Alison Veness-McGourty's 10 network

jordan graham/10 magazine australia

Kirstie Clements isn’t the only editor-in-chief to have toppled from the totem pole of Australian fashion magazines over the past two years. In December 2010, 17 months before Clements’ 13-year tenure at Vogue Australia was abruptly terminated, Alison Veness-McGourty upped stumps from Australia’s biggest magazine publisher, ACP Magazines [since acquired by the Bauer Media Group], after 11 years with the company, initially as deputy editor, then editor and editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar and launch editor of Grazia Australia. Following a short stint as a freelance brand consultant, in August last year the Bristol-born fashion veteran announced a joint venture with UK-based Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou to publish Australian editions of Neophitou-Apostolou’s 11 year-old indie style bible 10 and its menswear offshoot 10 Men. After bubbling along on 10magazine.com.au’s digital platform since September, the Australian print editions finally see the light of day on February 1st. What will 10 and 10 Men Australia offer fashion consumers in an already-saturated magazine market and what are Veness-McGourty’s thoughts on the fashion and publishing industries, almost three decades after she launched her career on a London tabloid chasing Linda Evangelista and the Princess of Wales? Frockwriter asks her more than 10 questions.

Westfield spreads the LOVE

Now we know the name Katie Grand probably means diddly squat to the average Australian punter and, notably, the hordes of shoppers that Westfield is no doubt hoping will invade its gleaming new Pitt Street Mall development tonight for Vogue Australia's Fashion's Night Out festivities. But since frockwriter believes we left the punters behind when we were blogging for smh.com.au and news.com.au and we now have a hardcore fashion audience that knows its shit, we thought our readers would get a chuckle out of this first look at a new magazine that the world's largest listed shopping mall developer is handing out tonight in Sydney. Behold the cover of the first issue of the Westfield magazine, 100,000 copies of which have been published for Westfield by, amusingly, Vogue rival, ACP Custom Media.

Alison Veness-McGourty out at Grazia

life.com

The latest in a (very) long line of recent ACP executive departures, Alison Veness-McGourty apparently cleared out her editor-in-chief’s desk at Grazia Australia before Christmas. But it took a Facebook status update from Damien Woolnough, the online editor of Grazia rival Vogue Australia on January 4, to alert the industry that something was up. Noted Woolnough: “Wow. Only Jan 4 and already big changes in the industry...... Nothing here guys.... Chair shifting on another ship with one man overboard”. Today, the official confirmation from ACP managing director Phil Scott – via Vogue licensee News Ltd - that Veness-McGourty has indeed resigned. Scott, with whom frockwriter hears Veness-McGourty did not see eye to eye, dismissed rumours that former Australian Women’s Weekly editor Robyn Foyster, now an associate publisher at ACP, would be replacing her. Scott also denied that Veness-McGourty was pushed because of Grazia’s poor performance. But given that sales slumped more than 10percent to 55,026 in the most recent audit, perhaps it’s not that surprising - one of six ACP titles to see a 10percent+ sales dive year on year (also OK!, TV Week, Zoo Weekly, NW and Picture). The founding editor of Grazia's Australian edition, which launched on the cusp of the GFC in July 2008, Veness-McGourty previously spent eight years as editor of ACP stablemate Harpers Bazaar Australia. During her tenure, the latter at one point outsold Vogue. 

Grazia stops the press

The hits just keep on coming for ACP's apparently unstoppable fashion weekly, Grazia, judging by this mock newspaper promo mailout (above) just sent to advertisers by ACP and which floated frockwriter's way on Friday afternoon. Evidently jack of all the negative press coverage, ACP decided to go into the news business itself. And guess what? When it comes to Grazia, it's all good news!

The headline blasts:

"Grabbing headlines for all the right reasons!"

Underneath, a score of more good news headlines, which include the revelation that television advertising is due to recommence in March.

