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Natalie Gilhool
COM 313: Mass Media & Society
Dr. Gournelos
March 15, 2015
Paper # 1
“On my honor, I have not given, nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance
on this work.”
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Abstract
Today our society is dependent on social media, and less and less do you see
people reading magazines and newspapers. To keep up with the times, magazines
need to learn how to effectively use social media to keep up revenue and their
status. This paper uses content analysis and three in-depth interviews to specifically
look at Vogue, and how the magazine has used social media to its advantage. My first
method of choice is content analysis, and I analyzed five of Vogue’s most popular
social media platforms- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube from November
2014 to February 2015. I randomly selected 3 posts from each platform each month.
This came out to be 12 posts per month for each platform and 48 samples in total. I
also chose to use three in-depth interviews to narrow down and focus in on what I
am trying to find. For these interviews I chose to use three females, ages ranging
from in their 20’s to in their 50’s. I chose to use women that were all familiar with
the print version of Vogue as well as the online version; Vogue’s target demographic.
Through these focus groups and in-depth interviews I found four themes that I will
bring out in this paper about what is most effective in transitioning to an online
version- depth and breadth of information, tone, bringing in a diverse audience, and
increased revenue for products.
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Introduction
Vogue was first published in the United States in 1892. Vogue became a
leading fashion advisor for society’s glamorous elite. Now published in eighteen
countries, the magazine is a prominent influence on creating and recognizing trends
in the fashion world. With social media a part of our daily lives, Vogue needs to
translate its voice, style, and desirability onto its electronic presence. According to
Vogue’s own statistics, for instance, the total average circulation of its print
magazine is 1,229,880. The average monthly page views of vogue.com are
113,607,351. CITE Vogue also has many different social media platforms that all
lead back to the website, which are constantly being updated with new articles,
photos, and videos. Sally Singer, Vogue’s creative digital director, told Huffington
Post in an interview that her vision for Vogue.com is to “make it the global essential
destination, hour by hour, for people who are interested in style by the broadest
sense. I want it to inform, inspire, and create the conversation in fashion, beauty and
culture” (Wilson 2015). Social media thus becomes a tool that allows information to
become easily accessible, have social engagement, a deeper connection with its
audience, and a circular referral pattern. While magazines may not be going
anywhere anytime soon, it is imperative for Vogue to keep its brand up to date with
today’s times and translate its image and reputation to the Internet.
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Literature Review
Scholarly sources that I looked at focused on the branding impacts of
websites to the print version, what characteristics the website has to create
customer loyalty, generate recommendations to others through word of mouth, as
well as to provoke higher purchase intent and a wider audience. One scholarly
source that focused on the main themes I am looking for from The Effect of Magazine
Web Site Usage on Print Magazine Loyalty wrote,
“it should be noted that online communication is often seen as a promising
channel for relationship marketing, and thus, also building brand equity.
Prior studies have noted how the frequency of communication fosters
customer relationships, both in traditional face-to-face and in digital
marketing communication channels. Therefore, from the consumer-brand
relationship perspective adopted in this article, the effect magazine Web sites
have on print magazines is not seen as a simple economic choice, but as a
question of some level of repetitive usage of the web site (interaction with
the brand) that might lead to favorable associations of the brand (positive
consumer-based brand equity) and, in practice, make it more possible for the
consumer to buy the product again in the future (behavioral loyalty) or
recommend it to others (WOM) (Ellonen, Tarkianen, kuivalainen, 2010).”
As of right now, magazines aren’t trying to transition online and ditch the print
version. Websites are a way for a magazine to get a larger audience, and to be used
as a marketing strategy to form a closer bond with its consumers.
To look at this more closely, the first theme I have coded is that websites
create a wider audience for their brand. “Social media is now viewed as an
opportunity to improve customer relationships and to ultimately capture a larger
audience (Mohr 2014).” Another article states “visitors satisfied with their overall
experience are more inclined to revisit and recommend the site and in turn develop
more positive attitudes toward the brand as well as higher purchase intent (Angella,
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2012).” Therefore, if Vogue.com has a positive experience for its audience, on social
media it has the ability to obtain a larger audience for its brand, as well as increased
revenue and visits to the site.
Websites create a wider audience for their brand due to the theory electronic
word-of-mouth (eWOM). This is defined as “informal, person-to-person
communication between a perceived non-commercial communicator and a receiver
regarding positive issues concerning a brand, a product, an organization, or a
service (Ellonen, Tarkianen, kuivalainen, 2010).” Another source writes that
generating a “positive (WOM) referrals is one of the most important marketing
instruments and it has been suggested that this form of communication has a
greater influence on consumers’ choice than other forms of communication (O’Cass,
Carlson. 2012).” Social media is instant, and regularly posted. With everything so
rapid, there is always the possibility of mistakes or controversy. This means that
Vogue.com needs to preserve positive WOM to keep up its brand image.
