Good Housekeeping and innovation in the magazine industry

To innovate is to make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, and products. It is not a natural process – it is a conscious state of change that goes beyond standard development over time and instead excels.

The journalism industry has gone through a process and multiple stage development of innovation in the last 20 years.  Consumers are demanding more from the media and every other industry for that matter. Modern audiences are digesting journalism in a multi-platform way limiting themselves to snapshots and snippets of articles and videos. We as a generation and society are time poor, or at least like to think that we are, we prioritise social media and technology. This is despite using each app or website to a maximum of around ten minutes with several tabs to flit between with our small attention span. We demand that the media suits us, that the journalism is tailored, that we decide what’s important.

Good Housekeeping magazine is innovation. The household title published its first issue in America in 1885 and landed on British shelves in 1922. The women’s monthly magazine is the iconic publication for ladies of the 50s yet still continues to thrive today. It is the traditional women’s lifestyle magazine; using its connection with the past and the classical concept of the 1950s housewife. The publication continues to carry the same ethos and branding it set out with in the 19th century but with a few tweaks to attract a modern audience. The magazine had to change and modernize to accommodate the new, ever changing market that required more from its journalism. Good Housekeeping’s publishers’ made these changes in an innovative way.

The most important wave of innovation Good Housekeeping has focused on is its audience. The publication prides itself on its traditional core values and classical ideals of gender. Good Housekeeping is rare in the magazine market in that it is purely aimed at a female only audience and not solely prioritised on the idea of beauty. It offers advice and real value to the women of today.

The first ever editor’s letter more than 90 years ago explains the reason for Good Housekeeping:

‘There should be no drudgery in the house. There must be time to think, to read, to enjoy life, top be young with the growing generations, to have time for pleasures, to have leisure for one’s own – to hold one’s youth as long as possible, to have beauty around us – line and colour in dress, form and colour in our surroundings; to have food without monotony, and good service without jangled tempers…. The burning questions of the day will be reflected each month in articles by women in the public eye, known for their sound grasp of their subject – by women who can lead women, and who are fearless, frank, and outspoken.’

“It is a precise blueprint and so you could say that we have not moved on that much. Except, of course, we have.”

               Deputy Editor of Good Housekeeping, Michelle Hather

Originally, the magazine attracted the young housewife; it was the go to guide for how to be the best housewife and mother possible. Now, in 2015, priorities for younger women have shifted, 20-year-olds, are not rushing to be a wife or a mother. Middle-aged women are the ‘new housewives’ – the ladies to stay at home, the ladies that take pride in their homes and their families, the ladies that have had the career already. The modern reader is experienced; she’s lived her life, she’s been successful and reaped the rewards. She is the mother of the original reader. She reads not to be guided through life but to compliment her already fulfilled life – for tips and tricks but not as a rulebook.

The magazine formed The Good Housekeeping Research Institute in 1900 to try and test consumer goods so readers didn’t have to. Good Housekeeping recognised a change in housekeeping and a new era of progress that was named the machine age in the 20th century. Women had questions over the change in how to maintain their homes and the new gadgets appearing on the market. The period of innovation included the introduction of washing machines and electric irons to the consumer goods market. Good Housekeeping created a facility that no other institute of its kind had ever done before. The brand made a testing station in its magazine building that included a model kitchen, a domestic science lab and test stations. Good Housekeeping published its first ‘Approved’ list in December 1909 where twenty-one consumer products were listed including a washing machine, refrigerator, gas range and an electric iron.

“Tried, Tested, Trusted” – Good Housekeeping Institute

 The institute continues to operate today to give women the most informed choice of the market. Good Housekeeping maintains its original ethos with its advertising strategy; before any advert appears in the magazine, it must pass the Good Housekeeping Research Institute’s tests so it can display the seal of approval.

Good Housekeeping, in the early 20th century, was bought by women making homes for soldiers returning from the First World War. The publication wanted to be seen as doing its bit as much as possible from the traditionally female side of things. After all, the men had survived a war the least they could be offered on their return was a good home. During the Second World War (and with the first issues that stormed the UK), Good Housekeeping and its Institute played a vital role in informing and supporting people on the home front.

The magazine itself shrank in size – using less paper to help with rationing and metaphorically to say ‘we’re in this together’ helping with the war effort. Good Housekeeping was also produced in St Donat’s castle in Wales after employees were evacuated from London. Very little magazines still surviving on British shelves have this type of legacy. Good Housekeeping’s impact on Britain was evident even though the brand started as an American institution it had the same invested values of patriotism on both sides of the Atlantic.

The American ideal was advertised in Good Housekeeping with the 1944 Swift’s Beef advertisement; women were expected to do the ‘seven jobs to win the war’. These included: wife, mother, purchasing agent, cook, salvage expert, war worker and, a war bond buyer. The feminine ideal globally in this time was to be the keeper of the house as its name suggests the good housekeeper. It was widely seen as paramount that this was the main if not single way to help the war effort. Military wives in the 21st century are still expected to make the home suitable for a serviceman’s return and have the submissive role in the marital relationship. Men coming home from a tour is still seen as a significant event not just emotionally for the wives but also as a chance to prove to themselves and others that they are the best housewife.

