Another international women’s magazine, Marie Claire, is launching a local issue, but the interests of most women in South Africa are still being neglected, say local black editors. Gillian Farquhar reports
COMPETITION is hotting up in the magazine market with internationally acclaimed French title Marie Claire poised to launch its local edition in May.
Coming close on the heels of the local launches of French-owned Elle and American- owned Ebony, the newest foreign kid on the block has a tough task ahead amid South Africa’s shifting readership patterns.
Many women’s magazine editors say that while Marie Claire is a very competitive product globally, it is unlikely to find more than a very small niche position in the local market.
Black magazine editors argue that foreign titles launching here do not adequately attempt to tailor themselves towards expressing local culture and are simply extensions of their international siblings, with little else to offer South African readers.
They also argue that while the market of the future lies in the growing black middle class, the predominantly white-owned local publishing houses largely continue to neglect the magazines already addressing this market, vying vigorously to acquire rights to prestigious foreign titles instead.
True Love editor Khanyi Dhlomo-Mkhize says the revamp among local black magazines has come too late, forcing more “aspirational black people” to read across the traditionally white magazine market. She agrees that publications like Femina, Fair Lady, Cosmopolitan and Elle focus largely on white readers, but it is not necessarily racist for a magazine to cater predominantly for the needs of one cultural group, she says, as reader identity is central and the “key to a magazine’s success”.
But while local white women’s magazines have come a long way in multi-cultural coverage, there is still a tendency to cover only high-profile black people rather than the issues, and to do so from the perspective of the “other”.
Dhlomo-Mkhize says True Love steers away from featuring local black models on covers because the status of the model in South Africa is nowhere near as high-profile as internationally. She agrees with Cosmopolitan editor Vanessa Raphaely that using a local black model on a title with a predominantly white readership affects sales negatively.
Bona editor Willie Bokalo questions whether it is feasible for magazines to successfully carry off the frequently espoused multi-cultural approach. Magazines like Marie Claire and Elle might appeal to the broader market in 10 or 20 years time, but not now, he said.
Bokalo also argues that Ebony, although a magazine for black readers, is “totally missing the mark by reporting on South African issues and affairs from a US perspective.”
Dholomo-Mkhize agrees: “There are still inspirational black US role models and issues that South African readers can benefit from, but the interest in foreign goods is on the wane as black South Africans no longer put US culture on a pedestal.”
Former Drum bureau chief Ramotena Mabote argues that the “sophisticated upwardly mobile black woman” will choose magazines that address her identity within her own culture and that this will always be more attractive than any foreign perspective.
At a time when the circulation of most women’s magazines is down, the huge increase in True Love’s readers since its revamp is evidence of this, he said.
But he criticises some of the local magazines, both black and white, for still not doing enough to reflect cultural diversity.
Marie Claire will be published locally by Republican Press under a franchise agreement with French publisher Marie Claire Album, and initial circulation figures are projected to be in the 50 000 region, according to local edition editor Pnina Fenster.
With Audit Bureau of Circulation figures showing overall magazine circulation figures plummeting to 251 000 last year, and almost all women’s magazines reflecting the downward trend, Fenster admits that competition is tough.
South Africa’s re-entry into the international arena is a fitting time for Marie Claire to launch here, as “building the budding internationalism in South Africa’s women was the magazine’s mission statement”, she says, adding that there will be an equal balance between local and international fashion and features.
She also says Marie Claire will feature covers of local black models although this is rarely done in South Africa.
But editors across the board agree that, for the moment at least, much greater reader interest lies in local issues, personalities and events, although foreign titles have a certain exotic appeal.
Femina editor Jane Raphaely contends that while the local brands Femina and Fair Lady are successful brands in the older market, both of these and Cosmopolitan also now enjoy a growing black readership – and the three editors put the figure for their respective publications at between 30% and 40% black.