making the move to digital more permanent.

4 In Good Company, The National Magazine Company Employee Handbook, 2003, pg.8 5 J. Grant, The New Marketing Manifesto, 1999, pg.379

9 Some magazines depend primarily on money from their readers, some depend primarily on money from advertisers and some depend on money from an outside party with something to promote. In any circumstance, a magazine needs money to stay in circulation. Thinking and talking about money, particularly, doesn’t always come easily to magazine editors. A wise editor would recognise that profitable publishing is the guarantee of editorial integrity and quality. On the other hand if profit becomes a publications only goal, it will fail commercially. It is the job of the editor to find the balance and hold on to it.

During my time at the magazine, editor, Louise Court, shouted out of her office one day to Tracy Ramsden, “How many male‐centre folds do we have for the next issue?”

“21,” Tracy replied.

“That’s a good number seeing as no‐one is really going to know who these so‐ called male ‘celebs’ are. We are going to have to give them quantity over quality this time I’m afraid. So beef it up!” said Louise.

However, with such unpredictable times ahead and an over‐saturated market, the magazine editor has a more challenging task at hand, than naked men. Not only do they need to hold on to their current readers, they also need to attract new readers in a bid to enhance circulation numbers which, in effect, will determine which advertisers will continue to advertise through their magazine, and which ones will go elsewhere, possibly to titles offering cheaper rates or titles which are fairing better under the current circumstances.

Aimed at a younger audience than some other top women’s glossies, it could be argued that Cosmopolitan has a harder task than most in the battle to stay afloat, due to their target audience being less loyal and having less disposable income.

Despite these worrying factors, a host of high‐quality magazines experienced a surprise increase in the last half yearly circulation figures in 2008. The best performer among the big magazine groups, surprisingly, was Hearst’s NatMag's, whose titles gained nearly six per cent. Its resurgence was driven by improvements at Cosmo, up 4.4 per cent year on year to hit a three‐year high with sales of 470,735. Perhaps this demonstrates that the top tier of the population is still spending and strong results are also emerging from luxury‐ goods companies. Luckily, for Cosmopolitan, it would seem that these companies are still spending heavily on advertising, something that will hopefully continue throughout the next few years, helping Cosmo to stay afloat.

INTERNAL STRENGTHS

During my four‐week work placement at the magazine, I noticed a real closeness between its staffs, the majority of whom are women, unsurprisingly! Only 3 males; Andy Greenhouse, Art Director; Ricardo Guiraldes, Art Editor; and David

10 Rothon, Deputy Chief Sub Editor, assist the team. It is a fair assumption to say that the majority of the content written for Cosmopolitan, to some degree, needs to be from women as they best know the needs of the intended target audience. The team, despite the recent redundancies, seem rather upbeat and face the challenges of the uncertain climate with great ease, offering support to each other when needed. Possibly the strongest value that Cosmopolitan has maintained, is its sense of staff moral and togetherness, with everyone singing from the same hymn sheet in so far as believing in the magazine as a brand and its main goals. This is important seeing as the value of brands increases in a tightening knowledge economy because consumers are looking for advice and information from a brand they can trust.

This closeness was echoed when I emailed questionnaires to everyone in the office, posing questions surrounding Cosmo’s struggle in the current climate, which were not received in the best of light. Fiona Cowood, features editor, actually emailed everyone immediately after she had received it, and asked people not to fill it out. When asked as to why she had done this, she spoke of a disgruntlement from Louise Court, the Editor, towards the questions I had included on whether the staff thought that the recent staff‐ cuts could have been avoided, stressing the fact that it was a very sensitive subject as they had lost good team members. The success of Cosmopolitan is dependent upon the quality of the decisions and the behaviour of everyone in the company.6

However, Fiona herself agreed to fill out my questionnaire but insisted she would not answer questions she did not feel comfortable with. I noted that Fiona only began filling out the questionnaire after a brief visit to the editor’s office, perhaps to discuss what and what not she was allowed to write.

Although obtusely annoying in terms of gathering quantitative research, it was in itself a revelation to find such a close‐knit team who always seemed to keep the interest of the magazine close to their hearts.

In a strange way, the stability of Cosmo is quite telling. It appears that they stick to their knitting and don’t do fads. They know their brand values and reiterate these wherever possible, particularly through the staff they employ.