As an effect of increased website interactions, there is an increase in positive
consumer brand loyalty. (Ellonen, Tarkianen, kuivalainen, 2010) believes that
“building on the consumer-brand relationship view, we expect that active use of the
magazine Websites has a beneficial effect on behavioral loyalty toward the printed
magazine. In our view, there are two justifications for the relation between intense
website usage and loyalty toward the print magazine. First, spending time with a
brand evokes positive affective responses in consumers’ minds, and that time spent
on the Website might strengthen attachment and consumer-based brand equity and,
thus, lead to loyalty toward the organizing brand.” ***
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Methods
The first method I chose to use for my research is a content analysis of five of
Vogue’s most popular social media platforms- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and
YouTube from November 2014 to February 2015. I randomly selected 3 posts from
each platform each month. This came out to be 12 posts per month for each
platform and 48 samples in total. My second method I used was three in-depth
interviews. The first participant was 21, the second participant 22, and the third
participant 52. It was important to choose women that knew Vogue as a brand, and
were familiar with Vogue. I also chose women that I knew were acquainted with
vogue.com, and in hindsight I wish I chose to use one interview using an older
generation of women that might not be as familiar with Vogue online to see the
difference in answers due to demographics, but it still was helpful to have this older
participant nonetheless.
Results
Through a content analysis of Vogue’s most popular social media platforms,
we can see that all these platforms are constantly being updated. 1 Vogue has a
significant amount of followers on all its social media and is extremely efficient at
always posting a captivating image with the link to the article on the website. Vogue
has created a strategic circular referral pattern to its main website. On whatever
platform you follow Vogue; it is constantly being a part of your every day by always
1
See appendix 1
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keeping up with its posts, and intriguing the audience to read its content. Vogue
becomes a familiar source of fashion, news, tips, entertainment, and much more.
From analyzing the content on all social media platforms from Vogue, the
themes I coded is that it is interactive, the tone is fun and friend-like, it extends the
editorial experience and has a substantial amount of content. To begin with the first
theme I coded, every month I analyzed Vogue it has been interactive with its
audience. There are online quizzes2, as well as recently there was a campaign for
readers to vote on which bag of 2015 would be the “it bag”3. Vogue shared that tens
of thousands or readers participated-showing the publication’s reach and
awareness abilities it can raise for products. By being able to interact with Vogue, it
makes the audience feel as if they have a relationship with the brand, and with
voting on the “it bag” as if they have a say.
The second theme I coded is that Vogue in its articles and videos has
captions, articles and videos in a friend-like, entertaining tone. For instance, the
YouTube video “What Are Models Really Thinking on the Runway At Marc Jacobs?” 4
Shows the Marc Jacobs runway show, but has voiceovers of the models saying
humorous things like “oh my god this is so tight I’m totally going to fall on my face,”
and “who smells like this…you think it’s somebody in the audience or the girl in
front of me? Definitely the girl in front of me oh my god.” Vogue is still showing a
major fashion brand’s runway show, but bringing humor to it. Vogue becomes more
of a personality adding character to a brand that is perceived as a serious and elite.
see appendix 2
see appendix 3
4 see appendix 4
2
3
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The third theme that I coded is that vogue in the digital world extends the
editorial experience. It has behind the scene videos of fashion shows and photo
shoots, interviews with designers, celebrities, and models; Vogue adds depth to its
content that wouldn’t be possible in the print version. For example, the article from
Vogue.com is titled, “The Paris Opera House Like You’ve Never seen It Before:
Behind the Scenes of Natalia Vodianova’s November Cover Shoot.” 5This article
shows Annie leibovitz in action with the supermodel, but not the actual photographs
from the shoot because the magazine wasn’t out yet. This is an effective marketing
strategy because Vogue never comes out and says buy the magazine to see the
photos, but it is indirectly making the audience want to buy it when it comes out to
see the end results from the shoot.
The last theme I coded from analyzing Vogue is that it has a substantial
amount of content, becoming a daily source of information on all different subjects.
On the website, there are five main sections: fashion, beauty, culture, fashion shows,
and city directory. Vogue’s content has tips and information on a large variety of
subjects. There’s one article titled, “Date Night: Why Reading Together Can be the
Sexiest Date Night Activity.”6 Vogue is no longer only about fashion; online it has
personal, intimate articles that women can read as if they are getting advice from a
friend and not subscribing to a magazine.
The second method I chose to use was in-depth interviews.7 Again, I chose
these participants because I knew they were familiar with magazines and their
see appendix 5
see appendix 6
7 see appendix 7
5
6
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websites, but especially their familiarity with Vogue because it was important in
answering my questions. I coded four major themes from these interviews: depth
and breadth of information, tone, Vogue connecting with a larger audience,
increased revenue for products, as well as the generation gap associated with social
media.
