A champion of quality - magazine business veteran Laurence W. Lane Jr - Interview

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, June 1, 1993 by Erika Isler

A 47-year veteran of the magazine business, Bill Lane is as passionate about the industry today as he was when he headed Sunset. Here he talks about the fundamental truths of publishing and where he sees the industry going.

At 73, Laurence W. "Bill" Lane Jr., former co-chairman of Lane Publishing Company and the former publisher of Sunset, has logged over four decades in the magazine business. His recollections touch upon most of print media's legendary names, including Look, Collier's and Liberty. But while all that has changed since he entered the world of magazines selling subscriptions door-to-door in 1946, Lane sees some basic truths as constants.

During the past two decades, Lane has served as ambassador to Australia, Nauru and Japan. His service in Australia most recently earned him the prestigious award of Honorary Officer in the Order of Australia--the equivalent of knighthood in Great Britain. Both Lane and his brother Mel serve as members of the board and consultants to Time Inc. as well.

In his first interview since the sale of his company to Time Warner in 1990 for $225 million, Lane reflects on the dynamics of the industry and addresses where today's problems and opportunities lie.

FOLIO: What has changed for the worse about magazines since you entered your family's publishing business in 1946?

LANE: It seems to me that, too often, art directors are taking over. Magazine executives are losing sight of the fact that what may look artistic and attractive in some kind of award program is not necessarily appealing. It reminds me of the old story about the pet-food sales manager who stands up and says, "We're putting in gravy, we're putting in this and we're putting in that. Why aren't we selling more dog food?" And some guy yells out, "Because the dogs don't like it!" I think magazines that are successful are the ones that don't try to reinvent the wheel with every issue. You don't need gimmicks if you have a quality editorial product and can sell that product to advertisers to support the editorial.

FOLIO: In what ways has the business gotten better?

LANE: The explosion of international travel and communications, and the world's exposure to different cultures--all those developments spawned new magazines. And, as it turned out, the very technology that was to displace print (television, computers, etc.) ended up increasing the importance of print. All the new technology has given tremendous flexibility and greater quality to the graphic capabilities and to manufacturing as a whole. Magazines that don't change and don't adapt die out.

FOLIO: What is the single most important thing for publishers to think about on a day-to-day basis?

LANE: Is your editorial relevant? Does it render a needed benefit to the audience? And how does it fit in relationship to the competition? In other words, does it fill a need that the competition isn't meeting, or can your magazine do it better? My commitment, as always, is to the quality of the editorial.

FOLIO: What do you think of rate-cutting?

LANE: It's an illogical act of desperation. It's a renewal of the same short-sighted competitiveness that put Life, Look, Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post out of existence when they tried to compete with television. Magazine publishers got caught in a trap of chasing numbers. Advertising agencies very often were the ones driving it by playing one medium against the other on cost per thousand. You get into a pissing match and it becomes completely irrelevant to the quality of the product.

At Sunset, we did a lot of merchandising. That was our way of "giving the advertiser something more." We never discounted the rate card. And we never had a volume frequency discount until we made an agreement with General Motors. We did that in my last year, and I personally supervised the transaction. We also made the same frequency volume discount available to every other advertiser who met the same conditions. We didn't play favorites.

FOLIO: California has traditionally been a difficult market to get a toehold in. Why do you think so many publishers have had a hard time in the West?

LANE: California is a nation unto itself--its gross domestic product, its population, its higher per capita income, its higher per capita education, plus all of its warts and problems. It appears, on the surface, to be a market that can sustain more magazines than it's actually proven to be able to. Bud Knapp at Architectural Digest and Bon Appetit and Norman Ridker at Fancy Publications both found niche markets and they've done business in those markets very successfully. There's nothing very regional about their publications, except they've done them in California. I think city magazines--particularly in L.A.--have had a hard time competing with broadcast in terms of ad dollars. Many that failed also tried to throw too broad a pattern on their editorial package.

FOLIO: A lot of magazine professionals like California for its proximity to the Pacific Rim, and are now looking at the promise of the Mexican market. Do you see opportunity in international expansion?