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Publisher Keeps 'Elle' Glossy

  • Forbes, Wednesday, February 18, 2009 9:45 AM

When Carol Smith, publisher of Elle, joined the magazine in 2002, she inherited a magazine with an 18.2% year-over-year decline in ad pages. The title, owned by Hachette Filipacchi, ended last year with 5% ad growth, capping six consecutive years of gains.

In the last three years, Elle's advertising increased 27% when most magazines shrank and many shuttered. Smith attributes the gains to hiring Hollywood talent agency CAA and Elle's risky collaboration with "Project Runway," the fashion reality show. "Other media projects like "Stylista" and "Ugly Betty" have followed on the heels of 'Runway," but now we have to be smarter about it. CAA is helping us mine our way through film, TV, Web and DVD," says Smith.

Smith also believes that luxury will return, and luxury magazines will do well again. "But the face of luxury is not going to be what we saw in 2007," she says. "Healthy is all relative...think about this: The top three monthly magazines out there in terms of total monthly pages are Vogue, Brides and Elle."

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