Week 3 EOC: Rolling Stone Magazine

Robert Draper, Rolling Stone Magazine: The Uncensored History (Doubleday, 1990)
Obsessed with music idols and the radicalism of 60's rock & roll, 21-year-old Jann Wenner dropped out of the University of California at Berkeley and decided to start his own magazine. He borrowed $7,500 from family and friends, stole his main competitor's mailing list, and then in 1967, co-founded Rolling Stone. The first issue sold only 5,000 of the 40,000 printed copies and was put together by volunteers. By 1990, the magazine was a glossy, mass-produced entertainment package and Wenner was worth an estimated $250 million.

Robert Draper wrote his Uncensored History to explain why he felt Rolling Stone's cultural relevance had faded over the years (he first read the magazine in 1969 but let his subscription expire around 1983). While this "history" was heavily criticized for being too slick, Rolling Stone Magazine: The Uncensored History is highly entertaining — albeit in a trashy tabloid kind of way. The Boston Globe wrote that Draper worked so hard at producing a highly readable book that it was "frequently ridiculous," while The Washington Post wrote, "Draper describes [anecdotes] in enough detail to satisfy anyone's appetite for Rolling Stone gossip."

Even though Draper interviewed hundreds of former Rolling Stone editors, writers, critics, and office personnel, The Boston Globe wrote, "Draper's industry cannot make up for his writing. Clichés abound." Draper does paint an evocative portrait of Wenner's temperamental editorial style, though he relies solely on interviewees' juicy stories about Wenner's celebrity-obsessed foibles, heavy drug and alcohol use, and flash rages at his writers. The Uncensored History reader may find it difficult to determine if he's reading a history on Wenner or Rolling Stone. But it becomes apparent that the man and the magazine are inseparable — Rolling Stone is Jann Wenner.

Robert Draper was a contributor to Texas Monthly when he began writing the book in 1987, shortly after Rolling Stone published its 20th anniversary issue. He has written a novel, Hadrian's Walls, and is a writer for GQ.


http://journalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/portfolio/books/book256.html

Week 2 EOC: SWOT Analysis for John Varvatos

 


             Hailing from the suburbs of Detroit, John Varvatos has always loved Motor City rock and roll. Inspired by icons like Iggy Pop and Alice Cooper, he brought a musical sensibility with him when he entered the fashion game—though he’s less about leather pants and fishnet shirts than casual-cool suiting and jeans with a great fit. He started with his “black-less collection,” comprised of rumpled/tailored menswear, which garnered critical acclaim (and a CFDA newcomer award), and later teamed up with Converse to create his blockbuster laceless sneakers. With menswear, womenswear, a line of RTW for Converse, and the younger-skewing John Varvatos Star USA, the brand is worth over $80 million. Don’t knock the rock . (http://nymag.com/thecut/fashion/designers/john-varvatos/)


Strengths:

1) Headquarter in New York, this is really strong strengths that they have. Because New York is one of the fashion capital in this world. They can easily catch a lot of useful information and meet a lot of designer around the world.

2) They are focusing on adult male which is more educated and has high incomes. So their clothing line is more on black and white.

3) John Varvatos himself is very strong point in the fashion industry. His clothing line is golden with his name on it. 


Weakness:

Every high-end and fashion brand should avoid on sale things is because even you get your stuff out but you have brought your brand name down. And more and more people will just waiting to buy your stuff during the on sale period but regular prices.  




Opportunities:

1) Price - Based on their prices of products, they still get a lot of customers is because they still can provide quality clothing with decent prices.

 2) Brand itself - John Varvatos still one of legendary urban designer in the U.S. 



Threats:

1)Maintain his brand - Due to they run a lot of sales, this is very risky move based on their products. Their name is going down and down depends how many sales they will run in the further.


2) Other fashion brands - Everyone can makes t-shirt. So what makes your brand pops out in consumers' insight is one of the most important thing for most of decent size fashion brands.