Industry
One of the largest industries in the world is the media and entertainment industry. For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to work in the media industry at a major fashion publication such as Vogue or Elle. As one of the most diversified industries, media and entertainment offer a wide assortment of careers and ventures throughout the world. Bringing in more than $632 billion dollars annually, the media industry makes up a third of global industry ("Media and Entertainment"). Consisting of TV, print, film and radio, the media and entertainment industry is wide-ranging and ever-changing. Media Industry giants include Condé Nast, The Walt Disney Corporation, Time Warner, iHeartMedia, and Twenty-First Century Fox.
Condé Nast is a mass media corporation founded in 1909 by publisher Condé Montrose Nast, that owns over 19 publications worldwide including Vogue and GQ. The Walt Disney Company is a mass media corporation founded in 1923 by Walt and Roy Disney as an animation business that eventually grew into TV, film and theme parks. Time Warner, also known as Warner Media, is a multinational media company owned by AT&T that spans film, TV and publishing agencies. iHeartMedia is an international entertainment corporation founded in 1972, that specializes in radio and also hosts live events and concerts. Twenty-First Century Fox is a multinational media company that formed from the mass media corporation, News Corporation, in 2013 and specializes in the film and TV industry.
Company Overview
Condé Nast is an international mass media corporation that specializes in publishing some of the world’s most prominent magazine publications. Founded in 1909 by publisher Condé Montrose Nast, the company has been running for over a century and provides publications in a variety of sectors, such as fashion and interior design (Condé Nast International). With magazines like The New Yorker and Glamour, Condé Nast stands out against publishing powerhouses as one of the most diversified media publishing corporations. In 2015, the company moved their headquarters into the 1 World Trade Center in New York, New York and have been operating the bulk of their operations there, as well as their International division in London, England, ever since ("About – Condé Nast"). Their C-Suite includes Chief Executive Officer & President, Robert A. Sauerberg Jr.; Chief Financial Officer, David Geithner; Condé Nast Entertainment President, Oren Katzeff; Chief Communications Officer, Joe Libonati; Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, Pamelia Brucker Mann; and Artistic Director, Dame Anna Wintour ("About – Condé Nast").
As a global corporation with publications around the world, their business is conducting internationally, while the bulk of the company’s function remain in their New York City and London headquarters. Condé Nast’s customer rely largely upon the readers of the magazines that they publish, which include Vogue and all of their international affiliates, GQ, and The New Yorker. According to condenastinternation.com, the company’s mission is, “To excel. To engage. To entertain.”, which is accounted for within a majority of their print and digital brands (Condé Nast International). Condé Nast’s code of ethics is split between company and employee responsibilities in maintaining ethics specifically focused on no harassment or discrimination. The international operation not only creates publications around the world, but also invests in companies such as the Domino Media Group, Rent the Runway and Moda Operandi ("About – Condé Nast").
Current News
Since its foundation in 1909, Condé Nast has established its reputation as a well-respected publishing powerhouse within the media. Over the past couple of months, the company has made various decisions within their executive positions. Cameron Blanchard, Condé Nast’s chief communications officer left the company in early November after three years, to be succeeded by the company’s Vice President of Communications, Joe Libonati (Hays 2018). Earlier this year, Condé’s chief digital officer, Fred Santarpia, left the company with members of his digital team, only to be followed by the company’s chief business officer for Wired, Kim Kelleher (Hays 2018). Dawn Ostroff, Condé Nast Entertainment president, left the company to take on the position of chief content officer for Spotify earlier this year. Ostroff’s position remained open until last week when Oren Katzeff, former programming head for Tastemade, took over the position as the company makes transitional decisions within their executive offices (Hays 2018).
In this digital age, Condé has made increased decisions to consolidate their magazine operations by selling various publications. Currently the company is in the process of selling W, Brides, and Golf magazines, and made the decision late last year to turn their publication, Teen Vogue, into an online-only publication(Nicolaou 2018). It was announced last week that Condé would be shutting down their print issues for Glamour magazine, except for the occasional special issue, as the corporation is increasing their digital presence for the future (Nicolaou 2018). In late October, Condé Nast International announced that they would be introducing Vogue Hong Kong, in print and digital versions ("About – Condé Nast"). Vogue magazine and its international affiliates have been one of Condé Nast’s most in demand publications which seem to be a determining factor as to why they’re launching additional affiliates while closing other, less-popular publications in their company.
