Competitors P1 (d)

Competitors

Purpose

The purpose of this task is to find out Vanity Fair's biggest rivals and discuss the advantages and disadvantages between the business and its competitors. 

Meaning 

This means that through this research I will be able to oversee what position Vanity Fair is in compared to the other companies within Conde Nast, helping me to discuss its popularity and position within the market. 

Vanity Fair is one of many fashion/lifestyle magazines that are sold on the market. The magazine industry is huge, consisting of many retail businesses each competing to gain loyalty from regular and potential customers. Conde Nast is not just the parent company of Vanity Fair, it subsidises many other fashion/lifestyle companies that include: 

• Vanity Fair
• Vogue
• Teen Vogue 
• Allure
• Architectural Digest 
• The New Yorker
• Golf Digest
• Golf World 
• GQ 
• Lucky
• Conde Nast Traveller 
• Glamour
• Details
• Self 
• W
• Wired
• Ars Technica 
• Bon Appétit 
• Epicurious 
• Brides 

These fellow subsidiary companies will all be in competition with Vanity Fair as they will aim their products towards the same segments of the market, all being fashion/lifestyle magazines. 

The magazine industry is a very competitive market. This is due to the constant changes in customer demands and updated fashion and/or lifestyle trends. This means that magazine companies need to always be up-to-date with these latest market movements, otherwise they would be at risk of losing customers to companies that have adapted well to adjustments in customer needs, resulting in potential capital shortfall from decrease in sales. This industry is very competitive as it is all about the company that releases "IT" first. Whether it be an article or latest fashion breakthrough, each of these fashion/lifestyle magazine companies are all competing to release the next best thing first. This is is order to gain more customers, being seen as the most up-to-date business and is the main reason why this market is so competitive.

Vanity Fair is well known for being in competition with The New Yorker magazine. Many articles have been published discussing the competition between these two magazines, however the debate has never been settled of which one is most popular due to the constant changes in customer trends. 

The screenshots above are from Vanity Fair UK's media kit. They show statistics of Vanity Fair's most recent conclusions of media rates.

The screenshot below shows Vanity Fair's Print Audience, Average Monthly Unique Visitors and Press and Social Impressions Generated in the Past Year.

I have looked at the statistics of sales for each magazine company that is subsidised by Conde Nast. The screenshots below show the individual statistics for each subsidiary, which will help to compare them and see which company has made the most progress in the past year. I have highlighted Vanity Fair's statistics because this is the information I am interesting in for this unit. It tells me that an ABC (Auditory Bureau of Circulation) of 90, 018 posted for Vanity Fair actively purchased sale have improved by 2.7%.

The Auditory Bureau of Circulation

The ABC is a circulation auditing organisation that certifies and audits the circulations of major publications including newspapers and magazines.

Biggest Competitor - Vogue

Vanity Fair and Vogue have always been the most common rivals within Conde Nast. This is because of the similar genres they follow and both appeal to the same time segment of the market.

Vanity Fair Advantages:

• Covers a wider range of topics to Vogue, more than just fashion
• Both appealing to men and women
• Reliable sources
• Good reputation

Vanity Fair Disadvantages: 

• Vogue comes with the brand name, (people will buy Vogue because of the brand) and Vanity Fair does not come with the same kudos as Vogue. 
• Many readers are not interested in the politics, so Vogue is more suited to fashion.