What magazine has both the largest audience and the
highest advertising revenue of any American magazine? People magazine. Each week
readers cannot seem to get enough of the inside scoop on the lives of this
country’s hottest stars. But are the reporters writing the latest on celebrities
or are they writing articles based on who is paying for advertising?
As
I flipped through the 224 page issue of People,
William & Catherine: Love Reigns! Royal
Wedding Album, I counted 101 pages of advertisements. Most are full page,
colored ads costing anywhere from $324,000 to $400,000 per issue. Why would a
company spend so much money on one advertisement insertion? According to the
magazine’s audience profile, 71% of readers are women, 62% are between the age
of 18 and 49 and 63% are college graduates. People’s
target market is young, smart, working women. They know their audience has a
strong emotional connection with many brands and the advertising mix is
seamless with all of the feature stories.
The
William & Catherine: Love Reigns!
issue has 101 pages of ads, nearly half of the magazine. It is no coincidence
that 39 of the 101 advertisements are related to beauty, romance and weddings. Readers
bought this issue to see every aspect of the royal wedding. Along with the
dress, cake and high profile guest list, readers also see advertisements for
self-improvement beauty products, airline deals and relationships. There are
affectionate couples in Ralph Lauren photos for “Romance” perfume, Essie ads
for pretty pink nail polish and the Purina Fancy Feast cat sits in front of a
wedding invitation. Women not only buy this issue to look at pictures of the
lavish royal wedding, advertisers know they are dreaming about ideas for their
own wedding or longing for a taste of royalty in their life.
In
my opinion, advertising in a star-studded celebrity magazine drives the focus
of the articles and images throughout every issue. Advertising promotes a
positive image for readers allowing them to fantasize about having a little
“celebrity” in their own lives. You can wear the same leopard skirt as Kate
Hudson by shopping her collection at Ann Taylor, drinking Pepsi from a straw
makes you feel as exotic as Sofia Vergara and you can even wash your hair with
the same shampoo used by Jennifer Aniston. Advertising not only drives the
content of the magazine, it also supports the magazine financially. People, like the majority of magazines,
cannot survive on subscription sales and editorial content alone.
Awesome! In this post you perfectly demonstrate how a writer can use specific examples to enhance her appeal. I found this post so fun to read because I was enthralled by all of the images. I could picture exactly what you were seeing. Great job. Of course, your overall argument is great too. Although you don't say it explicitly, you hint at the same idea that I shared with one of your classmates. I forget who though. I think a healthy percentage of the People subscribers look at the magazine specifically because they want to look at the full-page ads. In this respect, the ads actually become more important than the actual stories. You imply this when you write that we all want to fantasize a little bit while we flip through the magazine. I love reading travel magazines and watching HGTV for the same reason. Will I ever own a floating, straw beach house that sits atop a beautiful coral reef, with friendly sharks and dolphins that talk to me? No, but I sure like looking at those places in magazines.
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