Among the bullet points:

"Blitzing the newsagents with sexy solo point of sale initiatives"

"Increasing presence at premium supermarket checkouts and reading centres"

"Grazia.com.au stronger than ever - 16million page views and 1.5million unqiue browers since launch"

And the pièce de résistance:

"Advertising revenue surpassing all expectations"

Given how many names of industry experts and authorities are rattled off, it's a wonder that grazia.com.au could not ID a photograph of Australia's hottest new modelling export, Myf Shepherd, two weeks ago. But look, let's not dwell on that. With one fashion staffer recently moving off the masthead and into a consulting role - Lenna Boord - perhaps Grazia's authorities just have a little too much on their plates.

You can’t blame ACP for wanting to make its own headlines, considering how bad some of Grazia's press has been.

First there were retrenchments, amidst rumblings of 150 job cuts, at ACP parent PBL – with Grazia’s future mooted to be uncertain.

Then there was the rumour that the magazine might move monthly.

The rumour was swiftly refuted by ACP Magazines' Publishing Director Women’s Lifestyle Pat Ingram - shortly before ACP made the announcement that Ingram had decided to transition to retirement.

Most recently came the news that Woolworths plans to move Grazia from the prime checkout position in “the majority” of its 780 stores to the general magazine section, due to slow sales, with predictions that circulation figures for the December quarter will be lower than the 70,000 of the initial audit.

As noted by Australia's leading fashion media-specialist blog, Girl With A Satchel, advertising/promotional pages accounted for a mere 10percent of Grazia's recent issue #27, compared with 38percent of the launch issue and 19percent and 23percent of the September 1 and December 1 issues respectively.

“But it is just hanging in” one industry analyst told frockwriter.

Obviously there was some terrific news for Grazia in November, with the news that the magazine had “hit launch expectations” by achieving its target circulation of 70,000+ copies for its preliminary Audit Bureau of Circulations audit, based on an average of the first 10 weeks of sales.

According to Nielsen Online data, the grazia.com.au website generated 9,830,512 million page impressions in the first three months, a result Pat Ingram described as “incredible”.

Indeed some considered the news so incredible that they bitched about the figures on GWAS, accusing ACP of manipulating figures.

Friday's even more terrific Grazia news coincided of course with some very bad news for the media sector.

News Corporation announced a 42percent profit nosedive, the company's biggest trading loss in its 50 year history: a $US5.9billion first half net loss (A$9.2billion), due to a second quarter net loss of $US6.417 billion ($A9.82 billion).

News Corp’s Wall Street Journal subsidiary announced 25 job cuts, with the title’s newly expanded retail and luxury division the hardest hit. Sending tremors through the fashion business, those departing include the WSJ’s 23 year veteran fashion reporter Teri Agins, for whom the WSJ’s fashion round was original created in the 1980s.

Earlier in the week ACP’s PBL stablemate Ninemsn announced 20 job cuts.

The news that ad revenue at Grazia is "surpassing all expectations" follows the release of the March issues of Australian Vogue and Harpers Bazaar, whose bumper ad pages from luxury fashion and beauty companies suggest that both magazines are defying the global economic meltdown.

Given today's media story in The Australian however, which cites one industry source claiming that LVMH Group, the world's biggest luxury conglomerate, has cut its Australian advertising budget by 30percent, it's more than a little confusing trying to work out precisely what is going down.

Another local media industry insider told frockwriter that "distress rates" have become the new black in the Australasian fashion and beauty media, with 25percent off ad card rates offered by some outlets - with last-ditch, last-minute offers of 40percent off not unheard of.

Model ID fail @ ACP

myf shepherd, not shepard, at christian dior haute couture SS09 - and definitely not alexandra agoston-o'connor/getty

Frockwriter doesn’t want to be too hard on the poor old worker bees over at ACP, especially in the wake of today’s news that this week’s edition of Grazia carries a mere 11 pages of ads and advertorial. Whilst Woolworths reports that it is moving Grazia from the prime checkout position in “the majority” if its 780 stores to the general magazine section, due to slow sales - amidst predictions that circulation figures for the December quarter, due for release next month, are expected to be lower than the 70,000 of the initial audit. But look for all the time that the “acp.com.au” domain name spends on this blog every day, we are disappointed that a few key details seem to be getting lost in translation.

