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compelling story and understands how to tell it. The online media provides no
exclusivity to any parties. It is with the same click of mouse that we can exit
any media website that disappoints and it doesn't cost consumers anything. A
new era has arrived in online communications that is challenging the “maga-
zine madness” of luxury brands. It is no longer a question of banners, buttons,
pop-ups, pop-downs, pre-roll, post-roll, leader-boards and skyscrapers. The
tune of the music has changed and the current keywords are trust, content,
engagement and accountability.
True, there is no reason why luxury brands should stop advertising on
the websites of mainstream magazines but this should be done if the web-
sites offer real value in terms of what online clients are seeking and not
because they are called xmagazine.com. It is also not enough to say that
an online magazine has a blog (hey, my 12-year-old nephew also has
a blog) or that it has a community with several forums (which mostly lack real
activity, to be honest). The reality, however, is that in most regions and lan-
guages it is not the online versions of the mainstream magazines that are pull-
ing the weight of attracting and engaging the most readers within the online
luxury client segment. Those that are providing real and valuable content
and engagement have arisen from an array of independent pure-play online
magazines led by the pioneering LuxuryCulture.com (Figure 5.3), which is
so far the only online luxury magazine that can claim real “high gloss” status.
Others are all responding to the needs of today's online luxury clients much
more than mainstream media websites - for example, Prestigium.com, which
has built a dedicated readership; LuxuryBriefing.com (Figure 5.3), which pro-
vides access exclusively to its subscribers; Luxe-Mag.com, which remains of
the few online platforms focusing on informing and exchanging on luxury
business issues; JC Report, which has grown from an independent editorial
to an interactive online resource; as well as the recently launched Iconic Chic
(Figure 5.3), which has also integrated an active blog. These should naturally
be in the list of destinations for online luxury advertisements.
The magazine sector is still in its infancy online. Most of the mainstream
magazines went online without a visible and feasible strategy and, as a result,
started off by offering content for free with the anticipation of compensation
in advert revenues. This approach by magazines and news publications was
literally a death wish, except the moves made by the likes of the
Financial
Times
and
WWD
, which were wise enough to restrict access through under-
standing that online clients will pay for valuable content and could ignore
invaluable content even if it were free. The Internet has, however, evolved
beyond information dissemination and the web is not about advertising.
Placing an advert for Cartier's
Balon bleue
watch on magazine and newspaper
websites can be considered as low in engagement if the audience is wrong.
Also, in the past, luxury adverts used to be highly anticipated and speculated
before they were released in the press. This was part of the buzz and excite-
ment around the brand. Today they are previewed, screened, discussed and
