Critical Thinking Using Vogue Archive’s Historical Ads

Nicole Kirpalani

Abstract

The Vogue Archive is a resource for critical thinking exercises. Using historical fashion advertisements in the Vogue Archive, my students examine advertisements through an historical lens and make connections to present-day brand messages, acquiring deeper learning skills such as critical thinking and information literacy.

        Vogue magazine is one of the most recognizable fashion magazines in the world. In 2011, Vogue made the Vogue Archive available–a digital record of every Vogue issue since its first publication in 1892. The Vogue Archive includes a collection of every article, advertisement, cover page, and fold-out ever printed in Vogue.  It has been compared to “falling into a fashion time machine and being shot out into different eras at random” (Wilson, 2011, p. E4). The Vogue Archive is available through ProQuest as a fully indexed database that lets users search for articles, images, or advertisements by garment type, designer, brand name, and more. Therefore, it represents a treasure trove for instructors who have an interest in introducing students to historical resources within the fashion context.  

Figure 1
1930 Vogue Cover

The Vogue Archive and Marketing Education: Motivation

       In the context of marketing education, the Vogue Archive can be used to instill deeper learning skills in students, such as critical thinking (in a historical context) and applying the learning to modern-day marketing approaches. For example, as part of a brand audit project and for other projects, students can be encouraged to use the Vogue Archive to research specific designers/brands and their developments over time. The Archive can also be used for analyses of historical advertisements, whether they are related to fashion apparel, cosmetics, accessories, retailers, etc. Advertisements can be downloaded in either JPEG or PDF format and can easily be integrated as visual aids in student projects, papers, or presentations. (See Appendix for examples.)
    

Implementation

        Undergraduate Course. The assignment titled “Examining Marketing Orientations with Historical Vogue Advertisements” was developed for an undergraduate (honors) Introduction to Marketing course. It was designed to help students make connections between specific marketing orientations (e.g., the sales orientation) and advertising themes and content of the specific time period (e.g., 1930s to mid-1950s).

The assignment prefaces the tasks as follows: 

Marketers are spending significant efforts and resources on advertising in fashion magazines such as Vogue.  

For this assignment you will select historical advertisements from Vogue magazine and analyze them in the context of specific marketing orientations. This analysis will give you unique insights into the consumer mindset of various points in time, as expressed through the advertisements in one of the leading global fashion magazines. 

To start with, consider the philosophically different business orientations discussed in class. You can use the following approximate periods of time for the dominant marketing concepts:  Production orientation, 1850s to late 1920s; sales orientation, 1930s to mid-1950s; marketing orientation, mid 1950s until today, as well as the more recent societal marketing concept (early 1970s and onward). 

Select two Vogue advertisements representing two different marketing orientations (e.g., an ad from the dominant time period of the production orientation, perhaps from 1899; and an ad from the societal marketing concept, let’s say from 2003).

 

         Graduate Course. A similar assignment was developed for a graduate Consumer Behavior course.The focus of this assignment is the concept of holiday gift-giving. The assignment is titled “Holiday Gift-Giving through the Years: A Look at Holiday Advertisements in Vogue.”  The instructions are similar to the ones given in the undergraduate assignment. In addition, students are instructed to focus on the November/December issues of Vogue and to select advertisements with gift-giving themes. 

The following questions were included: 

1. Describe the content of each advertisement.  For example, what items are offered for gifts?  How are they presented (visually)? 
   
2. What does each advertisement tell you about the historical context and the female consumer’s mindset of the time?
   
3. Discuss whether the two advertisements are effective, given their historical context.  Provide a rationale for your point of view.
   
4. Contrast the two advertisements, in particular as they relate to the notion of gift-giving and gift-giving customs.
   
5. Briefly summarize what you have learned from the exercise. 

Learning Outcomes

           Instructor’s Perspective. I found the Vogue assignments to be effective. The assignments were well received and seemed to have a positive impact on student learning (as assessed by the last question in the assignment). 100% of students submitted the assignment (quite a rarity). Students seemed to be interested in the task and were eager to get started. Overall, undergraduate and graduate students demonstrated good insights, detailed analyses, and “a-ha” moments.  

         During class discussions I often referred back to insights derived from research using the Vogue Archive.  The students were able to visualize the advertisements they had analyzed, which proved to be helpful throughout the semester. 

         Students’ Perspectives. Feedback from students was positive, overall.  Here are a few student comments (taken from their assignments):

 “The most interesting thing I learned from this exercise is the intricacy of early advertisements and their attention to fine details in terms of presentation and appearance.” (Graduate student)

 “I found this exercise interesting because I was able to go through many advertisements in the archive, some as far back as when my grandmother and mother were my age and browsed through Vogue. I could see what was marketed to them.” (Graduate student)

 “I really enjoyed this exercise.  I learned about significant differences in advertisements, comparing the past to now.  It was not only fascinating, but also a brief history lesson.” (Graduate student)

“Throughout my research for this assignment, I learned a lot about how advertising changes with the times. Depending on what is seen as most important and sought after during that era, the marketing changes to adapt and successfully present the product to their customers. Even though the products in both advertisements were in the same category, I learned that there are different ways to market these products to fulfill the customers’ desires.” (Undergraduate student)

“This exercise has shown that with the evolution of new and different marketing concepts, advertisements must also evolve to represent what is important at a given point in time.” (Undergraduate student)

Conclusions

References

Schwarzkopf, S. (2011), The subsiding sizzle of advertising history:  
      Methodological and theoretical challenges in the post advertising age.”
      Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, 3 (4). pp 528 – 548.

Wilson, E. (2011, Dec.15). “1892, Now It’s Online,” The New York Times, E4.

Appendix
Advertisements in Vogue’s Archive

Figure A1
Macy’s 1926 Advertisement in Vogue

Figure A2 
Max Factor 1962 Advertisement in Vogue

Nicole Kirpalani is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Fashion Merchandising and Marketing Department at LIM College in New York, NY. She holds a PhD in Business (Marketing) from the City University of New York and is the recipient of the 2012 LIM College Excellence in Teaching Award. She can be reached at nicole.kirpalani@limcollege.edu.