Tag: media

Categories
Fashion

Conde Nast does it AGAIN!

Conde Nast

Yet again, this time around 5% or around 300 people will get pink slips from Conde Nast’s 5,500 employees. As the New York based publishing house takes “death by a 1,000 cuts” road to profitability, I am starting to get the feeling perhaps it is not the patient but the doctors in charge of treatment. Round after round of lay offs and high profile exits seems to have yielded less than good results. In a letter from company head Roger Lynch, there were hints of more head count cuts to come along with a smaller office space footprint.

Conde Nast Vogue
Conde Nast/Vanity Fair

Twentieth century aspirational titles are becoming less relevant in the digital landscape. Platforms are algorithm centric where guys with no shirts, puppies and comedic irony rules. The parent company of Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair continues to struggle with declining ad revenue along as readers flock to short videos on TIKTOK and Instagram.

It begs some questions about the current centralised approach strategy for all magazines, one template fits all. How long can Conde Nast keep trying to “reduce costs” its way into the black column? Why is Fashion Empress Anna Wintour, still sitting on the thrown of a plush, yet continuing shrinking kingdom? Sooner or later the royal court will have to face reality.

Categories
Fashion

Fabulous Denial Syndrome

Being Fabulous! Aspirational living! This is the lifestyle Vogue and other Conde Nast publications put in our faces. That $1500 bag matched with a $900 linen top.  Advice; Pay the rent before heading to Bloomingdales. 

Once again the magazines find themselves in the headlines, but for the wrong reason,,AGAIN!  Six years ago Conde Nast debased from Mid Manhattan to the World Trade Center. Fast Forward to the 2020 Pandemic, ad revenue flat lined. Suddenly, those palatial 1.2 million square feet became a brick tied to an ankle in a sea storm.

Fashion magazines have been in a denial stage for a decade. Bloggers and social media elbowed in once exclusive territory. Brand advertising splintered. But to the heads of Conde Nast, this was a bump on a Champagne Boulevard. They had become victims of a movement they help create, “Living In A Fake Reality”. 

Nothing says success than new digs. Trading up, moving to 1 World Trade in lower downtown New York represented the future, optimism. Anna Wintour and staff sat on top of the world. August 4th  2020, reports started circulating Advance Publications, parent company of Conde Nast, is scouting for a new office. I had to do a double take. Suddenly, Vanity Fair, New Yorker, Teen Vogue’s 21 floors lost its appeal or a need to  “trade down”. Six months ago I saw Vogue editors coming in and out of the Bristol and Hotel de Crillon hotels in Paris. 

One Minute This, Then, 

In April requesting government a bailout, today negotiating cheaper rent. No more fashion week teas in “Le Boudoir”. Have the company credit cards been cut? No worries, if a Vogue Staffer is reading this, send me a message. I know a few affordable places in Paris and Milan.

Looking over the magazines social media channels, I could see problems. Access to the best writers and photographers in the world, yet, a lack of original content replaced by recycled stories. How many pictures can be from the archives? Or Vogue Challenges every week?  HMMM! 

All smokes and mirrors, denial is a fabulous way to live until a “reality brick” hits the face. 


Categories
Fashion

Fashion Mags Relevance

Before the lockdown many fashion magazines were under pressure.  Are they relevant during an ongoing pandemic?  As consumers face stark choices, the existence of many publications looks uncertain. Editions cut. Titles closed.  Selling bling is out of style. 

Check out our video on the matter.

Categories
Fashion

STILL, NOPE!

WHY? 

There is no fun in posting the pictures. What was once sharing experiences has turned into narcissism and greed. A digital feel good pill for those desiring “Z Level” fame. Perhaps it is because I had a life and travelled before the platform existed. Showing  “I am living a great fake life” borders on insane. Carefully curated pictures demonstrating fake joy reminds of the 1970’s sitcom “Brady Bunch”. During my college days people like this were called “MGM”. Meaning, they were fake.

My problem, I hate curating perfect experiences.  I am a what you see is what you get character, loving faults. On Instagram being yourself means a filter, photoshop, and rehearsing.

Pills 

Instagram has become a place of Prozac Reality. I cringe at some of poses and postings. The extremes people will do to get attention. A space to give those with no talent, appeal, experience, a chance to find popularity. The past two weeks, there were 3 Instagram Influencer scandals. I looked over the accounts of the three “None Appealing Fame Seekers”.

Lost on me!  If I saw any of them on the street I would not look twice. How and why they have thousands of followers escapes me. Most certainly a click farm service in Thailand has their credit card details. Just Saying! Sadly, one of the above Influencer scandal will involve jail time for “Glaming it Up” with a fake credit card. 

Still have not returned to the site, I check it, like a few pictures by friends.   During a campaign I asked my friends to like an images. But for most I am happy to stay off. Life is too short trying to be a full time Carol Brady. Sharing was once fun but evolved into silly, tragic, exhausting, and horrific.

Black and Paper stopped placing content on Instagram. This article was triggered by the site of an “Influencer” who photoshops pictures menus 8 kilos.

Categories
Feature

Our Anniversary

Life is Good

It has been over one year. We quit Instagram to the chagrin of many. Why? Insanity? Lack of followers? How would we survive in an age when so many believe in oversharing? Many thought this action was insane. Amazing how fast time flies. We are still here and doing ok, Instagram Free. 

I can appreciate the amount of time many “influencers” spend on one picture, the interaction with their fans, self esteem based on comments and likes.

However, Black and Paper decided not become a slave to the algorithm system that manipulates insecurities for a smidgen of fame. The joy of sharing overshadowed by digital narcissism. The quest for quick popularity moving as fas as a stroll on a screen. Thriving to show a life not lived, but more about projecting a fantasy in constant branding mode. I wonder how many selfies can a person post? How many selfies can a person see in day? If one scrolls fifty pictures, is the first image recalled?

