The Future of Luxury: Hearst Magazines Sees a Bright Future

A Changed LandscapeWhile past years39 summits were hosted in Milan O39Hara recalled plans made for 2020amp160quotchanged overnight when we instantly shifted our collective priorities to the things that mattered most the safety of our employees and their loved ones the continuity of our business the quality of the products that we make and the values that would guide our actions our interactions and our reactions to the circumstances around usquotThe hope is that this current period of retrenchment can lead to a rebirth of Luxury O39Hara believes that fashion and luxury are poised to play an even more central role in our lives because of pentup demand Hearst she added is central to helping brands tell their stories offeringamp160quotthe highest quality environment and the most highly engaged audiencesquotThe Future of Luxury RetailStellene Volandes Editor in Chief of Town ampamp Country and Editorial Director ELLE Damp233cor discussed the future of luxury retail with Oliver Chen Managing Director of Luxury ampamp Retail at Cowen and Company For Chen there are certain truisms about the luxury retail experience that are forever and transcend current events quotPeople haven39t changed in the importance of intimate service and personalizationquot he explained quotGreat customer service as well as integrating emotions and personalization in the experience is unchangedamp160But technology mobile artificial intelligence and personalization platforms are all great tools to offer better servicequotIs there a disconnect between the advancement of technological personalization and the type of inperson interaction that luxury consumers have come to expect from salespeople quotMobile is the new mallquot Chen asserted quotAll the interaction measurement that happens in the mobile phone when you are scrolling touching your purchasing history those can all be ask points that help inform what product you want how to really make the shopping experience frictionless amp8230 and help customers save time Time is the ultimate luxury so convenience is a big factorquotSo the convenience and ease of technology is a plus but there could a downside quotHow can luxury differentiate in a world where everything is available at all times And what is Luxury what is exclusivity in the age of ecommercequot he asked quotBrands like Supreme recommerce how to add experiential into the material these are all aspects we are seeing with the Uberfication of luxuryquotFor Volandes Luxury is visceral and has been reclaimed from genericization during the pandemic quotWe know what luxury is because we know what it feels like and at the core of the luxury experience is how it makes you feelquotChen added that Luxury is quotabout heritage craftsmanship of the brands and storytellingquotAccording to Chen the future of luxury rests with the younger consumer amp160especially as millionaires get younger in part due to the rise of wealth in China as well as the trend towards quotcasualization Because the way people dress now is very 39dawn to dusk39 You39re looking for versatility and value and a lot of the prestige is in the mix how you sort yourself with personal style and not necessarily headtotoe in one brandquot In sum however it is vital to know your customer understand that quotthe future is digital plus physicalquot and keep in mind quotthe three C39s amp160Convenience Curation and CulturequotKeeping Heritage Brands Relevant in an Evolving WorldMaintaining a relevant presence among consumers requires the understanding that luxury is highly personal and as Nina Garcia Editor in Chief of ELLE noted quotUsing our access and our platforms to really communicate what is happening and how we can have more social responsibility raise awareness of issues that are happening in our culturequotNick Sullivan Creative Director of Esquire explained that quotMagazines are the original influencers whether we are talking about politics or fashion or anything The context of knowledge that a magazine has amassed over the years particularly focused in its staff at any one time is a huge responsibility to tell the right storyquotDigital makes a magazine39s platform bigger than ever Garcia added In the past year ELLE has responded to world events by making quotOur content a little more nuanced and thoughtful than ever with information that the reader couldn39t get anywhere else and had meaning with what we were going throughquot she stated Fashion coverage also changedamp160so ELLE could keep the same quality as before the lockdown while being sensitive to the new landscapeLuxury Data and ActivationquotLuxury is all about relevance and creating desirequot explained Todd Haskell Chief Marketing Officer of Hearst Magazines With all of the uncertainty regarding consumer attitudes during the pandemic Hearst like so many others in the luxury space wondered what longlasting changes if any would continue postpandemic quotWould people still shop Would they treat themselves Would they indulge Would they put on a great outfit The answer has been undoubtedly yes Not despite the pandemic but because of itquot he revealed adding quotThe word 39luxury39 has regained its meaning It39s about feeling and experiencing something that alters a moodquotIn the past year Hearst39s platforms experienced robust growth onsite in video views and in social followers while driving 1 billion in ecommerce activity across the network quotContent drives commerce and commerce drives contentquot Haskell stated Hearst captures activity from a myriad of sources and devices ingesting 42 trillion data points every month Editors leverage this data to inform content decisions to better meet readers39 needs while on the business side Hearst leverages data to better meet the needs of its partners To this end the company offers a range of capabilities including audience segmentation and content targeting powered by AI that can use Hearst39s firstparty data as well as partners39 dataquotThe better we know our audiences the more precisely we can deliver content experiences that speak to their needs which helps us extract even more data and insight on the reader across every platformquot Haskellamp160notedCrafting Editorial ContentAnd how has this impacted content creation Samira Nasr Editor in Chief of Harper39s Bazaaramp160posed this question to Joyann King Executive Director of Editorial Business Development Town ampamp Country and ELLE Damp233cor Nikki Ogunnaike Digital Director Harper39s Bazaaramp160and Michael Sebastian Editor in Chief EsquireKing referred to Town ampamp Country wedding content quot2020 changed everyone39s plans drasticallyquot she noted resulting in content pivoted to reflect pared down plans and focus on elementsamp160quotthat would withstand the test of timequot such as jewelry information quotUse the authority in the space that you havequot she advisedquotThe fundamentals of content creation haven39t changed thoughquot Sebastian said quotGreat storytelling remains the same as it was before the pandemicquot but the way storytelling is executed has changed to accommodate social distancing and lockdown One big change however is how Esquire writes about restaurants and bars quotWe became advocates for the industry and the people who were struggling or out of workquot and advocates about the need for government assistance he explainedquotPeople are looking for community across platformsquot Ogunnaike noted quotWe are seeing success on Instagram sharing beautiful imagery through our print magazines videos from various fashion shows coverage from the inauguration with thought pieces around thatquot In addition she also sees how the fashion industry has come together in mutual support to adapt and innovate quotIt39s been heartwarming to seequot she saidConclusionWhile 2020 had challenges it also presented new opportunities From harnessing datadriven insights to sparking thoughtful content creation and finding new ways to get creative with technology luxury brands can unlock powerful potential for growth in 2021Click the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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The Future of Luxury: Hearst Magazines Sees a Bright Future

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Charlene Weisler

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