Glamour UK is now firmly a teenager, and it’s growing up to be quite the smarty.
“Glamour [UK] is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a strategic shift in recognition of its readers’ evolving lives, enhancing the ways in which the brand continues to engage with its growing audience,” notes this article in Magnetic Media.
“The magazine itself will become larger in format, recognising the print experience is now regarded as more luxurious and indulgent, most likely to be consumed at home, compared to when the magazine launched in 2001 with its industry-defining handbag size, at a time when snacking on the print edition throughout the day was the norm,” the article continues.
“Not only will the size increase, but the paper stock will be enhanced both in weight and brilliance, amplifying the showcase for Glamour’s roster of leading photographers, stylists and illustrators. This will ensure the print medium and experience is maximized,” the article notes.
This is smart publishing, something that Glamour UK has always embodied in its relatively short life. (The original Glamour in the US launched back in 1939.) And as the trend in UK fashion publishing leans toward more luxury, Glamour UK is perfectly positioning itself as a premium advertising partner.
Glamour launched in the United Kingdom in 2001, in the pioneering “handbag size format,” with the marketing message that the magazine would fit in your life as well as your handbag, according to Wikipedia. As that lifestyle evolved, and readers began snacking on smartphones instead of in print, the magazine was savvy enough to realize that a new iteration was called for.
The “snacking” content is being honored with their new mobile-first platform, “better suited to serving its smartphone dominated audience on the move, ensuring the Glamour brand is the first choice in the busy ‘always on’ lifestyle of our audience seeking up to the minute fashion and beauty inspiration and celebrity news,” notes Jamie Jouning, Glamour’s publishing director. Meanwhile, the lean back experience will be even larger and more luxurious in their print version.
“With these significant changes the Glamour brand is evolving to better serve the changing needs of its audience and its advertisers in the digital age. A bigger, brighter canvas in print; a more accessible, agile approach in digital marks the start of an exciting next chapter for the Glamour brand,” Jouning comments.
We talk about the importance of publishers taking an audience-first approach, and this is a solid example of exactly that. As the brand embraces print’s luxurious future while still catering to the always-connected reader, they redefine the idea of platform agnostic publishing. This kind of customer-centric thinking is a beautiful thing to see, and exactly what advertisers crave.