Uncovering possibilities, purpose, passion for leadership, marketing, sales
I hate to say I told you so, but Conde Nast this morning announced that it is closing Portfolio Magazine. Back in September 2007 I wrote a post, “Portfolio Magazine: Slick but will it stick,” examining why I didn’t think this business publication would make it.
The real reason wasn’t the economy or advertising decline. Read the post for details, but in summary the magazine had too much high anxiety, too few trend, how-to, and apsirational stories.
It was pretty, though.
Conde Nast’s Portfolio magazine is gorgeous. But I don’t like it. I couldn’t put my figure on why until I mapped out the articles in the October issues of Portfolio and Fortune against the “9 Themes People Like To Talk and Read About.” (See chart below.)
While both publications run about the same number of personal stories and glitz and glam features, Portfolio, unlike Fortune, runs many articles that raise apprehension, fear, doubt and anxieties about different businesses or business trends. Consider the headlines on the Portfolio cover flap:
“Did Chiquita Finance Murder: Inside the Company’s Death-Squad Crisis,” “Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht Exacts His Revenge,” Google: The Worst News Ever for Cell-Phone Carriers.”
“Anxiety” stories once had appeal, but have lost their juice because the media and politicians have over-played the anxiety angle. Elevated security levels, retirement crises, healthcare fraud….it’s too much negativity all the time about topics people can generally do little to change. So we tune out the anxiety stories.
Another difference is that Fortune features five stories on “avalanches about to roll,” those big trends about to happen, compared to just two in Portfolio. These stories always appeal to business people because we like to be insiders about what’s coming next and be early in tracking big trends. Aside from having so few “avalanche” stories the Portfolio trend articles seem not so trendy — one on the PC industry in China and the other on alternative fuels for cars.
Business people love how-to stories and a reason to believe in something or someone. Yet Portfolio has neither type of story. Fortune, on the other hand, features “How to be a Great Leader” on its October cover. Aspirational and how-to? You bet.
|
Portfolio (Oct. 2007) |
Fortune (Oct. 1, 2007) |
|
| Aspirations | Leader Machines | |
| Anxieties | The Banana War
Trading Spaces Money Guns Gods His Fault: Blame Greenspan Crash Test Economy Hello, Ma Google |
|
| Personal stories | Revenge of the Hotel King
Rita’s Hail Mary Pass Game On Shari Redstone’s Big-Screen Test Showing Some Spine |
A Conversation with the Chairman
Time for Change You Got Served Meet the New Steel Road Warrior Andrea Illy Private Equity’s Black Sheep |
| Glitz and Glam | Show Trials
Nastier than a Speeding Bullet The $59 Million Arm Sex and the Symphony |
Classic-Rock Saviors
Wall St. Turns 20 PepsiCo’s Broadway Bet The Fast Lane |
| How-to | Break Free! | |
| Avalanche | The Great Laptop Forward
Big Green Machines |
MySpace Strikes Back
Would You Buy a Bridge From This Man? (infrastructure funds) The New Land Grab Cash in on the Rebuilding Boom India’s Pizza Wars |
| Counterintuitive | Drilling for God | |
| Event-related | none | none |
| David vs. Goliath | none | none |
Being a longtime magazine junkie, I hope Portfolio can make it. Without a new tone, however, my bet is that it will be gone in 18 months.
If there are some Portfolio lovers out there, help me see what I’m missing.