The layout of the Robb Report including both advertising and text, appeals to those people who expect, or more precisely can afford absolute quality and perfection. The magazine exudes quality and craftsmanship. The articles are very well written, and easy to locate. Plus, each article is very easy to follow because it is on consecutive pages. The Robb Report does not make the reader trek through the entire magazine to complete the reading of a story, as most others do. The raison d'être for other magazines adopting this practice is to be able to guarantee advertisers traffic to their advertisement. Even though the Robb Report undoubtedly relies on advertising revenues, it will not do so at the detriment of its readers. Each article also has the distinctive benefit of being the only article on any given page. This adds authority to the article because it captures the readers’ entire focus. The combinations of these traits in article layout lend themselves to readability, appeal, and a very strong sense of quality and value. The advertisers must then put even more thought into the design and implementation of their advertisements. The Robb Report does not merely plaster their clients’ products onto a page in a magazine because they know their readers can afford them. When companies place ads in the Robb Report, they are very aware of the demographics to which it appeals. They also realize that the reader of the Robb Report is a person whom puts great emphasis on quality, reliability, style, and panache.
TEXTUAL CONTENT
The articles in the Robb Report are for people interested in the finer things life has to offer. But again, more specifically for those who can afford them. It is, of course, also interesting to those of us with more meager means. A small one page article on page 38 discusses the virtues of certain vinyl record players. One in particular sells for $75,000 USD. That is for a record player. Page 40 takes a look at a plane that has the capability to land like a helicopter. According to the article, the company has received orders from Ross Perot Jr., Gregg Norman, and several others. Every article throughout the magazine pertains to such exquisite taste that if you are not very rich, you are just dreaming. For example, page 127 takes a look at a pair of stereo speakers for the home and compares them to a masterpiece. The price is an astounding $225,000 USD a pair. That is approximately $349, 000 in Canadian funds. Another contributing factor which supports the premise that this magazine caters to the very rich, is the range and quality of its writers. According to the Media Kit supplied by the Robb Report website, all are very accomplished writers, many having prestigious awards to their credit. Jack Smith for example has won the Golden Quill for writing about culture and the Moto award for automotive journalism. Editor Richard Carleton Hacker is known as being one of the most knowledgeable people in the world when discussing cigars and spirits (CurtCo Robb Media, 2001).
FINDINGS / CONCLUSIONS
The organization of the Robb Report, including the quality of bond and text, coupled with the overt materialism of its advertising content, provides sufficient evidence to support the fact that this publication is produced with the purpose of appealing to the most affluent among us.
