Last week, a magazine almost broke the internet…again. And that’s big news! Vanity Fair’s cover story featuring a corseted Caitlyn Jenner dominated almost every conversation across all forms of media—just as Kim Kardashian did on Paper magazine’s cover late last year. While Jenner’s coming out was a watershed moment for transgender visibility, it was also an opportunity for the publishing industry to once again demonstrate the benefits of magazine advertising.
Vanity Fair’s multi-tiered media campaign provides an example of the reach and influence of magazines. Moreover, it further establishes print’s ability to engage and motivate readers—to the tune of Jenner’s record-breaking one million-plus Twitter following within hours of the release of the Vanity Fair cover. Magazines are important arbiters of pop culture and this is very good news for advertisers.
Magazines have the unique ability to convey authority, aspiration, and accessibility by delivering the world’s most recognizable celebrities and the trusted opinion of editors to reader’s front doors every month. Print Media creates an intimacy with the reader that can’t be replicated digitally. With new accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Jenner is able to speak to fans directly, yet he chose a magazine. Why? In an article on CNN.com, Samir Husni, the director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi, stated that Vanity Fair’s authority as a journalistic leader and the tactile nature of print media heightened the impact of the announcement. "The credibility that a magazine like Vanity Fair carries in the marketplace cannot be matched by the credibility of any other outlet when it comes to investigative journalism and celebrity journalism,” Husni said. "For Jenner to choose print, to choose a magazine, it is that tactile feeling," he said. "If it was any pictures on a screen platform, now you see it, now you don't... print has longer lasting impact on you."
Don’t Count Out the Benefits of Magazine Advertising
Research shows that magazine readers-and women in particular-are engaged by magazine ads and value ad content in magazines more than any other media. In fact, in a recent survey, 76 percent of women said they “could not give up” printed women’s magazines. And, as we’ve witnessed repeatedly, magazines motivate consumers to take action—53 percent of magazine readers made a purchase based on a print ad in their favorite magazine.
The trust between magazines and readers opens doors for emerging brands trying to establish themselves with consumers. Women’s Marketing understands this relationship and the benefits of magazine advertising along with the importance of print in building awareness for fashion and beauty brands. Print’s elevated environment, integrated platforms, and most of all, inspiration, prove that even in a digital age, magazine ads still matter.
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