Per editor: Dong Xingsheng
On October 27, Liao Meichun, former president of Condé Nast China, posted on her personal public account that Chanel is the single brand with the highest amount of investment in vogue China in the past 16 years, while LVMH Group is the luxury group with the highest total investment. However, both of them have significantly reduced the amount of annual advertising for the magazine in 2022 as the Chinese edition of VOGUE has begun. The move brought the top fashion magazine back to the table, along with its company Condé Nast.
Founded in 1908 as a world-renowned international periodical publishing group, Condé Nast owns several well-known magazines including VOGUE, GQ and Vanity Fair. Among them, vogue, which is known as the fashion bible, has been published and distributed in a total of 26 countries and regions around the world, and the Chinese version of VOGUE Clothing and Beauty was officially launched in September 2005, and in the past 16 years, this magazine and four other fashion magazines have been called "five major journals" by the domestic fashion industry and fans, and the Chinese version of VOGUE is the first in dispute.
In October this year, Gong Li debuted on the cover of "VOGUE Clothing and Beauty", which subsequently triggered a heated discussion among netizens, and the number of Weibo-related topics read exceeded 300 million. In the past 16 years, the top female star has never appeared on the cover of VOGUE, and according to Liao Meichun's revelations, this stems from the fact that VOGUE, as an international magazine, cannot accept Gong Li's practice of shooting magazines to decide the cover photo by herself.
VOGUE China October edition preview Image source: official Weibo
It is worth noting that Cartier officially announced Gong Li as the brand's global fine jewelry ambassador in September, and then Gong Li appeared on the cover of the September issue of Jia Ren, one of the five major issues. After other magazines, a monthly magazine with a cover by the same star was launched, which was the first time VOGUE Clothing & Beauty had done so. According to Liao Meichun, during an online meeting in May, the managing director of Vogue China clearly revealed that VOGUE China faced a performance gap of more than 16 million in the second quarter, and a performance gap of more than 3 million in July. The performance gap that needs to be filled has become an important factor in its final choice of compromise.
<h2>How the youngest person in history is going to lead VOGUE to a "new chapter"</h2>
The above-mentioned insider online meeting is the first internal meeting of the new editor-in-chief and colleagues of VOGUE China. In February this year, Condé Nast officially announced that Zhang Ning, an Australian-Chinese fashion blogger born in 1993, would succeed Zhang Yu, who announced his departure at the end of last year, as the new editorial director of vogue China.
The youngest VOGUE boss in history has mixed reviews, but the common question is, why her?
VOGUE official announcement Image source: Zhang Ning's personal Weibo
It is understood that Zhang Ning's parents moved to Australia from Zhejiang, China in the early years, and when she was a child, her parents sent her and her brother to learn dance, and she developed an interest in fashion in the process of learning dance. At the age of 16, Zhang Ning opened his personal blog "Shine by Three" and embarked on the road of a fashion blogger. In 2016, Zhang Ning produced and appeared on the two digital covers of the inaugural issue of VOGUE ME. In addition, she is the co-founder of Background, a global consulting firm where she is responsible for communicating Chinese and Western cultures.
"Her international experience, exceptional multi-platform digital expertise and extensive interests make her a great person to lead VOGUE Apparel & Beauty into the future." Anna Winthur, editor-in-chief and global editorial director of VOGUE, said.
However, the work of the editorial director of the magazine is not limited to content production, and soliciting advertising is also a major focus of the editorial director's work. Before becoming the founding editorial director of vogue China edition, Zhang Yu had successively served as the editorial director of ELLE China and the editor-in-chief of Marie Claire's Hong Kong edition. Based on his previous contacts and experience, Zhang Yu led vogue China all the way forward, coming behind in a number of fashion magazines.
For Chinese audiences, Zhang Ning is unfamiliar. Zhang Ning, who lacks contacts and industry experience in the Chinese market, may not bring eye-catching economic benefits to the magazine for a long time. Compared with its 1.44 million Instagram followers, Zhang Ning's Weibo followers are only 61,000.
After being officially announced in February, Zhang Ning did not take office immediately, but did not officially launch the first monthly magazine he created until September, titled "New Chapter". The new cover features a new face, and together with the new leader, officially joins the new market competition.
