Fashion Headline (FH): Rather than separate the media, will magazines and the web naturally move in that direction as readers use them differently? Editor-in-Chief Tsukamoto Kaori (K): The UK edition of ELLE has a fully integrated print and digital editorial department. It's also common knowledge that web traffic drops on weekends, so to compensate for this, we distribute information on weekends to prevent traffic from dropping. The circumstances are different in the UK and Japan, but there are some areas where they are ahead, so we sometimes take inspiration from them. I think print and the web will become more closely linked in the future. I think that's the case in France as well... Editorial Director Valérie Tranian (V): Yes, that's true. The web and print are linked. During editorial meetings, both editorial departments discuss content. However, even if the content is the same, the formats are different, so the purposes for using the web and print versions are different, and the information people are looking for is different.
We mustn't forget that the 15-25 generation may start with the online ELLE and eventually buy magazines.
FH: What do you think the future holds for magazines and online media?
V: The way internet and print readers use magazines and their behavior are completely different. Just as the advent of television didn't eliminate radio, I don't think that online media will completely eliminate magazines. However, if magazines don't have the beautiful visuals and rich content that are their greatest strengths, they may lose out to the web.
K: The visual quality of online media is quite high. For example, if you look at the editorial pages of Net-a-Porter, the quality is quite high. There is great potential for more of that in the future. But it doesn't really matter whether you start with the web or print.
V: Our mission is to always create new things with creative ideas. We don't see the internet as a threat; rather, we see the two media as complementary. However, the Internet is evolving every day, so new tools and services may emerge, leading to new developments. Right now, I think it's an attractive platform in terms of the amount of information it provides.
K: In the future, some people will likely come across the world of fashion and high-quality visuals through the Internet. I believe that print and the web will be able to coexist, depending on which device they choose.
V: ELLE is a brand. Those who choose the brand will choose print, but it's unclear how they will use the Internet afterward. This is because the business model has not yet been established. I believe finding a business model that allows the Internet and print media to coexist will be a future challenge.
K: As Valerie said, we are the ELLE brand, so our shared goal is what we communicate. Protecting the brand is a shared challenge, and the magazine and the web will work together. We plan to actively use the Internet to share expressions, such as videos, that are unique to the web and cannot be expressed on paper.
FH: Thank you.
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