One questionnaire that did slip through the net however, was that of Sairey Stemp, fashion editor, who opened my email before Fiona’s, resulting in a completed, honest result. Not long after though, I received another email from Sairey asking me to delete her data after reading Fiona’s message. I was intrigued as to just what Fiona had written and why it was such a big deal? Perhaps the structure of the Cosmo team is vital to its performance within the marketplace and any possible breakage or squabble could have a domino‐ type effect. I didn’t know, but found it mildly odd! Despite Sairey’s plea, I had already read her answers by that point.

6 In Good Company, The National Magazine Company Employee Handbook, 2003,pg. 10

11 Although a slight negativity was shown through the repetitive use of the word ‘budget’ under the question surrounding constraints within her role, her overall message about the working environment and of the aims and objectives of Cosmo as a whole, were crystal and driven, explaining that the magazine has to do well throughout the recession as “…we (Cosmo) service the reader. We are consistent; we provide what she wants and are reacting to her changing circumstances. We must also provide help and helpful advice for her as well as a bit of escapism. Hopefully she won’t be able to live without Cosmopolitan!”

Cosmopolitan tend to address well‐educated young readers who are seen as loyal, independent and ready to spend. Unlike other fashion‐orientated magazines with an overall in conformity of magazine content, with sections devoted to celebrity features, fashion, beauty, health, interior and lifestyle, Cosmo has tried to fight this trend. It maintains a sexual orientation to its features, something its competitors’ try to recreate, without much success.

Cosmo appears to be adjusting well to change, possibly a direct result to the sense of responsibility its staff feel they have to maintain, given its early political roots.

INTERNAL WEAKNESSES

The Cosmopolitan team are all white British, with the exception of a white Spaniard and two white Czechs. Currently there are large proportions of Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean, Indian, Black African and Chinese women in the demographic that Cosmo target, yet Cosmo has resisted this cultural change; the majority of non‐white faces in the March ‘09 edition were from advertisement pages. One way of challenging representations is based then upon a perception of the limited access that the underrepresented have to the means of expression, by contributing to the production of the magazine themselves. Does Cosmo adequately reflect or echo the make‐up of society in general? The debate in this area takes on a number of issues. First, it concerns Cosmo as an institution: do they recruit in an equal manner from the full range of the population? Are the various faces and voices of a plural society properly and proportionally represented throughout the magazine? Surely the ethnic make‐up of Cosmo’s workforce impacts on its ability to serve and adequately reflect its audience. Is the magazine therefore isolating ethnic minorities?

DIVERSIFICATION

Following the redundancies within the National Magazine Company, including some losses at Cosmo, the control of Hearst Digital’s websites was reassigned to other NatMag's departments. “Over the last few years we have tried a number of different structures for our magazine websites and we reached the conclusion that they are best served by being managed closely with the print magazine

12 business. Our new structure will allow us to do this whilst preserving the ability to buy advertising campaigns across the whole digital network through a single point of contact,” said Duncan Edwards, chief executive of NatMag's, at the time of the changes.

The revamped Cosmo website now includes more video content and opportunities for reader interaction. As part of its new features, the site has Cosmo TV, a video channel featuring news clips and behind‐the‐scenes footage from the magazines photo shoots and in addition to this, readers can now comment on all features on the site and participate in daily interactive polls. The website now works closely with the magazines print team with cross promotion between the two editions, a change that came into place during my work placement, which saw a change‐around and reorganisation of the Cosmo office in order to incorporate the web team onto the floor, positioned closely to the art desk.

Editorial content on the site is now written specifically for online publication, with experts from the print edition also writing for online, something a few members of the features team were not so pleased about, if you take into account that they now have to actually do more work for the same amount of money and to add insult to injury, with less staff! I noted a comment from Lizzi Hosking, Celebrity Editor, who said “I’m now on 20 per cent less pay, but without a 20 per cent reduction in my work load! What’s that all about?” Responsibility for Cosmopolitan.co.uk, which was re‐launched in April last year, has now been returned to the publishing director and editor of the print edition, Louise Court. Before the revamp, the Cosmo site reported audience figures of 176,000. The new site hopes to attract 250,000 unique users within the year. In a bid to ramp up its user‐interaction, the site will also phase in technology enabling uploading of user‐generated content and blogging, over the next few months.