Firstly, accompanying Grazia's online haute couture diary from Alexandra Agoston-O’Connor today, is an image from yesterday’s Christian Dior show in Paris, together with the caption:

“Alexandra walks in the Dior haute couture spring 09 show in Paris”.

screengrab grazia.ninemsn.com.au

Guys, that is not Agoston-O’Connor at all, but in fact another Australian model, Myf Shepherd.

FYI this is Agoston-O'Connor in the same show:


christian dior SS09 haute couture/getty

Memo to ACP stablemate Harpers Bazaar moreover, that is in fact the correct spelling of Shepherd's surname, as distinct from “Myf Shepard”, as is reported today by the Harpers' team re Shepherd's new incarnation as muse for the Superfine denim brand (which frockwriter reported last week):


screengrab harpersbazaar.com.au

We all make mistakes. But, you know, if indie blogs and web forums which don't have your gargantuan resources (not to mention advertising) can get it right, then why on earth can't you?

It's not like you spend so many hours newsgathering your own original stories that you don't have the time to check.

Sadly this is neither the first time that Harpers has called Shepherd Myf "Shepard":


screengrab harpersbazaar.com.au

Nor even the second occasion:


screengrab harpersbazaar.com.au

Thanking you.

Grazia's "incredible" figures while other weeklies slide

ninesmn

Frockwriter hinted that Grazia might have a good Friday. Well congratulations are due to Alison Veness-McGourty and her Grazia team, who have apparently dumbfounded the critics – including frockwriter – by achieving the magazine’s target circulation of 70,000+ copies for its preliminary Audit Bureau of Circulations audit. That’s obviously an average of the first 10 weeks of sales, including what one assumes would have been blockbuster early issues. It's about the only good news for ACP on the weekly front, with the circulations of all other Australian weeklies falling from 0.7 to 18.4percent in the July-September period. Pacific’s Famous fell by 18.4percent.

In a press release Pat Ingram, Publishing Director, Women’s Lifestyle, ACP Magazines, noted:

“We are delighted to confirm that Grazia has hit our launch expectations. Readers and advertisers have embraced Grazia’s unique mix of fashion, entertainment, news, trends and beauty and these figures underscore how in just three months Grazia has already made its mark.”

There remains some confusion as to the exact nature of this first audit.

Media analyst Steve Allen told frockwriter on Tuesday that it was a “publisher’s statement” - and indicated that Grazia’s figures had been flagged with the letters “PR” on the Audit Bureau of Circulations November 30 audit report.

B&T also refers to it today as a “publisher’s statement”.

Crikey today refers to it as a “publisher’s estimate”.

Yesterday, the Audit Bureau of Circulations told this blog that it most definitely is not a publisher’s statement, but a "preliminary" independent audit, based on 10 weeks of sales, because the magazine had not been publishing for the complete 13 week cycle.

Pat Ingram also referred to the success of grazia.com.au which has generated, she noted, “an incredible 9,830,512 million page impressions in just three months”, citing Nielsen Online data for the July 21-October 31 period.

Anyone who punches in the grazia.com.au URL to web intel site alexa.com might be nonplussed to find that grazia.com.au does not even register on alexa.com’s Top 100,000 list.

Punch in grazia.ninemsn.com.au however and it certainly does register in the Top 100,000 – not as grazia.ninemsn.com.au, but as ninemsn.com.au. This is for the simple reason that alexa.com makes no differentiation between the two.

A Nielsen Online spokeswoman told frockwriter that Nielsen has definitely been tracking the right site. Well, that's good to know.

Citing Nielsen data once again, ninemsn.com.au calls itself:

“Australia's leading online media company”, which is visited by "over 8.2 million people each month, representing 75 per cent of Australian Internet users".

Frockwriter understands the ninemsn.com.au site would have generated “hundreds of millions” of page impressions over the July 21-October 31 period.

