Jane Zarem does a first-rate job of summing up the various ways consumer magazine publishers pick their cover subjects. Some magazines leave the decision almost entirely in the hands of the
editorial staff, but most don't. The cover is such an overwhelmingly critical component of newsstand sales that many magazines invite executives from the circulation department into the final
decision-making session. The reasoning is that they will have the best handle on what will move product. Zarem concentrates mostly on the processes at Meredith, Time Inc., and Wenner. "'Without a
doubt, cover selection determines newsstand success in the celebrity category,'" says Camp Shropshire, consumer marketing director at Wenner Media. "'
People [magazine] has a somewhat
different following [from
Us Weekly] and can actually drift off successfully into B-level celebrities without losing sales. But for
Us Weekly, as well as for competitors
InTouch,
Star and
Life & Style, we're asking for trouble if we drift away from the top three or four celebrity sets of the moment.'" Shropshire shares some interesting insight into why
Rolling Stone covers succeed or fail, and, curiously, it's not always a matter of the the subject.
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