Cheng Gong: Fashion insider's view on industry

Digital transformation

Against the backdrop of global technological wave, the traditional publication industry has been adversely affected, and China's fashion magazines are no exception.

It is not new to hear that some well-received fashion magazines have stopped publication, or shifted their focus to new media.

A graduate of the Central Academy of Drama in 2009, the 32-year-old has worked for fashion groups including Esquire, Figaro, China's Travel Channel, and Marie Claire in the past decade.

Cheng said he has both experienced the best and worst days of the industry. In the current declining stage, he, together with other professionals, seeks the way to break the ice, and digital transformation is a sliver lining.

According to him, digitization is not the byword for form changing, that is the evolution from paper words to online writing, from pictures to videos. Instead, it is a revolution in thinking.

"The personalized, interactive, and socialized reading model is an important part of this new change," said Cheng. "In the past, people were passive receiver who read what magazines offered them. But now they have become active chooser to read what they like to read and share contents with kindred spirits."

"Content and channel are still the top priorities for traditional magazines in this era. To put it simple, a good content will help us stabilize reader base while the effective promotion channel is absolutely the cure to sell goods and attract advertisers."