Before the recession hit, the number one concern for magazines was how print would fair in the age of the Internet. We are all time poor and digital magazines provide convenience, value for money and added functions including search tools and archives, which have huge implications on the way that people interact with content. What really works, however, about having two different media is that they complement each other. Cosmopolitan has recently become available in a digital downloadable form as well, through John Menzies Digital. Sarah Clegg, managing director of the company, whose magazinesondemand.co.uk service aims to deliver magazines direct to your desktop, echoes this sentiment. “To date, the digital magazine platform has struggled to find much adoption. However, in the current climate and the challenging print market, publishers are starting to seriously explore digital publications as an opportunity, rather than being concerned about cannibalisation and a potential threat. When a publisher promotes the digital version of its title online, there is a definite uplift in sales and a correlation between promotional activity and results.”

Another way Cosmo are trying to beat the recession is by coming up with new projects that their readers can relate to, in an attempt to diversify. They have signed beauty brands Guerlain and Origins as launch partners in their new

13 online retail project. There venture, Luxe for Less, which launched in April 2009 was, and will continue to be promoted in the magazine and linked to the National Magazine Company titles’ website. It is designed to offer an overview of beauty retail promotions such as free gifts and two for one deals for cash strapped readers. A logo has been designed for the initiative to act as an instantly recognisable stamp for readers. Cosmo is the latest brand to attempt to ensure consumers feel supported through the bad times in order to retain their business in the good times.

MARKETING STRATEGY

The marketing team at Cosmo have pointed out that their main challenge is continuing to come up with innovative ideas to stand out in a crowded marketplace, something they face by listening to their customers via in‐depth research. Some of the aims of the Cosmo marketing team are, to achieve market domination, increase market share position, retain existing market shares, combat new entrants to the market and narrow the gap between itself and Glamour.

The catch is that these tasks can be self‐defeating. Come on too strong with your marketing, and your existing audience might feel alienated by your ham‐fisted seduction techniques. Play it too cool and potential converts to your brand might not realise you are trying to woo them. And both parties may regard your brand extensions as tasteless and tacky, undermining the credibility of your core product.7

In times like these, it’s interesting to note that small declines in circulation are seen as good. According to February’s Audit Bureau of Circulations figures 2009, NatMag’s Cosmo circulation fell 2.1% year on year, but active purchases were relatively stable, up 0.3% year on year. Justine Southall, Cosmo’s group publishing director, said the dip was partly due to falling overseas sales and a poor selling October issue.

Despite coming second, Cosmopolitan maintains that they have stayed true to their brand values. However, titles such as Glamour and Cosmo both use cover‐ mounts to sustain sales, which potentially devalue the brand.

Readers of the March 2009 issue received a chance to win £101,498 worth of gifts including all sorts of pampering goodies, such as a break at a spa and fashion giveaways from Moda In Pelle and Karen Millen. The August 2009 edition will see the giveaway of a free handbag.

Cosmopolitan still uses cover layout conventions and takes note of page real estate. Numbers in the top left hand corner and a circle, a tool used in shops to mark sale or special items ‐ the red circle‐ have become a symbol of the ‘good deal’. Cosmo is given premium space on magazine shelves in shops like WH Smith and the whole front of cover is visible. However, making use of page real

7 Media Monoliths, Mark Tungate, Kogan Page, 2004, pg.7

14 estate is still valid if you take into account that people generally read from top to bottom, left to right. Cosmo has always followed convention among women’s magazines to have their feature star celebrity adorning the covers. This is seen as a major promotional tool in the ever‐celebrity focused society.

We live in a society where a great deal of worth is accorded to fame, its pursuit, attainment and attendant trappings in the form of wealth and privilege. It is often said that we live in a ‘celebrity culture’ and while not wholly new it seems to be a relatively recent intensification of long‐standing women’s magazines, such as Cosmo. Celebrities are essentially understood, primarily as commodities ‘produced’ by media companies for consumption by audiences that will lead to profit.8 Stars are important identification figures for consumers.