A ‘new dawn’ in the 60s and 70’s saw a time of a change – a milestone for women’s liberation; the vote had already been achieved in 1928 for all women. Women were working for one of the first times in history, expectations were shifting. Female empowerment was created as they had their own money and were a real section of the consumer market now. Economically, they were an important sector and advertising started targeting the female audience – they now had more of a choice on purchases; it was their money that they would be spending. Progression during this era was significant but women had more freedom but not freedom in its entirety.

Attitudes have continued to be almost stable around femininity from this point to the present day and this has evolved with the magazines that are read and accessible today. Recent waves of feminism have hit globally with the rise of figures like Emma Watson making it clear that this is just the beginning of female empowerment. Good Housekeeping’s modern reader is liberated and much stronger than the 20th century woman. Sex and the female body feature as a theme throughout nearly all of the magazines on the market in the modern day and Good Housekeeping is no exception. The magazine has evolved yet stuck to the same core values it began with in the 1800s at the same time as growing up with its new audience it has delivered younger ideals.

Good Housekeeping is a magazine that grew up in the Victorian era with strong Victorian attitudes – attitudes that can only be described as rooted in sexist ideals. This continued into the 1920’s along with the financial boom, women could now spend but war put a stop to this and created the Depression where women saw a new role in society – a motherly yet powerful role. Good Housekeeping has evolved much like its female audience. It remains a magazine ever adaptable but constant in its marketing and values – the story of Good Housekeeping is effectively the story of the female struggle for modern equality.

 “In many ways GH has stayed much the same – that is, true to its original intentions.

Good Housekeeping is now much more than a glossy magazine.”

 Deputy Editor of Good Housekeeping, Michelle Hather

Good Housekeeping is under the umbrella publisher Hearst Magazines UK. Hearst is a predominantly female orientated publisher with only five of their twenty-seven brands inclusive of a male majority audience. The publisher launched Hearst Empowering Women in 2014 to inspire, motivate and involve females in everything from politics and finance to campaigns and events. Through this initiative, Hearst aims to break barriers for women within a typically male-orientated trade.

Good Housekeeping has had a long held tradition of being able to adapt to changes within the socio-political landscape, especially where issues of gender are concerned. By always striving to be innovative in its approach, the magazine remains as current to this day as it was in 1885. This is why the publication has topped ABC reports for the best-selling women’s monthly for the third time in a row reaching a circulation total of just under half a million. Judging by Good Housekeeping’s track record it is clear to me that the publication will continue to adapt and change, even initiate change.

Photograph: Megan Fisher

 

Journalism Now: Femail or Woman?

The Daily Mail and The Sun have different demographics reflective within their features: Femail and Woman. The Sun’s circulation between 1 October 2012 and 28 October 2012 boasts an average of 2,384,895 per issue and The Daily Mail 1,866,701. The Mail dominates the ABC1 category, largely over 65s whereas The Sun’s readership is a majority of 25-34 year olds in the ABC1 category. The Daily Mail has a 52.98% female readership although The Sun maintains a male majority with 58.05% reading on a daily basis. With the introduction of The Sun’s Woman supplement the publication could be aiming towards a different audience.

Femail was created for each Thursday edition. This is a concentrated item of several pages as a specialised feature iconic to The Mail. The newspaper from the beginning has been recognised for its female features – supermarket and fashion adverts reflect this throughout.

Femail’s layout links with the rest of the paper; the format is fairly bland with the grey title barely hinting that the insert is even for women. This colouring is continued throughout the supplement not stereotyping females at all.

The lives of real people are the focus in Femail – there is little if not any mention of celebrities. The Mail understands its audience and what their readers want without developing ideas with famous faces.

Features can easily identify the audience in Femail. The Mail uses phrases for a mature audience older than The Sun’s demographic, for example: ‘stay younger longer’ and ‘at any age’.

Femail appeals to women with families and the housewife image as articles include topics such as washing machine reviews, kitchen ideas and recipes.

Woman, however, is published daily so is fairly diluted over the week, ensuring the frequent reader’s satisfaction. Woman’s format is a double spread feature on a family story with a beauty column running alongside. It hints at the same concept that magazines such as Take a Break act on with real life stories sent in by readers.

Stories relating to mother-daughter relationships in Woman stereotype the familial bond of readers. Relationships are a recurring topic in Woman indicative of The Sun as a family newspaper. It differs to The Mail in that the audience is younger families with fashion conscious mums less interested in the home. Gender stereotypes are clearly identified in Woman with pink covering the entire supplement and with large concentration on beauty and fashion – soft news.

Slang features in Woman as The Sun maintains its tabloid roots with verbs including ‘whopping’ and ‘botched’. Rhetorical questions create a conversational tone with readers similar to other women’s lifestyle magazines. The review like format of the beauty columns in Woman reinforces this friendly tone towards readers building up a familiar bond between paper and reader.

In contrast to Femail, celebs are key figures in Woman they reinforce the articles’ information and are attractive to the younger demographic. They incorporate an image and intended reaction with little aid, making a story easier to follow and relate to.