With link love from ninemsn.com.au, and a A$7million marketing campaign, by all accounts it is not so incredible that grazia.com.au could achieve those results.

Grazia's good Friday?

ninesmn

Ah Grazia. Has there been another Australian fashion magazine which attracted as much kvetching from the get go? Frockwriter can’t think of one – and nor can Australia’s most high profile media analyst, Fusion Strategy’s Steve Allen. Launched on July 21st amidst a blaze of hype, and a A$7million marketing campaign, the knives were out for the mag by mid September, with reports of slow newsagency sales and word on the street that Grazia publisher Australian Consolidated Press “won’t remotely” make its November audit target of 70,000+ copies. Then last month came reports of ACP retrenchments and further speculation that 150 jobs at the PBL parent, in addition to some magazines – notably Grazia – may be under review. Which speculation prompted this opinion piece from frockwriter. The latest rumour? That Grazia is about to go monthly. Flatly denied by ACP. Now comes news that an internal ACP audit [correction: preliminary independent audit according to the ABC] of 10 issues of Grazia will be included in the Audit Bureau of Circulations' September 30 audit. The results are embargoed until midnight Thursday 13th November.

The latter information was delivered to ABC subscribers, including Steve Allen, on Tuesday morning.

Although obviously unable to release the information, Allen told this blog that in spite of the fact that it’s a mere publisher’s statement, it is nevertheless an encouraging sign for the magazine.

[UPDATE 13/11/08 @ 12.16pm. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, this is not a publisher’s statement, but a "preliminary" ABC audit of 10 issues - preliminary, due to the fact that Grazia had not been publishing for the normal 13 week cycle].

“If it was going to be dire, they just wouldn’t audit” Allen told frockwriter on Tuesday morning.

It was in fact an abrupt volte face from our conversation late Monday afternoon, during which Allen reiterated sentiments that he had previously expressed in The Australian, that the industry buzz was that Grazia was not doing well.

“All the other publishers are saying they’ve seen scan data results” said Allen. “Noone will go on the record. It could be that the industry is ganging up on ACP. They’re saying they haven’t got a hope in help of reaching their target, but I have no idea”.

I had phoned Allen to hear his thoughts on the monthly edition theory – to which Allen replied that although in 30 years tracking the Australian publishing industry, he could think of publications which had increased their publishing frequency, he was at a loss to recall anyone going the other way (obviously overlooking The Australian Women's Weekly, which became a monthly in 1983).

Noted Allen on Monday, “We’re going into a small recession and feeding a weekly title that has a rate card set in our view at around 100,000 copies and if it’s half that or less, it’s just a mouse you can’t feed in a downturn. So it wouldn’t surprise us (if Grazia went monthly). And we could see how they could rationalise their decision, but to us that would be really declaring defeat, we couldn’t believe then that they had got to their target. If they had got to their target they would produce evidence of their circulation. And they have produced none. We’ve always doubted that they could find a gap in the market for the numbers that they were talking about. So perhaps we are a bit negative. But everything that we are told suggests that they’re battling”.

He added, “The way they’re handling this, they’re either supremely naïve or there’s the biggest amount of bitchiness in the market that we’ve ever seen. I haven’t seen a rival publisher that will say anything positive”.

In light of the new ABC September 30 audit information however, those rival publishers will now have to “put up or shut up” according to Allen.

When asked if ACP was considering changing Grazia’s frequency, ACP spokeswoman Hannah Devereux told frockwriter:

"Grazia is a weekly magazine and will not be going monthly".

Now while Devereux is obviously au fait with what’s happening with the Australian edition of the magazine, as a general statement about Grazia, FYI the latter does not appear to be entirely correct.

Grazia was originally launched in Italy in 1938.

According to the websites of the magazine's various coeditions however, almost half of Grazia’s now 12-strong international lineup (which includes both English and Arabic editions of Grazia Middle East), does not in fact publish weekly. The Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek and even, incredulously, Indian, editions publish monthly. Grazia Croatia is published bi-weekly.

Evidently those publishers are a little less bullish than ACP.