Fashion 101: Magazines and their Advertisers

Fashion 101: Magazines and Their Advertisers

By Alexandra SUHNER ISENBERG | Editor-at-Large

I struggle to find a magazine I like. I love looking at pretty pictures, and there are many magazines that do that well, but I'm not willing to pay $15 for a magazine with pretty pictures, when $50 will get you a beautiful coffee table book.

I like my magazines to have well-written information, and its hard to find fashion magazines that do this.

If I can flip through a magazine and absorb most of its content in 15 minutes or less, then I consider it a poor magazine (that's why I like Vanity Fair, it takes a good 45min to read.)

But rather than criticize and insult the editors and writers who produce substandard content, as my first Fashion 101 post, I'd like to explain why magazine staff have their hands tied, and its the big brands that control magazine content.

Magazines make their money from advertising, not cover price, and magazine advertising is very expensive, so there are only a handful of big brands who can afford it.

Here's a couple of examples from some media kits (this information is available to the public, just find the "advertise" or "media kit" section of a magazine's website (usually at the bottom of the homepage.) Brands rarely pay the listed prices, but its a good indicator...read more

Photo courtesy of searchingforstyle.com