Lagardile SCA, the parent company of France's Hachette Filipacchi Media, sold its magazine division to the American media conglomerate Hearst. As a result, Hachette Fujingaho became a subsidiary of Hearst and changed its name to Hearst Fujingaho on July 1, 2011.
In the spring of 2012, former editor-in-chief of ELLE Japon, Akiko Mori, had taken a three-month break after finishing her role at ELLE when the president gave her a new mission: to begin research into the launch of a Hearst magazine in Japan.
Hearst magazines include Harper's BAZAAR, Esquire, and COSMOPOLITAN. While Japanese editions of all of these magazines had been published, they were no longer available in Japan. I began my research by investigating why this was the case and how it came to be. After interviews with people involved with the three magazines, agencies, and clients, and a compiled report based on two months of meetings with the company's president, the decision was made to "launch" Harper's Bazaar. Previous publications had been licensed by a Japanese company, but this time, a subsidiary with Hearst's DNA would publish directly, making it a true "launch" for them. The official name of the Japanese edition was therefore decided to be "Harper's Bazaar," since adding "Japan" or "Japan" would make the title longer. In October of that year, Editor-in-Chief Mori traveled to New York with Advertising Director Akihiro Saiga to discuss the launch with Hearst executives. The launch was set for September 2013 or March of the following year. Mori met with Bazaar US Editor-in-Chief Glenda Bailey, Creative Director Stephen Gunn, publisher Carol Smith, and the international team (who would actually work with the publisher). Unfortunately, Stephen was away from New York, so we were unable to meet.
"I've known Carol for a long time, having worked as the publisher for the US edition of ELLE during my time at ELLE. I was well aware of her talent, so we were both excited to work together at BAZAAR," said Executive Editor Mori.
Carol was in the midst of reforming BAZAAR, increasing circulation and advertising, and achieving great results. When working with overseas clients, it was reassuring to have such a talented acquaintance at headquarters.
During my stay in New York, I presented and discussed staffing and budgeting with the US side. For the time being, nothing can move forward without approval from the home office, but on the flip side, it was also a good opportunity to learn the basics of BAZAAR's history.
