September Issues Yield Largest Ad-Count in Decades
Ad pages in fashion magazines are reaching record-breaking heights for the crucial September issues, reported Ad Age. Elle magazine will be releasing its largest issue yet, boasting 442 ad pages, a hike of 12 percent from last year’s September issue. Harper’s Bazaar will also debut its largest issue at 397 ad pages, a 10 percent gain. Marie Claire is likewise having its biggest issue thus far with 246 ad pages, an increase of 13.5 percent from 2013.
During the first six months of 2013, magazines experienced a general decline of 4.9 percent in their print age pages, said the Publishers Information Bureau. Print advertising, however, continues to be key for many fashion and luxury brands.
“As much as we are in a digital world, where the audience really aggregates in a big way is print,” said Michael Clinton, president-marketing and publishing director at Hearst Magazines. “The consumer proof point continues to be that the print brand is driving it all.”
The September issue, in which many designers present their new collections, is the most critical and largest of all fashion magazines produced each year.
Clinton believes that the ad page hikes for the September issues are due in part to the economic gains the United States and other countries have experienced recently. “There's a lot of money coming in to the U.S.,” he said. “In the global luxury/fashion world, there's a growing perception that there is growth in the American market because the Euro Zone is still struggling and China is leveling off.”
Time Inc.’s InStyle will also be publishing its largest September issue ever, at 455 ad pages, up 3 percent from last year. Basic sections, including beauty, luxury and fashion, are all up by double-digit percentages, according to InStyle Publisher Karin Tracy said.
Tracy reports witnessing a greater trend of integrating digital and print packages in magazines, with InStyle.com releasing 17 new labels this quarter. “We've seen an increase in integration,” she said.
Even with these huge surges seen in the abovementioned magazines, the magazine that took the prize for largest number of ad pages was Conde Nast’s Vogue, which topped out at 665 ad pages, a 1 percent increase from last year. This represented more ad pages than Vogue’s 120th anniversary issue for September 2013, but still less than the issue for September 2007, which had an enormous 727 ad pages.
W magazine saw a 17 percent increase at 288 ad pages, the biggest September issue the magazine has published since 2008. Conde-owned Glamour, which will post 224 ad pages for its September issue, witnessed a hike of 18 percent.
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