Rosie Whiteoak Editorial Writing Critical Journal

Rosie Whiteoak C3534690 Fashion Writing for Editorial Critical Journal Word Count: 1613 (including subheadings)

Rosie Whiteoak Editorial Writing Critical Journal

1

T

his critical journal will consist of three sections. The first section: ‘Fashion Editorial, a historical perspective’ will focus on the magazine industry. The second: ‘Reflective practice’ will consider the creation of my editorial project, examining the rationale behind the piece I have created. The third section ‘Editorial and Marketing’ will address the ways in which the project could be marketed.

Fashion Editorial: A historical perspective “Magazines in Western Europe first began to appear in substantial numbers during the early eighteenth century” (Whittaker, 2008, p.3). Bradford (2015) explains that “the nineteenth century saw a huge boom in magazines thanks to new leisure time, mass literacy, railways to distribute them and improvements to colour publishing” (p.38). The late nineteenth century saw titles aimed at women such as Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, Queen, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, launch (Bradford, 2015, p.38).

The emergence of new technology in recent decades has led to brands creating an online presence which enables them to drive audiences to the printed publication, as well as benefiting from the revenue streams that can be accessed online through advertising. An example of this would be the hugely popular Vogue Youtube channel with over 7 million subscribers.

Bradford (2015) describes how the magazine market is split into three categories: consumer, customer and trade.

Consumer magazines have a wide audience and cover general topics, an example of a consumer magazine would be a woman’s magazine such as Hello magazine which includes topics such as celebrity news, beauty, fashion, lifestyle and TV and film. The second category, customer, is where brands create a magazine which relates to the brand. The Tesco magazine would be an example of a contract magazine as the title is made for the brand and the content is related to the Tesco brand and it’s products. The final type of magazine market is the trade section. These are publications that are written by professionals for professionals in a certain industry, Campaign magazine is a business to business magazine which is aimed at people working within marketing, advertising and the media.

2

Rosie Whiteoak Editorial Writing Critical Journal

Images / Left: Maloney, A. Right: Masat, T.

Vogue magazine in particular was first printed in the United States in 1892 as a “social gazette” (Bradford, 2015, p.38) and went on to be bought by lawyer Condé Nast in 1909. Nast recognised that Vogue had the potential to “provide advertisers of a certain class of products (in this case the manufacturers and retailers of luxury goods) with a dedicated platform from which to promote their wares” (Cox and Mowatt, 2014, p.70), and so transformed the magazine to focus on this. The title was first sold in the UK pre first world war “by which time it was selling 3,000 to 4,000 imported copies per issue,” (Cox and Mowatt, 2014, p.70) and “by 1916, sales of Vogue in Britain had quadrupled” (Cox and Mowatt, 2014, p.70). These sales allowed for the publication to be printed directly in the UK, and so British Vogue was born. Condé Nast continues to publish Vogue magazine to this day, in addition to titles such as GQ, Tatler, and Wired.

Image / Whiteoak, R.

Reflective Practice: A rationale for the project The importance of reflective learning is stated by Dyrud and Worley (2013): “composition theorists argue that reflection is an essential part of the cognitive process that translates education into knowledge” (p.189). There are various frameworks that can be used during the process of reflective learning with Ramsey (2006) explaining that the simplest is the action - reflection cycle, in which the individual reflects upon their actions and learns from them, these learnings can then be utilised in further actions therefore allowing the individual to improve.

My initial action was to review the consumer bridal magazine market and I chose to write for the consumer bridal magazine ‘You & Your Wedding magazine’. Upon reflection of this choice, I found the layout of the magazine very visually appealing, I liked that it covered an array of topics from real weddings to reception trends and I loved how the magazine aimed to provide the reader with inspiration. According to the magazine’s media pack, as of June 2018, 86% of the magazine’s print readership being women and an average reader age of 30.

One of my next actions was deciding to split my project into two features. The first feature would be for the ‘real weddings’ section of the magazine, for which I interviewed my sister Lucy about her recent wedding, and the second feature would be an advertorial. From my study of multiple editions of the You & Your Wedding magazine, I found that the real weddings section usually spans across 18 pages of the flat plan, beginning with a title page and followed by five weddings (therefore meaning that each of the weddings covered three or four pages). In order to reflect this in my work, I chose to feature one wedding and for the feature to be slightly longer than the average real weddings feature, while still fitting the style of the publication.

Ramsey (2006) defines critical incidents as “situations or events that are, in some way, memorable and significant to us” (p.9). One of the critical incidents in the creation of my project was the decision to slightly lengthen the real wedding feature in comparison to the features in the magazine. I was inspired to do this as often when I was studying the real weddings features, I felt that more details could have been included in order to give the reader more inspiration.

