When I started the print edition of Lucire, I had hoped that we could do a fashion magazine that was uniform globally, as was the case on the web. However, I might be going through just what our competitors did: the inevitable localization of the title.
   Last night, I uploaded the cover of Lucire Romania to the corporate server, and as you can see, it’s very different from the master edition in New Zealand. The lady on the cover is a Romanian celebrity, Adina, photographed by Florin Radu, while in New Zealand—though it would sell particularly well in the US—we have Theodora Richards (daughter of Keith and Patti Hansen), photographed by Barry Hollywood.
   Somehow, print has not shaken off many of the old-media, world-with-border characteristics and that includes the addition of a local celeb au couverture. That makes brand management that much harder to do, in my opinion, but we will have to—and it will be a welcome challenge to see how we can manage perceptions that readers globally develop. I guess I overestimated the homogeneity of markets in the post-internet age.
   Now, should we do an Arab edition, imagine how that would change things … Bring it on.

Del.icio.us tags: Lucire localization globalization fashion magazine magazine publishing brand branding brand management homogeneity markets Posted by Jack Yan, 22:54  permalink

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