The first theme, depth and breadth of information, I asked questions along
the lines of how much time they spend on each media platform, and what they think
of all the behind the scene videos and interviews. One participant said “there’s so
many behind the scene videos with interviews and seeing everything in the
magazine, and what goes on into the making of the spreads in the print is absolutely
amazing. It’s something you couldn’t capture in the magazine.” My findings from the
participants’ answers concluded that depth and breadth of information leads to
increased time spent with Vogue, and frequent visits to the site. There is increased
quality in terms of applied information and depth.
The second theme I coded were the tone implications from Vogue. When
asked about the tone in the articles and the content, one participant said, “Vogue
Original Shorts brings a level of humor to Vogue that they never had before, even
making fun of themselves.” Another participant also claimed, “The Vogue YouTube
videos, such as their 73 questions are amazing. They make them funny, friendly, and
in the interviews it’s like you’re having a conversation with them yourself.” And
lastly, “The magazine stays the same, but online Vogue becomes this every day
interaction. I come to it for news in the fashion world, entertainment news; it’s just a
fun website to go to and the way it’s written is witty.” From these responses, it
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proves that tone is important and making the consumer create a bond with the
brand.
The third theme coded was the diverse audience implications. I asked
questions about the 100 under 100$ on Vogue.com, and the responses were all
positive. One participant responded to this question, “having sections on the site like
the 100 under 100$ is more attainable to the every day woman and is a really smart
move I think by Vogue. It appeals to a very diverse audience, because while it still
has the expensive items, it also has things you can afford.” Another participant said,
“having more cost friendly items on the website is key for a larger amount of people
to come to the website, and for people to come more often. While the magazine
remains mostly couture, very expensive clothing, which is beautiful-but not many
people can afford it.” Having diverse subjects on the website invites a more diverse
audience, which may result in more magazine subscriptions and a source of sales
development. Both the magazine and the website compliment each other.
The fourth theme, difficulties in the generation gap, is also evident. The 52year-old participant answered my question to this saying, “the younger generation
was born into this technological world, so naturally they gravitate towards it. The
older generations are just trying to catch up.” The 21 year old participant noted on
the question about age groups, “definitely the younger crowd is more veered
towards the online version. It’s part of our culture.” That being said, the online
website must find a way to market to all generations.
The final theme is that Vogue has increased revenue online. One participant
said, “I have never actually bought anything in the print version, but I have actually
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bought something off the website, because they have the links right there to buy it.”
Another answered, “The advertisements may be more noticeable in the print
magazine, but at the same time I feel the advertisements work more efficiently
online because you can follow the link and buy something right then and there,
rather then folding down a page and thinking you’ll look it up later.” Having links to
products available is a strategic way to make more profit.
Discussion
From both methods-content analysis and three in-depth interviews, it is clear
Vogue is doing a really great job on its website and use of social media platforms.
Vogue has millions of followers and likes, and is constantly being updated. In the
content analysis, it is clear that Vogue is interactive, has a fun and friend-like tone, as
well as it has extended the editorial experience and has a substantial amount of
content. This has reflected back on a scholar that has recognized this in media from
the beginning,
“the value of media entertainment lies in its ability to fulfill users’ need for
escapism, hedonistic pleasure, aesthetic enjoyment, or emotional release. The
entertainment construct refers to the extent to which the web media is fun and
entertaining to media users” (McCord, 1998).
The in-depth interviews revealed that Vogue online is interactive by having
quizzes on the website, the tone is fun and friend-like, it extends the editorial
experience and has a substantial amount of content. Depth and breadth of
information leads to an increased time spent with the brand, and consumers would
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visit to the site more frequently as a result. There is an in-creased revenue for
products due to the easily accessible links. Having articles like 100 things under
100$ allows a more diverse audience for Vogue. The website recruits people to
purchase the magazine, creating sales development. Vogue follows a strategy that
scholars have noted as, “the present research demonstrates that visitors satisfied
with their overall website experience are more inclined to revisit and recommend
the site and in turn develop more positive attitudes toward the brand as well as
higher purchase intent.” (Chandon 2008).
Vogue’s marketing strategy of giving behind the scenes and interviews before
shoots has also been shown to be effective, as a scholar has written, “a website could
make it easy for customers to be in contact with the brand in between the
publication of the print issues of the magazine. From the publisher’s perspective,
this is an efficient method for relationship building, and magazine websites could
thus be seen as new means in the quest for customer loyalty and market share”
(Kuivalainen, 2010). Overall, Vogue has done a sufficient job at coming on social
media and online.
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APPENDIX 2
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APPENDIX 4
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APPENDIX 6
APPENDIX 7
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