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RUNNING FOR COVER: Vogue is already getting publicity on its September cover thanks to photographer Mario Testino, who shot Keira Knightley for the issue. Testino kept a three-week diary of his life as a jet-setting fashion photographer for The Independent, reporting from behind the scenes at the Vogue shoot and, in the process, spilling the beans about the cover subject. "The idea is that Keira comes to be inspired by the Berlin arts scene," he wrote. "Instead of galleries, I did it around artists' studios: people such as Daniel Richter, Thomas Schütte, Andreas Hofer, Thomas Zipp, Thomas Helbig. They all made themselves available and the contrast between Keira and them was quite interesting. She'd never heard of any of them! It's funny how little the art world crosses over with the film world."
But while such press on the September cover may build reader anticipation for the issue, Vogue's spring issues may have disproven the adage that any publicity is good publicity. Vogue's April shape issue cover showed a hulking LeBron James holding a wispy Gisele Bündchen by the waist and stirred up controversy in the blogosphere and other media outlets over whether or not the photo played off of racially degrading King Kong-like images of African-American men. Meanwhile, Vogue's May cover was bruised in the blogosphere for what seemed to be an overzealous use of Photoshop to make Gwyneth Paltrow's body look robotic. But the chatter from critics didn't spark enough curiosity to boost newsstand sales — in an otherwise difficult climate for most magazines. According to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations' Rapid Report, the LeBron/Gisele issue sold 350,000 issues on newsstands, about 100,000 copies fewer than the April 2007 issue, which featured Scarlett Johansson on the cover. The Gwyneth issue moved 310,000 copies on newsstands, compared with last May's 355,000 copies, which featured the "World's Next Top Models" on the cover wearing Gap t-shirts.
— S.D.S. and Amy Wicks
CHURCHSTATE: Magazine advertisers often bend and blur editorial lines, whether it's a supplement, special section or "advertorial." But where, exactly, are the lines on the Internet, assuming there are lines at all? The ground rules are often nonexistent, especially on blogs. And advertisers are scrambling to come up with innovative ways to attract attention, which has led former Life & Style editor in chief Mark Pasetsky, now the editorial director and publisher of Tecktonik Media, to take on a new approach to blog advertising he's calling "Direct Blog Ads."
But while such press on the September cover may build reader anticipation for the issue, Vogue's spring issues may have disproven the adage that any publicity is good publicity. Vogue's April shape issue cover showed a hulking LeBron James holding a wispy Gisele Bündchen by the waist and stirred up controversy in the blogosphere and other media outlets over whether or not the photo played off of racially degrading King Kong-like images of African-American men. Meanwhile, Vogue's May cover was bruised in the blogosphere for what seemed to be an overzealous use of Photoshop to make Gwyneth Paltrow's body look robotic. But the chatter from critics didn't spark enough curiosity to boost newsstand sales — in an otherwise difficult climate for most magazines. According to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations' Rapid Report, the LeBron/Gisele issue sold 350,000 issues on newsstands, about 100,000 copies fewer than the April 2007 issue, which featured Scarlett Johansson on the cover. The Gwyneth issue moved 310,000 copies on newsstands, compared with last May's 355,000 copies, which featured the "World's Next Top Models" on the cover wearing Gap t-shirts.
— S.D.S. and Amy Wicks
CHURCHSTATE: Magazine advertisers often bend and blur editorial lines, whether it's a supplement, special section or "advertorial." But where, exactly, are the lines on the Internet, assuming there are lines at all? The ground rules are often nonexistent, especially on blogs. And advertisers are scrambling to come up with innovative ways to attract attention, which has led former Life & Style editor in chief Mark Pasetsky, now the editorial director and publisher of Tecktonik Media, to take on a new approach to blog advertising he's calling "Direct Blog Ads."
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