ACP’s power of journalism ad is the right approach
ACP has had a rough year or so, but I must admit that as a journo, I rather like the ad campaign the magazine publisher launched this week.
It’s putting the journalism at the front of its message with a lineup of the editors of its women’s titles.
(You can see an enlarged version by clicking on the image)
It ties in with the hiring policy which appears to have been focused on bringing in some story-getting steel, not least with the appointment of Helen McCabe, formerly of the Sunday Telegraph, to lead Australian Women’s Weekly.
As a journalist, I like the recognition that editors are what determine magazines’ success. It’ll be interesting to see if ACP feels similaerly confident to do the same with it’s men’s editors.
But I’m also impressed because it sends something of a signal that the bloodletting is nearly done. If any of these people was imminently for the bullet, they’d probably not have created the campaign. But it’s brave nonetheless. I’ll predict that we’ll see this image in the future with red crosses over the faces of those who don’t make it.
Tim Burrowes
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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I’d be interested to know how many of the line-up have a journalism background
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ACP’s complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing… do they honestly not appreciate how smug and ridiculous this ad makes them look, especially in the face of all their recent sackings?! As for journalism being the new black, if a magazine publisher is only just realising that quality features keep readers coming back, well, that’s a pretty sad state of affairs.
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Urgh…more fashion shoot than statement about talented editors and journalists. I too would be fascinated to know how many of them have a background in journalism. And I don’t think being the ‘beauty editor’ responsible for a few pages each month featuring all the freebies they’ve received really counts as journalism.
Smug and embarassing – just another reason to stop buying magazines, not that I needed another one.
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Agree with the comments so far – this story was also covered on Girl With a Satchel today and the comments haven’t been very complimentary there, either! (Mine included…).
This ad made me CRINGE. So tacky and condescending. I’ll be voting with my wallet and scrapping all ACP purchases, not that I make many these days…
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I agree with all the comments above also, it’s all a load of bullsh*t. When I first saw this ad I rolled my eyes. ACP editorial staff and the brand itself are so pretentious, and the ad campaign above just reaffirms that. Kate B hit the nail on the head – the ad is smug and condescending, and you can see that just by looking at their faces. I admit, I do buy Cosmo and Cleo every month, and every month I say “That was rubbish – why did I just buy that?”.
The editorial content is swapped between the two titles, with just a layout and image change, and yes, they only really write about the free stuff that gets sent to them by the PR companies. Cleo and Cosmo’s “Body Love” is all bullsh*t too, as they still feature stick thin models with hip bones protruding out in their major fashion shoots. Yuk.
All a load of crap if you ask me…
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“The power behind our great magazines”?
L’Oreal, apparently.
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I love it. It’s a powerful image of strong women at the top of their field: interesting to see the bitchy negative comments (here and on Girl With Satchel) come from what appears to be women. Quel surprise. And why do people automatically assume they don’t have a background in journalism? I can see at least five women with rock solid newspaper and/or TV news credentials. More power to the sisterhood, I say.
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The power of great content rather than journalism would be more accurate here and perhaps attract less criticism.
Let’s not get too hung up on the journalism credentials of these women. Their role isn’t to write a good story, it’s to understand the needs and wants of their respective magazine audiences. Some of the most successful magazine brands past and present were edited by ‘non-journalists’, including the highly-successful Lisa Wilkinson of Cleo’s heyday and marie claire’s Jackie Frank.
As someone who cut my teeth as a newspaper cadet chasing ambulances and doing more than my fair share of door knocks and then spent the last 20+ years as a magazine editor and publisher, I’m happy to support the argument that there is more than one path to the role of editor.
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Good to see ACP has found new ways to objectify women.
While they’re there, why not put them in a house in a reality tv series so we can really see the “power behind our great magazines”
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I look forward to “Shop to You drop’s” powerful expose on the drug trade fueling Indonesian people smugglers!
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Speaking of highly-targeted quality content, the world of wedding planning will be transformed on Monday when TheKnot.com.au launches.
Sorry, couldn’t help myself – women’s lifestyle on the web is an incredible place to be right now!
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