Does Singapore Need Another Magazine?
Congratulations Vogue Singapore!
- “Singapore’s Fashion Industry Can (And Must) Address Privilege”
- “Why “New” Magazines Will Be Future’s Key”
- “@VogueSG And I Chat Vogue Singapore”
Vogue Singapore launches today. Congratulations!
2020 has been largely fashion depraved. A lot has changed to the industry, and while it scrambles to find solutions to immediate and other problems it has been facing for a long time, workers and consumers alike will continue to be left in purgatory of how to deal with dressing up, communicating and spending money—at least that’s the trifecta of confusion I’ve been going through.
In reckoning with my careless spending on jeans, I’ve sworn off buying new pairs until further notice (chino pants here on out). In blogging, I’ve been going through a sort of existential shame about fashion, rethinking whether my ultimate contribution can ever be change, or will always be “virtue signalling”. Instead of fashion, I’ve been spending more on “self-care”, e.g. I just signed up to get aligners since my teeth shifted slightly after I stopped wearing my retainers; and on the advice of a friend I started drinking MyProtein shakes. Cue audience gasps.
Especially amid Covid-19, the#BLM movement and upcoming US elections, there’s been an even more fervent “need” for harsh truths. Activism is in vogue, but as is with fashion too not everyone can, has been, or will be able to pull it off. A friend just posted on IG stories something that sums up my current feelings about pop culture: “Instagram 2010: everyone’s a photographer […] Instagram 2020: everyone’s an educator”.
I’ve always sought to contribute rather than regurgitate. It’s not helpful speculating whether certain publishers or content platforms in Singapore will continue to survive, or if print is dying, or if people read magazines anymore; much less with a ton of bullshit and not a lot of facts.
Since money is the ultimate currency, I recently chatted with the marketing executive of a Singaporean publisher of magazines; about the business model of magazines, if substantive content is relevant and if so how we can support it, and imagined a future with Vogue Singapore. In such a trepidatious climate it seems putting one foot in front of the other is what most can only handle, so only time will tell if our predictions are prophetic.
To some of us, fashion may be political. Either way, it brought a smile to my face waking up this morning to these three covers. Isn’t that what great fashion does, at its core: evoke?
Money
M: How do magazines make money?
Exec: From the perspective of the calendar year, master contracts help to lock down budgets for content. It allows magazines to plan for the year in ahead of time. Maybe 4 years ago there were a lot of master contracts. As magazines, we need to make sure our premium positions are sold: outside front cover, inside front cover, outside back cover, inside back cover. Premium positions bought comes with conditions—to buy them over a year, or for a group to buy them, and rotate among their brands.
Advertisers can additionally request for, or magazines can invite brands to work with them on editorial-driven content. There’re hardly ever master contracts for online; that’s a handicap. There’s also more transparency, magazines have to serve advertisers with impressions, conversions. Advertisers are increasingly not working with budgets for over a year, but maybe 3, even 1 month/s. Magazines have been forced to be “flexible”, which creates uncertainty.
Account managers used to meet advertisers twice a year. Without master contracts we have to keep up with them very often—know what they’re doing, launching, promote them projects that will make sense to spend money with us.
M: How much have advertisers cut budgets by?
Exec: Some HQs have directed to almost totally cut budgets for print. If not, they’re only reserving it for specific titles, specific positions, and/or not all issues over a year. If they can’t get them, they won’t consider other offers.
My guess is advertisers are given a guideline of how much they can spend a year, and are kept updated on projects they’re to promote, and how much. That depends on budgets, which depends on sales. In 2020, brands may have suffered revenue by, say 80%. If people aren’t buying, they’re not going to push as hard. Marketing is the first thing they’ve cut.
Digital and content/business model
M: Was the migration of magazines from print generally successful?
Exec: It depends on how much they were affected by revenue losses, which affected how much room they had to pivot. Online, you’re not just selling displays, but projects, advertorials, special formats. You can command as much money as print online, but you have to justify it.
M: Does the shrinking of power of magazines show there’s something “wrong” with the way magazines have been, are run?
Exec: Magazines tell stories, offer perception. Advertisers will always care about association, their environment. They will never promote on Mothership, for example. But the pressure to innovate is not exclusive from the pressure to make money.
M: Vogue Runway became a monetised platform a few years ago.
The role of editors seems to have changed. Magazines used to be almost seen as “apart” from the industry, the middlemen between brands and consumers. An editor could determine a new designer’s success by featuring them in their pages. There seems to be growing scepticism that whatever an editor “promotes”, they were paid to promote.
Exec: Magazines have lost their role of being gatekeepers. Magazines, content creators should unionise. If magazines continue to compete among themselves, refuse to collaborate, they will lose.
Not all magazine content is advertised or sponsored by. But there are only so many luxury brands to feature in editorial content. And after advertisers pay, it makes it difficult to write a “negative” opinion about brands.
M: When fashion influencers started gaining prominence, there was backlash from magazines. The criticism was that many of them didn’t know what they were selling. If editors know better but aren’t allowed to do better, what more does that make them?
BOF monetises via subscriptions from readers. They’ve access to the industry stakeholders and are still “allowed” to express unfavourable opinions about brands and businesses. Does this imply the advertising model is not sustainable?
Exec: Magazines are exploring the paid-to-view model, but a paywall will avert some potential readers.
M: People pay for news, streaming services, apps, etc. If people are not willing to pay for magazines, does it imply the quality of magazines are “worse” than they used to be?
Exec: Magazines produce less rich quality than they used to. But content is now also liable to algorithms. A few years ago, Google pushed editorial content with ~400 words, high frequency of stories. In 2019, Google pushed out editorial content with ~1000 words. There are now many more factors that go into producing content. It’s about how content fits into Google’s preferences, search volumes, for instance.
Vogue Singapore
M: Are Singaporean magazines differentiated enough?
Exec: There’s so much of the same thing. But if we’re always understaffed and complemented by freelancers, it’s very difficult to innovate.
M: Of course they didn’t plan to launch amid Covid-19, but do you think industry people are more excited or concerned for them?
Exec: Concerned. It’s a title that has tried to break into Singapore and failed. There’s Covid-19. Licensing is very expensive, their pressure to perform is very high.
M: On the first day after circuit breaker, the Vogue Singapore team were in office and were handed out free Apple products. I believe that was during the social media upheaval over George Flyod’s murder.
Exec: Also because they didn’t have to go back to office. It was a bit tone-deaf.
M: Do you think their requirement to represent the “Vogue” name will mean there can’t be much innovation? Will there be pressure for them to be “woke”? Do you think Vogue Singapore will be pressured to/represent Singapore?
Exec: I think they’ll feel the pressure to innovate, especially now. There will always be pressure for them not to be tone-deaf. Singapore isn’t that diverse. The government also restraints what content we can put out. I don’t think they’ll put white people on their covers. Only Chinese people? Maybe.
