Press: Vogue Australia and Online Lives

I rang a friend of mine (male) and gushed that I was quoted in a Web 2.0 article in May’s edition of Vogue Australia (Is your life better online? by Cathrin Schaer). He rang me back a little bit later, most miffed. “There’s NO photos of you, and the magazine is full of ADS!!” Bless. It’s my brains, not my *cough* beauty that got me a few paragraphs. But his response was exactly the same as the father of an ex’s years ago. The same incomprehension as to why women would pay 8 bucks for a fashion magazine while ignoring the fact they pay the same amount for a car magazine that have articles sponsored by car manufacturers.

Of course, fashion magazines are advertising through and through. But then again, if advertising and marketing is done properly, it’s valuable information in a pretty form. Why do we get up and walk away from *free* advertising on TV, yet pay the 8 bucks for a fashion or car magazine? I don’t know, but it probably depends on the quality and context of the ad. Mass media versus niche (fashion, cars). The challenge today is that less and less of us are willing to fork out the dollars for a magazine. I was reading the statistics for the drop in magazine consumption here in Australia a few weeks ago — it was in AdNews or B&T or something, will link later if I find it – and the news wasn’t good. I believe there is a place for hardcopy magazines, but they have to integrate better with online. I’d rather read a hardcopy magazine article in bed, knowing there are 20 links I’m dying to look up in the morning (or subjects I want to wiki further) , than read the same-old same-old. Or maybe it’s just the smell. I hadn’t bought a fashion magazine for ages, until I bought this May Australian Vogue and I had forgotten how.. sumptuous?… they smell. Yum.

So here’s some homework for you – does Vogue have a great catwalk/fashion show in Second Life? How does it compare to other services the fashionable avatars milling around in there have, including some fantastic designers running SlURL (Second Life URL -websites) in/out of game. What well known designers have stores in the megaplexes? See you inworld! *waves*