One Year On! 

After one year, speaking to many professional media people about influencing and influencers there are still questions, many have doubts about how it works or if it works. But fear of missing out drives them. Opinions seem split where the Instagram Hype will go? Some say, “the bubble will pop.” While others firmly believe it will stay and evolve. The verdict is still out.

On a level I recognize the merit of the medium. For the impressionable, for certain products, these consumers look to influencers. Hyper consumption, buy today, wear 7 times, then throw away to buy new, this is the market for influencing, quantity over quality.

Black and Paper philosophy is “buy something that will last”. Have we considered returning to Instagram? No! Imagine spending 1 hour for a post, only 35 likes. We jumped off the merry go round and never looked back. 

Categories
Fashion Feature

Influencer, HOW?

Trust Issues! 

Has the influencer trend come to an end?   Not sure, but change is taking place. Influencer marketing earned 1 billion in 2017 but the shine is beginning to tarnish. Marketing survey firm Bazaarvoice released findings concluding consumers are growing tired of staged posts by paid influencers.  Many of the surveyed responded the quality of the postings are turn offs, repetitive posts lacking originality.

Asked, 63 percent felt influence content has become too “materialistic” and “misrepresents real life.” There is a feeling authenticity has been lost.  As well, 49 percent feel there is a need for tighter regulation of online posts.

Authorities on both side of the Atlantic have now started scrutinizing the influencer field. The United States Government Agency, The Federal Trade Commission has issued issued warning letters concerning paid posts without proper disclosing.  no enforcement has been enacted, yet. European Agencies agencies have actively notified influencers to delete undisclosed post. Many have lost court cases

Recently Dior made a social media splash by seeding the brand’s Saddle Bag to fashion influencers.

Dior Saddle Bag Social Media Success but at What Price

 The stunt felt cheap. Don’t get me wrong. I am a fan of the brand.  Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri won me over after the second collection. Openly giving away a $2000 bag on Instagram then expecting everyone else to pay, TACKY for a prestige fashion brand.

This is Social Media Pandering. Influencers who got the “freebie” did not even try to make good images of gift.  Pictures posing with the “trendy item of the season” were laughable, others cringeworthy. To add insult, lacking originality or fashion knowledge, there were plentiful but standard Junior High School Newspaper captions: “So happy to have gotten my Dior Saddle Bag”, “Love my Saddle Bag”.  An aspirational accessory felt like a retread jacket from H&M.   I hope “Fashion Degradation” does not go lower.

Social Media stars have become new celebrities, but if you ask what is their talent or appeal, the answer raises more questions: How does an app filter make a star?   How does an app filter make an expert?   I think we are still lost but going with the flow. 

Categories
Fashion

Why We Don’t Do It!

Inspired By!  I read this quote from a Hollywood Diva.

Categories
Fashion

Toodles, Facebook?

Given the current crisis involving Facebook and CA, Black and Paper has decided to place its Facebook account on hold, no more postings for the moment. Although no laws have been broken, we feel the current level of trust is eroding on the social media platform. Why? It was an open secret about the Data Collection, a price all paid for using a free website, but Facebook continued to push the line and then crossed it without thinking of the consequences of its actions. Hubris has a funny way of biting the butt, even if you are tech giant with 2 billion followers. Facebook’s fatal mistake, taking its users for granted. Zuckerberg’s disarming “Everyday Joe” gray t-shirt cannot cover the fact his creation has become a bit of the creepy neighbor who leers through the peephole when you leave the apartment. Privacy for this company has become an inconvenience. Facebook has evolved into a neo-surveillance operation or serial stalker, wanting or desiring every detail of your life for the sole purpose of selling the information to the highest bidder.

Will we return to Facebook? We are monitoring the situation. Currently, we are looking at alternative sites, stay tuned.

Mark Zuckerberg is schedule to appear before US Congress regarding the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Affair. The Federal Trade Commision and United Kingdom Authorities have opened investigations concerning its handling of personal data.

Categories
Beauty Fashion

Not Thirsty!

There are some social media platforms that we like. There are some social media platforms we question. As a site for all things creative, inspiring, and wonderful being in a place of thirsty, desperate wannabes employing questionable means is not for us. Taking all of this into consideration, Black and Paper has decided to quit Instagram.

Endless narcissism, relentless self-promotion, and less than transparent followers means a lot of effort but not sure about the end results. The Instagram skills of a pictures using filtered effects or daily selfies have become a source of mass appeal, not in our book. Black and Paper supports real talent; artists, fashion designers, writers, and photographers and all other creative types.

Do we hate Instagram? No! But we feel as a site it is no longer in the spirit of social media. There are only so many product placements, advertising, and partnership hashtags we can endure in threads. After seeing influencers with multiple images of different brands, many in the same product category, writing the standard commentary including “love my new,,,” or “favorite”, sooner or later authenticity will become an issue. One influencer we have watched, with “thousand of followers”, endorsed or promoted seven different sandal brands in 2 weeks. Instagram has become a full time lifestyle for some, a source of validation, a fast route to fame, a way to live vicariously.  Our online presence is not motivated by those behavior patterns. We try to keep it REAL!

Lastly, we do not understand algorithms of Instagram. What makes an image popular? Buying “likes” from bots. Daily pouting selfies. Using a certain filter. Specific hashtags.

Black and Paper wishes the people who are successful on Instagram more success. For us, it was better to leave than continue.

Black and Paper would like to thank its on Instagram followers.  Please follow us here and on other social media outlets.