Lizzi Hosking, Celebrity Editor at Cosmo and the rest of the features team were constantly talking about which celebrity interviews would work best for the magazine, who they liked, who they loathed and who looked like a ‘Cosmo’ type of girl! To Cosmo, celebrities’ represent capital, investment and an outlay of time and money in terms of getting the journalist to the interview etc. The status of stars also relates to market organisation and their economic function in terms of ensuring purchases of the magazine. Stars relevant to Cosmo can be defined in a few ways but may be broadly understood in the words of theorist Christine Gledhill: “Actors/ Actresses become stars when their off‐screen lifestyles and personalities equal or surpass acting ability in importance.” (Gledhill 1991.)

Stardom, celebrity and the elevation of the personality embody and promote the individualist ethos of our society as well as what it means to be a woman.

STATEMENT OF MAJOR PROBLEMS

As the economy lurches, Cosmopolitan seems to be scrambling to downsize a luxury‐living message for an anxious readership. Previously, there was a time, before the doom‐and‐gloom, when we wanted to eat well, dress fine, and live lavishly and that was good for food, interior and fashion magazines. We wanted to wallow in celebrity gossip, and a herd of weekly glossies were born, delivering red‐carpet gossip in photo‐heavy instalments, and Cosmo continued to encapsulate all of the above with the added element of sex and relationship advice. So how does a magazine built primarily on the materialistic needs of its audience adjust to the fast deflating circumstances of its readers?

Cosmo seems to be in two minds as to how to approach the recession, with articles varying from how to make the most of the clothes in your wardrobe, to which latest designer sunglasses are this season’s must‐have. Not only do they seem confused and insecure, but, in these drearily pessimistic days, its’ readers can only be thankful for the heart‐lifting entertainment generously provided by the title, as they do their best to make a token acknowledgment, in between

8 Media Studies: Texts, Production and Context, Paul Long and Tim Wall, Pearson, 2009

15 adverts for £5,000 watches and £25 moisturisers, that there’s not a lot of spare cash around these days. So far, the most popular approaches to the problem are to swap the word ‘buy’ for ‘invest’, to claim that a £350 pair of sunglasses is the smart girl’s way to get your fashion fix, or to feature some genuinely cheap things that seem to go against any of Cosmo’s brand credibility. Surely watching a magazines attempt to help people save money is a bit like Robin Hood taking from the poor‐ it’s backwards! When could anyone afford most things advertised in a glossy magazine anyway? Cosmo isn’t usually read as a source of shopping tips however; it’s largely about fantasy, escapism. When Cosmo makes awkward gestures towards economic reality, the illusion is shattered. However, this is an intractable problem for women’s magazines in general, seeing as they still need to attract high‐end advertisers. Therefore, we are all left staring at a picture of a Mulberry handbag we simply we can’t afford. Surely a better approach would be to put overstrained emphasis on just blowing the budget to let yourself know you’re still alive! Isn’t that what a Cosmo girl would do, after all? Put herself first?

If the separation between magazines editorial and advertising sides was once a gulf, it is now diminished to the size of a pavement crack. Recent issues of other consumer magazines have woven in advertisers in new ways, some going as far as putting adverts on the front covers. However, you need to be able to tell the difference between advertising and editorial, otherwise there’s a problem. Overall, it appears that editorial autonomy for Cosmo disappears when it becomes dependant on advertising revenues, as I pointed out earlier with the quantity of male‐centre‐folds being chosen by the editor, above the quality of the personality pictured.

When I asked Fiona Cowood, features editor, if she thought that Cosmo had changed at all recently, she replied: “In some ways. As we currently have smaller issue sizes, we’re trying to pack in as much ‘value for money’ as possible. It’s changed because of the economic climate being the way it is and the current advertising downturn means that we’ve had to reduce the size of the magazine. Where we would have previously run a feature over 3 pages, we now condense it to two.” This only reiterates my point about editorial autonomy.

But in this recession, when Cosmo is losing advertisers, the lines between advertising and editorial content are blurring with few repercussions from society.

“Print brands can either react or respond to economic forces. Reacting is, at best, a short‐term fix. Responding is a long‐term investment. Hearst Magazines is responding by reengaging readers and advertisers. Our goal is to reinvent today’s magazine company.” This was a statement from Cathie Black, President of Hearst Magazines, at the Magazine Congress in London during the first week of May 2009.

