Local stars more bankable
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E-mail China Daily, September 9, 2014
Chinese fashion and lifestyle magazines sell better with cover icons that readers can relate to.
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Chinese fashion and lifestyle magazines increasingly favor local celebrities on cover pages, such as actresses Fan Bingbing and Li Bingbing, who help increase sales and circulation. [Photo/China Daily] |
Jiang Wen, Li Yuchun and Fan Bingbing might not be household names in the West, but when China's top editors at fashion and lifestyle magazines want to sell more copies, they approach the three stars, who are among the hottest go-to people to have on the cover.
As the Chinese market for lifestyle magazines grows, editors have gotten to know their audiences well, and in the high-stakes game of developing tastes and competition for readers, highlighting of Chinese models and actors, among others, is essential.
Even though the Chinese versions of international magazines like Elle, GQ and Vogue are at least partly occupied with direct translations from their flagship American issues, localization, both on the cover and inside pages, is critical to growing readership and loyalty in China.
Some international stars might sell but China's big stars always sell better.
Finding the celebrities and stories that connect with China's evolving readership is an ongoing challenge for the country's editors. The equation - providing compelling content for a domestic audience, often with an international flair - can be complex.
"Chinese readers often get a bad reputation as only caring about image, and all the qualities typically associated with 'new money,' but in many ways, that is a misrepresentation," says Angelica Cheung, editor-in-chief of Vogue China.
"Chinese women are becoming increasingly focused on not only fashion and consumption, but leading a positive, healthy lifestyle. With this in mind, I definitely try to reflect this in our cover choices - whether Hollywood celebrities, Chinese celebrities or international supermodels, they not only need to have style, but also substance, they need to represent this Vogue woman that we wish to portray."
Cheung notes that her cover stars and content reflect Vogue China as a leading Chinese fashion magazine that reaches an international audience. Chinese stars who have made the cover cut include actresses Maggie Cheung, Fan Bingbing, Zhang Ziyi and Li Bingbing.
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