In Post-Print Era, Glamour EIC Focuses on Building a Site Women Will Pay to Visit
*By Carlo Versano*
As digital advertising is increasingly beholden to the Google/Facebook duopoly, Glamour is experimenting with what it sees as the future of the industry: a multi-faceted revenue model that uses a combination of traditional ads, metered or niche paywalls, events, audio and e-commerce, even as it kills off its one-time moneymaker, the monthly print edition.
Samantha Barry, Glamour's editor-in-chief, told Cheddar in an interview Wednesday that she sees the 80-year-old iconic brand as a "service for women," and wants it to be a place where they can consume relevant content and shop for relevant products on a regular basis.
The site was redesigned with that ambition in mind, and unveiled to users this week.
"In the digital world, what's valuable is not the 'one and dones,'" she said, referring to readers who click on a single piece of content and then leave the site. "It's the habit."
Glamour made the decision to discontinue its regular print edition late last year in order to focus on this model, which Barry said is already showing promise. She mentioned that video views have grown by triple-digits, thanks in part to a strong YouTube presence, and the newly redesigned Glamour.com now sees 85 percent of its traffic from mobile.
Just last week, Glamour cut several staff members, including its executive beauty editor of five years. But according to Barry, the magazine has no plans as of now to continue the layoffs.
"We're actually doing some hiring," Barry said.
With Glamour parent Condé Nast recently announcing that it would put its entire stable of titles behind a paywall by the end of the year, Barry noted that not all paywalls are created equal. Some titles institute metered paywalls to great effect ー The New Yorker, another Condé title, for example ー while others have built adaptive paywalls that decide when a reader has read enough for free (see The Wall Street Journal), and still others have put up blanket paywalls (see the FT). For Glamour, it could be entirely different still, Barry said, mentioning a possible niche paywall for specific verticals.
For a paywall to be successful, the underlying brand needs to be rock solid in the minds of readers. "They'll pay for content that they really think is worthy," Barry said.
The addition of an e-commerce revenue stream makes sense for Glamour readers, according to Barry. They're already coming to the brand for advice on beauty and fashion products, which is why she prioritized that element in the site's redesign.
"The shoppability of the site was a really important thing for us," she said. "In the last quarter, our shoppable galleries increased by 250 percent."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/glamour-gets-digital-makeover).
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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