Porter’s spring 2015 cover
Tiffany & Co., Ralph Lauren and Chanel are among the advertisers lending support to online retailer Net-A-Porter’s spring issue of its branded magazine, Porter.
With content focused on fashion and beauty, built up by prestigious advertisements from leading fashion houses, the spring edition marks a year since Porter was released on newsstands in 2014. Porter, a full glossy imprint, allows Net-A-Porter to connect with consumers beyond the initial point of sale to give more context to products and services, while still providing a path to purchase with many of its advertising partners available on the retailer’s ecommerce site.
“The 298-page Spring issue of Porter, featuring Natalia Vodianova on the cover, was our first anniversary issue and was supported by a dedicated global marketing and PR campaign that included branded taxis in London during London Fashion Week, retailer wraps and window takeovers in London and New York, as well as in-store activity culminating in higher than normal visibility in key markets around the world,” said Tess Macleod-Smith, vice president of publishing and media for The Edit and Porter magazine at Net-A-Porter, London.
“In just one year, Porter has quickly established itself as a fashion authority and provides a new conduit for luxury advertisers offering them a unique global buy that targets a highly influential, high-spending, discerning audience,” she said.
“Our reader, the Porter woman, has an enviable household income of $230,000 and an average annual expenditure of $34,387 on fashion, spending well above the competition and making her very desirable to all the major premium advertisers.”
Heroines in print
Opening the spring edition of was Tiffany & Co. with a gatefold advertisement for its Tiffany T collection. The four-page fold out included campaign imagery as well as product photos.
On the reverse side of Tiffany’s effort, Porter continued its cover with Ms. Vodianova. On the opposite side of the Tiffany T ad, the model is shown within the leaves of a colorful tree.
Tiffany & Co. gatefold effort
This was followed by a Ralph Lauren spot introducing its new Ricky drawstring handbag. Within the front of the book Chanel, Gucci, Giorgio Armani and Burberry placed efforts showing off their women’s wear collections.
Also seen in the space were campaigns by Italian leather goods maker Tod’s, women’s fashions by Michael Kors, Valentino, Donna Kara and Versace as well as eyewear by Tom Ford.
Tom Ford campaign
Opposite the first section of content listings, Fendi promoted its latest apparel and accessories against a seasonally appropriate light blue background. The continued table of contents was framed by an ad by Estée Lauder Cos.’ La Mer.
Once within the content well, advertisers such as Balmain, Jimmy Choo and Lanvin secured pages. In addition, fashion label Diane von Furstenberg, Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille and accessories brand Anya Hindmarch also promoted their wares in Porter to appeal to its readers’ fashion-forward sensibilities.
French fashion house Chloé aimed to stand out among its fellow fashion advertisers with an ad printed on different paper stock to create a sensory read that will stick with the reader as she spends time with the spring issue of Porter.
Chloé ad printed on newsprint-like paper
Other ads included in the issue were placed by Sisley, Mulberry and Peninsula Hotels. Dior was seen on the outside back cover to close the spring 2015 issue.
Net-A-Porter Group also featured a series of self-promotional efforts within Porter. These included its ecommerce platform Net-A-Porter, its shopping application for Apple mobile devices and its personal shopping services. For readers unfamiliar with Net-A-Porter before purchasing the magazine, these efforts helps to inform and educate about the brand’s services.
Ad for Net-A-Porter’s concierge services
“For the spring issue, we featured leading luxury advertisers from Dior and Chloé to Fendi and Tom Ford,” Ms. Macleod-Smith said. “Ninety-three percent of the top 25 luxury fashion advertisers have invested in Porter to date and this includes brands not just stocked on Net-A-Porter.com.
“We have also flipped the business model on its head with our 65 percent editorial versus 35 percent advertising ratio,” she said. “Our readers love glossy ads but they don’t want to wade through 200 pages of mass advertising before they reach the editorial pages, which is why our ads are targeted and luxury focused and our editorial page count consistently high.”
Content included in the issue included profile pieces on “modern heroines” such as Thandie Newton, Bjork and Donna Karan, a look at how DNA sequences may be the key to youthful complexions and nearly 300 pages of spring fashion coverage to “empower and enchant” Porter’s readership.
What’s in print?
As many luxury publications have slowly turned toward mass in response to the changing publishing industry, Porter’s introduction, the retailer’s first venture into print media, has created tension among competitors because of how far down the purchasing funnel it resides. With no regional content and only pure fashion and beauty coverage, Porter instantly appeals to Net-A-Porter’s following of 6 million in a way that other imprints may have trouble competing against.
According to The London Evening Standard, Porter is causing alarm at both Hearst and Condé Nast for a multitude of reasons such as its established fan base, a high price of $10, far-reaching distribution, simultaneous digital version’s release and that the fashions included are curated to be wearable and, most importantly shoppable.
Therein lies the defining difference. Porter’s most competitive element is that although the campaign efforts from designers such as Gucci, Fendi and Valentino can be seen in other established imprints, Porter’s readers can shop its pages instantaneously (see story).
“We provide a service and seamless journey for our customer which is embedded in entirety throughout the magazine with every page in Porter shoppable,” Ms. Macleod-Smith said. “Our readers love the instant gratification that technology provides alongside the luxury of print and since Porter launched a year ago, they have scanned more than 90,000 products from our pages.
“Porter readers can also buy products from our pages not sold on Net-A-Porter.com, including fashion, books, travel packages, tickets to events and concerts, through third party sites,” she said. “We also offer a unique concierge service which provides readers with access to a personal shopper 24/7, 365 days of the year and in 22 languages.”
Final Take
Jen King, lead reporter on Luxury Daily, New York