Covers Sell

The August 19th, 2019 TIME cover (Enough) is getting lots of free promotion on CNN and other left-leaning media outlets in the USA.  The cover is in response to the tragic mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio this past week.  The cover lists the 253 cities that have been impacted by a mass shooting this year.

The striking cover, is a great example of 3 of my cover Rules:

Rule #6:  Be Controversial

Rule #31:  Radical Clarity

Rule #32:  Timing Matters

Here’s what the Editor-in-Chief and CEO of TIME.had to say about the cover:

Last year, we put five survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on the cover of TIME, with the word ENOUGH emblazoned across the image. Determining the cover is always a team discussion, and in the course of it, some in our newsroom urged that we not use that word. How to determine what exactly is enough? Wasn’t it enough at Columbine? At Virginia Tech? At Fort Hood? Won’t it be enough when, sure as night follows day, the next massacre occurs?

We all have our measures of how obscenely normalized domestic terror has become. At TIME, one is how frequently we have felt compelled to devote our cover to the subject. In my own less than two years in this job, we’ve run seven of them, from the 2017 massacre at a Las Vegas music festival that killed 58 people to this spring’s murder of 50 worshippers at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In recent days, as the heartbreaking news from Gilroy to El Paso to Dayton swept across America, I thought about these covers as well as the hundreds of images from mass shootings we’ve published over the years. Terrified children who survived Sandy Hook walking single file to safety. Giant photographs of the dead at the prayer vigil for the victims at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. The side-by-side graves of two brothers killed, among 11 altogether, at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Searing images and yet somehow forgotten by leaders with the power to effect change.

The May 2019 issue of Vogue magazine is getting tons of free social media buzz for their latest cover featuring Kim Kardashian.  (It’s her first “solo” cover with USA Vogue).

The “big news”?

1.  Kim wants to become a lawyer.
2.  Fashionista purists want legitimate fashion models on the cover

Great cover.  Sure to sell.

This image from the Daily News may not be a magazine cover, but it sure looks like one. Bold graphic.  Big Type.  White background. Clever and concise cover line.

The 2018 People Weekly “Sexiest Man Alive” cover is getting lots of free earned media.

And why not…it’s a smoking hot cover.

The new Ski Canada Buyers Guide 2019 is the Cover of the Week.

Designed by Truth + Dare (Formally K9 Design), this cover really gets the job done.

I love the bold type treatment in particular.  Nice use of other key elements such as:

• Cover Slash
• Good use of Upper Right Corner
• Good use of numbers to quantify value proposition

Look for this one to sell!

The Aug/Sep 2018 issue of Canadian Woodworking is on newsstands now.

Art Director Jonathan Cresswell-Jones has created an evocative cover that will pull at the souls of Canadians, both those who have a cottage or cabin, and those that aspire to do so.  And woodworkers and home improvement folks will be itching to get started on this exciting project.

The skybar works hard with call outs, color, and a Free Poster premium.  The sell lines all take full advantage of the left hand real estate.  The button adds some zip.  And the number 23 helps quantify the value proposition.

The Fall/Winter 2018 issue of Weddingbells is now ready for its big reveal…and it looks glorious.

“Stories to watch for include “Viva Las Vegas,” a colourful fashion editorial that redefines the idea of a glittery and glam Vegas wedding; chic hair inspo taken straight from the fashion runways for creating the coolest updos; décor ideas to suit every celebration from traditional to modern; an eight-page photo feature showcasing gowns with unique texture, silhouettes and design details; and our ever-popular and always-anticipated real wedding coverage highlighting the most beautiful Canadian weddings and destination weddings submitted by Canadian readers,” says Alison McGill, Editor-in-Chief.

Pushing the Royal Wedding trends is a smart move.

The issue goes on sale June 28th.  It sells for $8.95.

Look for this one to sell.

The July 2nd, 2018 issue of Time magazine is a great example of the power of a great magazine cover.

The image of a two year old Honduran girl in tears (taken by Pulitizer Prize-winning photographer John Moore) has been photo-shopped into an ominous image of President Trump looming over her.  The headline, Welcome to America, sums things up in three short words, and creates a powerful and emotional reaction.  If you google the cover, Time, CNN and the Huffington Post comes up pushing the magazine.

UPDATE:  The Washington Post reports that the cover image used to vilify Trump is “Fake News.”  The Washington Post reports that, “the father of the girl confirmed to The Washington Post Thursday night that the child and mother were not separated.”

The story goes on to say that, “In Honduras, Denis Javier Varela Hernandez recognized his daughter in the photo and also feared she was separated from her mother, he told The Post.  But he learned this week that his wife and daughter were not, in fact, separated. The mother, 32-year-old Sandra Sanchez, was detained with her nearly 2-year-old daughter, Yanela, at a facility in McAllen Tex., Varela said.”

It turns out that the mother of four abandoned her other three children, left without telling her husband, and paid a human smuggler or “coyote” $6000.   The Post goes on to say that, Time magazine’s story, recounting the Pulitizer Prize-winning photographer John Moore’s experience at the border,  initially stated the girl was carried away screaming by border agents,” but have now admitted that that was incorrect.

The controversy swirling around the cover as “fake news” will only help it sell more copies.

Like many U.S. magazines in Canada, sales were tougher to come by in 2017.  Vanity Fair actually did better then many of the other top brands, with sales slipping 13% overall.  Only 3 of 12 issues posted gains in their respective time slot in 2017 vs. 2016.

The second-best seller of the year was the Oct 2017 issue, featuring Meghan Markle on the cover.  It sold 30,015 copies at an impressive 40% sell-through efficiency.  The average sale on the other 11 issues was 20,974 copies, so Meghan was up 9,041 copies or 43% compared to the other issues last year…that’s noteworthy!

That success must have made the decision to feature the happy Royal Couple on the cover of their June 2018 issue quite simple.

Not to be outdone by their crosstown rivals at the New Yorker, the April 2nd issue of New York magazine sports a cover depicting  President Trump as a pig. Excellent photo-shopping work!

As is typically the case, reactions to the cover are predictably partisan.  Comedian Kathy Griffin, who was investigated by the Secret Service for her decapitated Trump head,  loved it on Twitter.  Others ask the question: How would you feel, had Hillary Clinton won, if New York magazine made her into a pig? Would that be funny?

New York magazine is probably just loving all the attention and sreaming “Wee Wee Wee”, all the way to the bank.

Be controversial.