Directions: After reading the case& The Rise and Demise of ReadyMade Magazine and based on your readings from our textbook, write a 300-400 word essay in which you address the following questions:
• Describe the market segment toward which the ReadyMade magazine is primarily targeted.
• What key attributes of ReadyMade magazine appeal to this market segment?
• How is the target market of ReadyMade magazine changing, and why is it changing?
The paper must be researched using at least two scholarly or professional marketing resources, as well as the textbook. The references must be cited and properly placed on the reference page using APA formatting.
References
Mintz, S. M., & Morris, R. E. (2017). Ethical obligations and decision making in accounting: Text and cases (Fourth ed.). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill Education. 7.
The Rise and Demise of ReadyMade Magazine
ReadyMade, a magazine founded in 2001 has been called a "Martha Stewart for 20-somethings." In describing ReadyMade magazine, the company's website says, "ReadyMade is named after the term that Marcel Duchamp coined in 1915 for a series of sculptures that playfully rethought the relationship between people and mass-produced objects, everyday items and art. ReadyMade is about people who make things and the culture of making. It's a magazine for the innovator inside each one of us. "
ReadyMade is targeted toward do-it-yourselfers (DIYs) - with DIYs being broadly defined. DIYs include people who do for themselves tasks- such as interior decoration and home repairs - that other people would hire a professional to perform. DIYs also include people who indulge in crafts of various sorts, making all kinds of items for personal use and adornment, as well as for personalizing their homes and workspaces. DIYs tend to be environmentally conscious, often recycling and re-using old materials in new crafts projects. DIYs can be self-taught cooks or wine makers, home beer brewers or candy makers. And DIYs can be so much more!
Through its emphasis on doing-it-yourself, ReadyMade sought to do its part in curbing consumerism and promoting environmentalism. Written to be a bit edgy to appeal to its ‘20-somethings' and ‘30-somethings' readership, ReadyMade covers a wide range of topics. For example, one early issue contained "feature articles on chindogu (the Japanese art of useless inventions), using insects in the nation's defense, and battling household grime without harming the environment. The substantial remainder of the magazine- [issue consisted of] a series of practical and interesting short columns titled ‘review,' ‘re-fab,' and ‘re-think,' where readers - [could] learn how to make a skirt from a discarded umbrella, grow a sod-couch in their backyard, and create a delightful wall sconce from a trash bin cover."
ReadyMade was well-received by its target readership, and it attracted increasing attention over time. In 2005 and 2006, ReadyMade received National Magazine Award nominations for General Excellence among magazine titles with a paid circulation below 100,000 customers.
Acquired by Meredith in 2006, ReadyMade appealed to a younger audience than the readership of such Meredith titles as Ladies' Home Journal and Better Homes and Gardens. With the ReadyMade acquisition, Meredith promised to increase the magazine's circulation to 200,000 within a few months; by the second half of 2010 it had an average circulation of 335,230.
•N. Ives, "Meredith Shutters DIY Darling ReadyMade Magazine, Eliminates 75 Jobs Companywide," Ad Age web site, https://adage.com/article/mediaworks/meredith-shutters-readymade-magazine-cuts-75-jobs/228251/ (accessed June 28, 2011).
•Anonymous, About ReadyMade, ReadyMade website, https://www.readymade.com/about (accessed June 28, 2011).
• M. Colford, "ReadyMade Magazine," Library Journal 128(12) (July 2003): 137.
• N. Ives, "Meredith Shutters DIY Darling ReadyMade Magazine, Eliminates 75 Jobs Companywide," Ad Age website, https://adage.com/article/mediaworks/meredith-shutters-readymade-magazine-cuts-75-jobs/228251/ (accessed June 28, 2011).
Although ReadyMade "remained a favorite for its core audience[,] ...it was neither making money.. nor likely to contribute much to Meredith's growing focus on its brands with the largest reach." Then on June 16, 2011 the news broke that Meredith would be closing down ReadyMade magazine. Steve Lacy, Meredith's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, explained the shutdown would enable the company to realign resources in order to better position Meredith for achieving important strategic growth initiatives, including digital platform expansion. In commenting on the shutdown of ReadyMade, Art Slusak, a Meredith spokesperson, observed that ReadyMade had a loyal readership but it lacked the potential to develop into the large-scale brand that Meredith wanted.
As the death knell sounded, ReadyMade's editorial team posted the following blog: "On this beautiful summer day we here at RM HQ were greeted with some bad news: Our parent company, Meredith, had made the extremely difficult decision to close up the ReadyMade shop. As anyone who has followed the trials and travails of the publishing world knows, it's tough out there right now and we couldn't see our way through at this time. As much as it breaks all our hearts it's a decision we understand and are taking in stride."
The editorial team's final blog also provided a fitting eulogy for the shuttering of ReadyMade. They wrote: "ReadyMade was an unbelievable brand that, since its inception in 2001, has inspired countless people across the world to rethink, reimagine, and reinterpret their everyday life. ReadyMade encouraged people to take a much broader view of what they might consider DIY [to be]. In the ReadyMade realm, DIY could mean everything from starting your own business to starting your own band. From building your own dining table out of discarded shipping pallets to growing your own food and cooking your own meal, ReadyMade was about taking your life into your own hands and shaping your own existence in any way you see fit. The ever-growing DIY movement truly encompasses every facet of our existence."
Even though ReadyMade is dead as a magazine, will the spirit it encouraged among it readership live on?
SOURCE: This case was written for this textbook by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Business Administration, Valparaiso University. © 2013 Cengage Learning.