Elle Magazine

This summer, I'm an ad sales and marketing intern for Elle magazine. We're located in Hearst Tower in New York City with a view of Central Park. Since starting at Elle in early June, I've learned that magazines are split up into two sides: the editorial side and the publishing side. The editorial staff is the creative brain of the magazine. They conceive the content and decide what to put in the magazine. That is, what stories to run or what clothing, accessories and beauty to feature. The publishing side (where I work) brings in the revenue. If you've read a magazine lately, you probably skipped over the advertisements, because no one buys magazines to look at pictures of tampons. People buy magazines to see content: clothing trends, book reports, personal pieces, etc. If anything, advertisements are an annoyance. While I agree with you, advertisements are usually something I skip over, after working here for a month now I have come to develop a great appreciation for ads. An incredible amount of precision is put into the order and placement of advertisements in a magazine. Brands from Estee Lauder, Dior, Chanel, to less hifalutin brands like Crest and Kotex pay a very specific, negotiated, and intentional price for the quantity and placement of their advertisements. Not just page number, but also where it is in relation to content. The most sought after ad spots are the inside of the front cover and the back cover. If you open up Elle, you’ll notice the earliest advertisements are always high brands such as Chanel, Prada, D & G, Dior, Valentino, etc.  

My job as an intern is to lend a helping hand wherever needed. The other day I was preparing a "call prep" for the Chanel account. A "call prep" is used to prepare our SVP to meet with the executives of other companies. The purpose is to remain in-the-know and updated about the latest goings-on of our clients. For the Chanel call prep, I researched the latest news on Chanel through a fashion insider website called WWD.com. WWD, or Women’s Wear Daily, is the hub of the most recent and relevant news concerning the fashion community. I included articles with titles such as “Chanel Ranked Most Searched Brand in China” and “Gisele Bundchen Is The New Face Of Chanel No. 5:” essentially, a newsfeed of Chanel’s activity. I’ve learned here at Elle that homework is not something reserved for high school and college. Homework is a practice that continues into the professional world. Not necessarily our traditional sense of homework sheets and flash cards, but the idea of coming prepared. Homework, while a pain, allows us to verse ourselves in the subject matter, so that, when exams roll around, we know exactly what we’re getting ourselves into. The same goes for business meeting or proposals. The more preparation beforehand, the more successful you’ll be. That’s it for now, I’ll keep you posted in the days to come on all things Elle.