This visit was a bit different than I imagined it to be. I went into the visit without an interest in working in the fashion/publishing industry. While I still do not want to work in that area, I found the visit to be very interesting and enjoyed listening to Carol Smith speak. I thought it was neat how she and her team turned Harper's Bazaar into a brand in order to help it prosper. I feel like most things today need to have an essence, or to be more than what they actually are, to be successful. Harper's Bazaar does this well by creating a aspirational lifestyle brand that makes its readers yearn for what the magazine is selling. I think that creating a store for Harper's Bazaar, that is integrated with the magazine and the website, was a very creative idea. Not only can readers get thrills from reading about trends and fashion in the magazine, but they can also go to the store and get inspired by all the expensive bits and bobs, or visit the website to get even more hot stories, fashion and lifestyle advice.
While I do not currently subscribe to any magazines, I feel that it would be smart for magazines to utilize supplemental platforms, especially digital ones, to capture its audience. The iPad has a virtual newsstand in which one can buy a magazine and have it quickly download to their device. This rids of the wait time and suspense having to do with monthly subscriptions and deliveries. Another idea that Carol mentioned that I thought was great was the pop-up stand at Coachella music festival. I went to a music festival this summer and feel that it is a fantastic way to reach many people all at once and provide them something different and unexpected. Teen Vogue was at the Firefly music festival that I attended and was taking photos of people's outfits and posting the top, trendy outfits on their website and magazine. I was photographed and though I do not normally buy their magazine, I made sure to purchase that edition because I wanted to see if I made it into the magazine! These sorts of events help build engagement with current and new readers and provide many opportunities for the future of magazines.
Time Flies
I can not believe that the course is already over! I learned so much about myself and about my interests from visiting the companies. I think that seeing companies in real life makes the learnings more tangible and applicable to "real life" situations. It was also a fantastic method to start building contacts, as well as opening our minds to the plethora of opportunities and paths that are out there. This was a great way to lay out the fundamentals of many different sectors of the communications industry, and the classes made it a bit clearer how all the industries work together to create a final product.
Thanks for a wonderful semester!
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