Earlier this month, Condé announced that they’d be launching a new creative Agency that specializes in advertising and branding named CNX. John Deschner was announced as managing director for the new venture after previously working as chief innovation officer for TBWAChiatDay LA ("About – Condé Nast"). Condé Nast’s publication, Wired, celebrated its 25th anniversary October 14th with a dinner party honoring the publication("About – Condé Nast"). Artistic Director, Anna Wintour, was in attendance along with famous guests Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian.
Website Review
Condé Nast’s official website is visually driven in that they include a lot of graphics that represent their publications as well as projects that the company is working on. Their front page includes primary news about a variety of their publications and a “Happening Now” section that slideshows their most recent tweets on Twitter. They make sure to include a “Brands” section that displays links to all of their publication’s websites, and an “About” section that outlines what Condé Nast is about presently, through their executive team, as well as a timeline of the company’s history. Their “About” section also outlines Condé’s social impacts and different company’s they’re currently investing in, as well as an ongoing database of press releases the company has put out. Recent Condé Nast press releases include “Condé Nast Appoints Oren Katzeff President of Condé Nast Entertainment”, and “Condé Nast Unveils CNX – a New Creative Agency with Expanded Global Capabilities- and Names John Deschner Managing Director”. On a section entitled “Careers”, the company outlines ways in which prospective employees may get in contact with the company and search for different opportunities with Condé Nast.
In their “Advertising” section, Condé Nast provides videos and graphics on advertising within their publication, as well as a sub-section on their Media Kit contacts that provide a link to their Advertising Terms and Conditions. At the bottom of the section they include a fill-in box for brands to leave their contact information for the company to connect them with the right people. Condenast.com also features a section on Condé Nast Entertainment, which is an award-winning entertainment studio the corporation launched in 2011. This section features trailers and descriptions of the studio’s current and past project, which include films “Only the Brave” and “The First Monday in May”. The last section featured on condenast.com, is a section linking to cnx.condenast.com, which is global creative agency specializing in case studies, as well as branding and advertising. Overall, condenast.com is extremely modern in its layout and also resources that allow for easy navigation and company insights.
Purpose & CSR
According to their website, Condé Nast “combines the power of our brands, the passion of our people, and our broad consumer reach to help support meaningful change in our community and the world.” They do so through their four initiatives: Glamour’s The Girl Project, GQ Gentlemen’s Fund, The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and SELF Pedal to the Finish. Each off their four initiatives were started from publications owned and operated by Condé Nast. Glamour’s The Girl Project is an initiative started by Glamour magazine that help girls who are struggling gain an education. With their partners, they help girls combat bullying, teen-pregnancy, poverty, etc. GQ’s Gentlemen’s Fund is an initiative that helps raise awareness for issues important to the modern man by supporting charities through sponsors including Nautica. The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund is an annual competition that was founded in 2003 to help American Fashion designers in growing their business through monetary support and mentorship. SELF’s Pedal to the Finish is a charity that funds a network of events in which groups pay for one to three-hour cycling events that raise awareness and money for the American Cancer Society. All of the initiatives that Condé Nast support are based in the values of their company and help Condé support meaningful philanthropies that help change our surrounding communities.
Social Media
The four main social media networks that Condé Nast use are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr. By far, Condé Nast uses Twitter the most, posting multiple times a day at all hours of the day. The majority of the posts made by Condé Nast on their twitter include links to articles from publications that Condé Nast own, or retweets of posts made by the accounts of publications they own. Overall, their twitter has ninety-one thousand followers, but they rarely interact or get interaction from their followers. Most of their tweets get less than 5 interactions, which is very telling of their presence on Twitter. When looking through the mentions of Condé Nast on twitter, the majority are from links to articles made by a Condé Nast publication, which shows the lack of engagement for the company’s audience.
On Facebook, Condé Nast has around sixty thousand likes, and posts every few days. Their posts are very similar to the ones on Twitter, and include different articles or videos centered around the publications they own. Their engagement on Facebook is slightly better than it is on twitter, with most posts getting around twenty likes or shares, but they rarely ever engage followers themselves. On Instagram, they describe themselves as a “Premier media company for the world’s most influential audiences.” and have around 104 thousand followers. Their postings on Instagram are weekly for the most part and include photos and videos surrounding events they are involved with and publications that they own. Their engagement is definity the best on Instagram, with most of their posts getting hundreds of comments and likes. Although their audience is more engaging, they do not reply to their audience on Instagram.
On the Condé Nast Tumblr, it is set up in a blog format with articles posted every few weeks. They have not posted on their Tumblr since April of 2017 though, which might be due to their lack of engagement on the website. Although they haven’t posted in over a year, they still list Tumblr on their website which is advertised for the world to see.
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