Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 09:26
Smocky
My comments re advertorial are general and certainly not aimed at any specific magazine. Some do it, some don't.
In my experience the extent to which magazines do this tends to depend on
(a) whether the magazine's management has a marketing as opposed to an editorial background - if it has, editorial may be seen primarily as way of filling holes between the advts.
(b) Whether the magazine's revenue is primarily from advertising as opposed to magazine sales.
Classic examples of advertorial will be found in some ultra-glossy magazines that cost many times more per copy to print than they recover in sales revenue. They literally lose money on each copy sold - but must have the circulation to justify the advertising charges. Some of these magazines' content is almost entirely advertorial.
Also extreme examples are so-called 'trade magazines' where advertorial is almost totally routine.
My objection to it is that many readers seriously believe the stuff is genuine editorial and tend to believe that the claims frequently made are the opinion of the magazine. This stuff is either written by the advertiser or their PR or advertising agents and usually run totally un-edited.
There is one further point. Some specialised glossy magazines are often mostly bought by people for vicarious or other interest. A very good example is some truck magazines - these are rarely if ever bought by truckies. They are selling the sizzle not the steak!
I'm not sure to what extent this is true of 4WD glossies - but the ongoing and extensive coverage of
rock crawling and mud bashing events (that must sure only be indulged in by a tiny majority of buyers) causes one to ponder.
Collyn Rivers
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