Although Cosmo seems to have taken a brave leap in the direction of digitalisation, it now appears that web advertising is also difficult for the luxury sector to invest in, as most advertisers want 3 things; value, and with a more

16 competitive market they expect more for their money; partnerships, which are good news for publishers; and innovation. However innovation costs.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

Recession fatigue is setting in. This is an opportunity for magazines and marketers to stand out from the crowd, surely? People have had enough of hysterical sounding copy that would have them believe the end of the world is nigh. Overblown exaggeration may undermine Cosmo’s credibility in the eyes of a more cynical public. Cosmo should resist the temptation to align its brand too closely with the economy. It’s only a matter of time before the public mood switches to recession rebellion.

Migration online by Cosmo, before the current economic downturn gets any worse, was a good move and should help them respond more quickly to the crisis. However, growth in digital media will continue to outperform traditional media for years to come and Cosmo should invest more time, money and staff (only 3 girls currently run the Cosmopolitan website) into the digital side of their brand especially at a time when digital media is also suffering from economic uncertainty, resulting in a good online business at an ‘offline’ price.

However, the quality of people’s experiences online will be key to the success of a mass‐market magazine. Cosmo has always been an aspirational product, a cultural symbol we want to associate with and from which we gain personal status. The move online is the natural way forward for Cosmo, recession or not, but it has to maintain this emotional connection. The ‘emotional’ and ‘touch and feel’ relationship that the consumer enjoys with the print title must exist. Readers should also be allowed to choose how they consume their favourite magazine, rather than simply pushing one version over another.

Commercial and editorial must work as one to save the print version of the magazine. The editor, Louise Court, should take into account that magazines depended largely on the money that advertising brings in, and that advertisers don’t want to fundamentally change the publication, they just want to know how best to get inside the mind’s of their readers, something Louise is best placed to tell them. The benefit for the magazine is clear‐ more money has been spent in the last year with titles whose editors have met with advertisers and with whom have discussed and developed mutually beneficial partnerships.

In terms of the office side of the brand, perhaps Cosmo would benefit from a few more meetings where everyone is involved, as pointed out by the fashion editor, Sairey Stemp, in my questionnaire: “I think we need to improve communication between departments and department heads so everyone feels included in what’s going on.” Perhaps this would improve on the inconsistencies between the goals of the magazine and its actual performance.

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CLOSING VIGNETTE

When you probe into the history of the worlds greatest media brands, you realise that, more often than not, a single individual created them, as well as putting in place the values that still drive them today. For Cosmo, that person was Helen Gurley‐Brown, a fascinating personality who had the spark of an idea and took it through to its logical conclusion, paying little heed to critics. Before I left my four‐week placement at Cosmo, Fiona Cowood, features editor gave me a brief insight into the world of the current Cosmo staff mentality, saying:

“The thing that’s unique about Cosmo is its spirit; it has a heart and it positions itself as the reader’s friend. It’s inspiring but reassuring in equal measure. Cosmo is always positive, both in its real life and celebrity content. This is not something that can be said of most magazines. Cosmo will always perform strongly thanks to its core brand values. During the recession, we intend to stick to our core mission, and that means being a love, sex and relationships bible for twenty‐ something women. We’ll continue to deliver our blend of serious reports, celebrity news and fun lifestyle features and we’ll stick to our tone, which has always been ballsy, friendly and trusted.”

This just about sums up Cosmopolitan as a magazine, as a brand and as a team. The Cosmo ethos is felt, not only by its publics but also as much by its staffs.

ENDS

6692 Words

18 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Inside Women’s magazine’s, Janice Winship, 1987

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Magazine Editing: how to develop and manage a successful publication, John Morrish, Routledge, 2003

Media Monoliths: how great media brands thrive and survive, Mark Tungate, Kogan Page, 2004

Media Studies, Texts, Production and Context, Paul Long and Tim Wall, Pearson, 2009

Reading Women’s Magazine’s: analysis of everyday media use, Joke Hermes, Polity, 1995

The business of women’s magazine’s, Brian Braithwaite, London Kogan Page, 1988

Understanding women’s magazines, Anna Gough‐Yates, Routledge, 2002

Was It Good for you too: thirty years of Cosmo, Linda Kelsey, London, Robson, 2002

Whose News? The media and women’s issues, Joseph Ammu, Sage, 1994

Wicked Whispers: confessions of a gossip queen, Jessica Callan, London Michael Joseph, 2007

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