Cover of vogue China september issue Image source: official Weibo
It is reported that Zhang Ning will report directly to Anna Wintur, and according to the original business structure, his direct supervisor should be the president of Condé Nast China. This was seen as an expansion of Anna Wintur's power. In fact, the century-old media giant has been operating for more than two years in terms of tightening power.
<h2>Chinese companies leave 81 people in 1 month, and the shortcomings of large companies are becoming more and more obvious</h2>
Liao Meichun appealed in September last year for the abrupt dismissal of Condé Nast China, a personnel dispute against the country's top executive that once made a lot of noise and tore up the personnel reshuffle that the group was going through.
According to the announcement of the Chaoyang District Labor and Personnel Dispute Arbitration Commission in Beijing in September this year, Liao Meichun won the labor arbitration, and Condé Nast China decided to file an appeal.
After Liao Meichun was dismissed, Zhang Yu, who worked for VOGUE China for 15 years, the head of vogue In Germany and the head of the Spanish version also left their posts. In the first half of this year, there was a personnel shock in the departure of senior executives such as the editorial director of the French version of VOGUE, the Indian version and the Japanese version, the editorial director of the British version, the GQ version of the French version, and the editorial director of the French version of Vanity Fair. According to a list disclosed by Liao Meichun on his personal public account, since September last year, a total of 81 employees of Condé Nast China have left, of which 22 employees have held important positions.
Image source: Liao Meichun public number leak screenshot
In contrast to the wave of departures within the group, the power of the New York headquarters has been strengthened. Beginning at the end of 2018, Condé Nast will merge Condé Nast, which is responsible for the U.S. operations, with Condé Nast International in the UK. After the reorganization, the New York-based leadership team had global oversight powers. According to CEO Roger Lynch, the aim is to ensure that all markets remain "globally localized."
In addition, the expansion of individual power within the group is also evident. Anna Wintur, who has been the editorial director of VOGUE's U.S. edition since 1988, has long been the soul of the magazine, and the role of Meryl Streep in the famous film "The Queen Who Wears Prada" is based on her. Even so, it continued to be promoted by the group to chief content officer and global editorial director at the end of last year. This means that Anna Wintur will have the final say in all publications of Condé Nast Global Markets.
At an all-staff online meeting last May, employees asked directly if Anna Winthur would leave the company, according to the New York Times. Roger Lynch immediately responded firmly, saying that Anna would not go anywhere. This reflects from the side that even within the company, employees are not satisfied with the fact that the fashion female demon has too much power.
Too much concentration of power is not a good thing for a century-old business, especially a media company. In the ever-changing market competition in the Internet era, traditional media not only faces the impact of emerging channels, but also the squeeze of online content such as streaming media. From the current actual situation, Lynch's "global localization" is undoubtedly to globalize the strategy of the New York team.
This is not unrelated to condé Nast's family business attributes. In 1959, Samuel Newhouse, the founder of the Newhouse family, bought Condé Nast and became the de facto controller of the media giant. Because it is a family business, condé Nast's specific financial data has been rarely disclosed.
According to the New York Times, an anonymous insider revealed that in 2019, Condé Nast's U.S. division lost about $100 million, and the European division also lost money. CEO Lynch did not respond positively to the figures, but said the group's ongoing restructuring and merger did cost more.
Anna Wintur Image source: Personal Instagram
Notably, in 2020, Condé Nast announced a 10% to 20% pay cut for employees earning more than $100,000 a year starting in May, and a 20% and 50% reduction for Anna Ventur and Roger Lynch, respectively. In addition, the group laid off hundreds of employees while reducing hiring. Affected by the pandemic, advertising, which accounts for about 70% of the group's revenue, fell significantly, and according to Enders Analysis, magazine advertising revenue in the UK market alone decreased by about a third.
In the face of the darkest hour of 2020, Roger Lynch has not stopped thinking about the group's business, and the 2019 CROSS-border CEO believes that in the future, one-third of the company's revenue will come from publishing magazines and digital advertising, another third will be contributed by the video business, and the last third will come directly from readers. As a media company, content is still the foundation of Condé Nast, so he plans to increase his investment in content by 25% in the next four years. At the same time, Lynch also recognizes that magazines are no longer the top priority for brands, and existing distribution channels need to be improved.
Whether the "global localization" strategy can help the group achieve growth on the business side is unknown, but at a time when the drawbacks of large companies are becoming more obvious, how to improve the personnel structure to release the vitality of the group's global team may be more worth thinking about.
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