When we ran this item seeking to explain why Marie Claire editor Joanna Coles was suffering so much bad press, we received a prompt note from Hearst’s PR department insisting we remove the item, since it was wildly inaccurate. Naturally, we declined. And asked to be invited to Hearst’s next soiree.
Now Nat Ives pops in at AdAge today with a report on how Marie Claire’s brass are handling all the bad press. What bad press?, you ask. The bad press where Joanna is consistently doubted as a leader of the magazine, targeted for trying to publish a “smart” women’s title, and overall unimpressiveness. While we’re perfectly willing to accept some of the blame, Radar gets dumped on as being the source of an article that’s being passed around to MC advertisers as a warning against buying ad pages from a woman who knows not what she’s doing.
But, claims MC publisher Susan Plagemann, the “poison pen letter” has had the reverse effect!
“This undermining mailing has had such a positive effect on my business, and has had the complete reverse effect that the person or persons behind it wanted it to,” Ms. Plagemann added. “It motivated people to call me in droves in full support.”
Glad the troops could offer an ego massage but ad pages this period versus last year are, uh, down. Get back to work, Susan.
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