There have been recent changes in the requirements for publishing media titles in Vietnam due to changes to media planning laws. The new requirements mean that the 10-year cooperation contract between Ringier and its local partner, the Hanoi Women Entrepreneurs Association (HNEW), cannot be renewed and as such the contract will come to an end by October 30, 2020.

In addition, the Coronavirus Pandemic has turned the fashion world upside down. The big luxury fashion brands are no longer organizing major fashion shows or events. The large marketing budgets have been reduced to a minimum. Industry experts predict that the luxury industry will not recover before 2022/23.

In Vietnam, the fashion magazine ELLE, which is published under licensing to Ringier by the French Groupe Lagardère since 2010, is also affected by this negative trend. ELLE Vietnam’s advertising revenues, which mainly come from the luxury and lifestyle industry, have fallen dramatically from month to month in 2020.

Given these circumstances, and the inability to find a commercially viable solution to these problems, Ringier Vietnam decided to terminate the ELLE license agreement with the French Groupe Lagardère. The two Ringier ELLE Vietnam offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will be closed at the end of October 2020. In total, 47 employees in the editorial and commercial offices are affected.

“In 2010, ELLE was the first international fashion magazine available in Vietnam. We have always been proud of our Vietnamese success story. Therefore, the decision to dissolve the ELLE Vietnam team is extremely difficult and sad for us, especially because the highly motivated ELLE Vietnam team achieved its historically best topline and EBITA results in 2019 and was thus full of innovative plans”, says Benjamin Gajkowski, Head of Ringier Asia. “Due to the changed legal conditions for running a media title in Vietnam and the continuously and rapidly deteriorating market situation caused by the effects of the Corona Virus crisis,  the cornerstones of our business have completely changed. For business reasons, we have been forced to take action and to shut down ELLE Vietnam.”

The last printed edition of ELLE Vietnam will be published on 22 October 2020. The discontinuation also affects the online extension elle.vn, which was launched in 2012.

Ringier AG, Corporate Communications