I created interview questions to cover many areas of the wedding to fit with the reader’s key interest of sourcing inspiration. After having experimented with different amounts of pages for the feature to cover, I decided to have the piece cover five pages of the flat plan. This allowed me to strike a balance between the amount of images and writing on each page in order to make the piece easy for the reader to follow. I am really proud of this piece as I think it is truly enjoyable to read as well as being aesthetically pleasing.

For the second feature I considered the importance of advertising as a revenue stream for magazines and so chose to write an advertorial for the online marketplace website Etsy. I picked this brand in particular because it is a brand I know well, and I felt it would fit with the audience for the magazine. I knew from my reading of Whittaker (2008) that writing an advertorial may be challenging as he describes the difficulty in striking a balance between satisfying the advertiser while also pleasing the reader. I found the advertorial much harder to write as I had to choose each word carefully to tailor the piece to the Etsy brand.

Rosie Whiteoak Editorial Writing Critical Journal

3

In order for the project to be a success I would utilise an assortment of revenue streams. One of these sources of income would be through brand collaborations. As Whittaker (2008) describes the power of advertorials, “Advertisers are often keen to pay more for this type of promotion because they feel they can gain the credibility of the title” (p.41) The advertorial I’ve written for Etsy within my project would generate income in return for the featuring of the brand. In addition to writing an advertorial for the overall brand, I also decided to mention two specific shops on the Etsy website. By naming two specific Etsy shops, this would assist in generating even more interest in the brand and pushing readers to want to visit the website to view these specific shops, therefore this would make the advertorial worth more to Etsy allowing me to negotiate a higher price for the coverage in the content.

Throughout the real wedding feature I have written, there are multiple brands mentioned including the venue Sandburn Hall, the National Wedding Show, Limelight Occasions and Moss Bros. This coverage for these businesses would be likely to open up the opportunity to create more content around these brands, perhaps for example an advertorial or feature written with more of a specific focus on the brand. Similarly, the mention of these brands may lead to the brands choosing to highlight this coverage in their own branding, websites, and social media, therefore creating brand awareness and generating interest in the magazine.

The project could also benefit from other forms of partnerships and collaborations with these brands, with the opportunity for the magazine to be showcased and promoted at events such as the National Wedding Show or at wedding fairs taking place at the venue as mentioned in the real wedding feature. Fill (2011) explains the effectiveness of trade shows and fairs stating that “exhibitions provide an opportunity to meet customers on relatively neutral ground and, through personal interaction, develop relationships” (p.314).

Therefore, attending an event such as the National Wedding Show or wedding fairs at the venue, would allow the magazine to meet existing and prospective customers, make sales and also gather market research (Fill, 2011). Kennett-Hensel et al., 2019, describes the impact that trade shows can have when the consumer has an engaging experience with the brand, stating the benefits that this can have for the brand as “engaged consumers often have positive sentiments toward a company because they are actively involved with the company’s product,” (p.876).

According to Whittaker (2008), “the task for marketing and promotion is to ensure that a definite brand is in the reader’s mind when he or she goes out to buy a magazine” (p.42.), and so by working with other brands to raise awareness and promote the title, this will assist in the You and Your Wedding name being one of the first to mind when the consumer thinks of a bridal magazine.

4

Rosie Whiteoak Editorial Writing Critical Journal

Image / Kenion, C.

Editorial and Marketing

Critical Journal Bibliography Bauer Media (n.d.) Bauer Magazine Brands [Online] Available from:<https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands-magazine>[Accessed 16 March 2020].

Bradford, J. (2015) Fashion Journalism. London: Routledge.

Brockbank, A., McGill, I. and Beech, N. (2017) Reflective learning in practice. London: Routledge.

Campaign (n.d.) About Campaign [Online]. Available from:<https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/about-us>[Accessed 16 March 2020].

Condé Nast (n.d.) Condé Nast Brands. [Online] Available from:<https://www.condenast.com/brands-and-markets/brands>[Accessed 16 March 2020].

Cox, H. and Mowatt, S. (2014) Revolutions from Grub Street : a history of magazine publishing in Britain. [Online]. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available from:<http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat00621a&AN=leeds.545471&site=e ds-live&scope=site>[Accessed: 8 May 2020].

Dyrud, M. A., & Worley, R. B. (2013). Engaging Students With Their Own Learning. Business Communication Quarterly. [Online], 76(2), pp188–191. Available from:<https://doi.org/10.1177/1080569913480235>[Accessed 5 May 2020].

Fill, C. (2011) Essentials of marketing communications. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Hello Magazine (2020) Hello Magazine Website. [Online]. Available from:<https://www.hellomagazine.com>[Accessed 16 March 2020].

