Thursday, September 02, 2010
REALITY CHECK: American Society of Magazine Editors: Sexiest Cover
When talking about what makes a sexy cover, former Toronto Life editor Marq De Villiers used to say: “Well, that depends entirely on ones glandular bias.”
Of the six covers nominated for Sexiest Cover by the ASME editors, only one features a male on the cover. One can’t help wondering what the glandular biases were of the nominating group?

Nominees for Sexiest Cover by ASME
Nominees for Sexiest Cover by ASME


As most advertising executives know, and as most circulators have learned  by trial and error, “sex sells”.  More to the point, sexy covers often sell better than covers that are, well, un-sexy. One of the major motivators to do a “sexy” cover is to help drive sales. So if any category should be judged by how real newsstand consumers voted with their wallets, this surely is it.

Reality Check on Vanity Fair Cover:

While I personally love this fetching cover featuring Penelope, apparently it didn’t work at the newsstand. It was the worst-selling issue of the Jul/Dec 2009 rate base period, selling 309,000 copies according to ABC statistics. The average for the period was 444,400, so this issue sold 30% less than the overall average. Ouch! Not the result Vanity Fair was hoping for when pouring her into that clingy dress.

Reality Check on GQ Cover:

While clearly a more fitting cover for GQ than the disastrous Bruno cover, GQ couldn’t have been too happy when newsstand sales registered just 177,000 copies sold. Only one other cover sold worse during the Jul/Dec 2009 period according to ABC statistics: (you guessed it…Bruno). The average of this period was 193,440 copies sold. Kind of shocking that GQ’s two worst performers have both been nominated by the ASME editors.

Reality Check on Sports Illustrated Cover:
Ok, we have to be honest, this issue is in a league of its own, and it is probably unfair to even pretend otherwise. This sexy cover sold a staggering 925,000 copies at newsstands, according to ABC statistics.
Last year’s Swimsuit issue sold “only” 875,000 copies, thus a 6% improvement this year.  Impressive. But considering that SI sold 1,080,000 in 2008 and 1,060,000 in 2007, one might argue not sexy enough to be a winner when readers voted by reaching into their pockets relative to their own internal benchmarking.

Reality Check on Bazaar Cover
:
No one can possibly argue that Kate Hudson isn’t sexy. I wonder why, on this cover,  they didn’t really play up her name, or her face, rather than all those flowers. According to ABC statistics, this cover sold 170,613 copies, 7% better than the overall average for the Jan/Jun 2010 period. Not bad at all, particularly in a slow US economy. But I suspect that they were hoping for a slightly bigger result at the newsstand cash registers.

Reality Check on New York Cover:

Excuse me…but that is a  very sexy cover for a city magazine. I can’t recall Toronto Life ever daring something quite this luscious. Seems that this cover struck a nerve with their audience, as sales reached 24,901 copies, a 35% improvement from their average of 18,446 for the Jan/Jun 2010 ABC statement. That’s a big result.

Reality Check on Entertainment Weekly:
Is that 12 pack for real? Or has this cover been photo-shopped? This eye-popping cover sure was popular at the newsstands. ABC statistics report that it sold 85,903 copies, a staggering 112% better than their average of 45,409 for the Jan/Jun 2009 period. Only one other issue (the Movie Preview) out of 23 published by Entertainment Weekly in this rate base season sold more copies. Despite my glandular bias in favour of New York, I think we have a winner!

- Scott Bullock
About Me
Scott Bullock

 
Scott Bullock is the the creator of Coverssell.com. Bullock has worked as circulation director for both consumer and B2B magazines including Toronto Life and FASHION. If you have a great cover to share, please send all submissions to 
scottbullock(at)rogers(dot)com

Note to readers: some of Bullock's posts may refer to his clients.
Most Recent Blog Comment
Kelly says:
Any news on how it performed on newsstands?...
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