Immediate Media. (2020) You and Your Wedding Magazine, February/March.

Immediate Media. (2020) You and Your Wedding Magazine, January/February.

Immediate Weddings (n.d.) The Wedding Network Media Pack. [Online] Immediate Media. Available from:<http://www.immediate.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2018/07/Wedding_Network_Media_Stats_-_2018_.pdf>[Accessed 4 May 2020].

Kennett-Hensel, P.A., Kemp, E., Williams, K., and Borders, A.L. (2019) ‘The Path to Adoption and Advocacy: Exploring Dimensions Of Brand Experience and Engagement at Trade Shows’, Event Management, [Online] 23(6), pp. 871–881. Available from:<doi:10.3727/152599519X15506259855814.>[Accessed 1 June 2020].

Miettinen, R. (2000) The concept of experiential learning and john dewey’s theory of reflective thought and action. International Journal of Lifelong Education. [Online], 19(1), pp54–72. Available from:<https://doi.org/10.1080/026013700293458>[Accessed 4 May 2020].

Ramsey, C. (2006) Introducing reflective learning. Open University Press.

Tesco (2020) Tesco Magazine. [Online]. Available from:<https://www.tesco.com/zones/tesco-magazine>[Accessed 16 March 2020].

Vandendaele, A. (2018).“Trust Me, I’m a Sub-editor”: “Production values” at work in newspaper sub-editing. Journalism Practice. [Online], 12(3), pp268–289. Available from:<https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2017.1291312>[Accessed 4 May 2020].

Whittaker, J. (2008) Magazine Production. London: Routledge.

You and Your Wedding (2020) You and Your Wedding Website. [Online] Hitched Limited. Available from:<https://www.youandyourwedding. co.uk>[Accessed 4 May 2020].

Youtube (n.d.) American Vogue Channel [Online] Available from:<https://www.youtube.com/user/Americanvogue/videos>[Accessed 16 March 2020] Images in order of appearance: Masat, T. (2020) Faded Vanities. [Online Image]. Available from:< https://unsplash.com/photos/8BCDGtQ72s4>[Accessed 3 June 2020].

Maloney, A. (2019) Three assorted magazines. [Online Image]. Available from:<https://unsplash.com/photos/4Cvq12I5PxM>[Accessed 3 June 2020].

Whiteoak, R. [My own] (2020) You and your wedding magazine covers.

Kenion, C. (2018) Assorted Magazines. [Online Image]. Available from:<https://unsplash.com/photos/8zSmlYAaUfg>[Accessed 3 June 2020].

Rosie Whiteoak Editorial Writing Critical Journal

5

Editorial Writing Project Bibliography Etsy (2020) LaneysLettering. [Online] Etsy. Available from:<https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ LaneysLettering?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=792953337>[Accessed 10 April 2020].

Etsy (2020) Posie Bridal [Online] Etsy. Available from:<https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PosieBridal?ref=l2-aboutshopname>[Accessed 10 April 2020].

Immediate Media. (2020) You and Your Wedding Magazine, February/March.

Immediate Media. (2020) You and Your Wedding Magazine, January/February.

Immediate Weddings (n.d.) The Wedding Network Media Pack. [Online] Immediate Media. Available from:<http:// www.immediate.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Wedding_Network_Media_Stats_-_2018_.pdf>[Accessed 4 May 2020].

Lee-Potter, E. and Adams, S. (2017) Interviewing for journalists. 3rd ed. London: Routledge.

Pape, S. and Featherstone, S. (2006) Feature writingâ&#x20AC;Ż: a practical introduction. London: SAGE Publications.

You and Your Wedding (2020) You and Your Wedding Website. [Online] Hitched Limited. Available from:<https:// www.youandyourwedding.co.uk>[Accessed 4 May 2020].

Whittaker, J. (2008) Magazine Production. London: Routledge.

Cover Image: Borba, J. (2019) Woman Standing Beside Hanging Lightbulbs. [Online Image]. Available from:<https://www.pexels. com/photo/woman-standing-beside-hanging-light-bulbs-3014853/>[Accessed 19 April 2020].

Logo on cover: Immediate Media (2020) You and Your Wedding Magazine logo. [Online Image]. Available from:<http://www. immediate.co.uk/brands/your-wedding/>[Accessed 4 May 2020].

All other Images throughout project Created by Little Sixpence Photography for Lucy and Kris Britland, November 2018. Used with permission from both the photographer and Lucy and Kris Britland.

The interview with Lucy Britland took place on the 23rd of February 2020 via video call.

6

Rosie Whiteoak Editorial Writing Critical Journal