Get Married Folds. What’s Next?

All the buzz yesterday in the Wedding Water Cooler was about the demise of Get Married. According to their press release, the once promising platform will cease operation on December 16th, 2011.

When they first hit the scene, it looked like a winning idea; the marriage of print, online and TV. Sadly, they never got the kind of support from TV that was needed. Web TV is still in it’s infancy and didn’t come fast enough for the folks at Get Married. They needed big backing from networks like Bravo or Lifetime and it didn’t come. Now whether that was a money thing or the programming they were producing just wasn’t that good, it was still a fail. Without the TV component being big, really big, Get Married was just another national wedding portal. Yawn.

Another nail in their coffin was the deal with Taylor Corporation. While I’m sure it brought a much needed cash infusion, it came at a price. The magazine became little more than a catalog for Taylor’s products. That was a slap in the face of any small local advertiser that Get Married hoped to attract. It also brought the unwanted problem of corporate masters. As long as Get Married retained it’s independence, it could remain nimble. Not so much with old school corporate investors breathing down your neck every quarter.

In short, another one bites the dust.

There was much discussion yesterday about whose next on the chopping block. Here is how I see it:

The big boys aren’t going anywhere. Oh they may hunker down, shrink and layoff some folks, but I don’t see them folding. For instance, I can’t see Conde Nast folding their one remaining bridal title. David’s and the Knot have enough cash to ride out the economic storm for a while longer. They are the exceptions. What I don’t see them doing is gobbling up the small competitors as they start to devalue. Get Married tried that and no one was buying.

Here are the losers:

The Gajillion small websites that thought they could be the next Knot. National portals are dead and they are going to start folding quietly but at an amazing rate.

You will probably see more closings along the line of Encore Studios. I don’t just mean in the invitation business, but bloated, old-school thinkers that deal in volume rather than service. This group may or may not include some more bridal gown manufacturers.

I think a large percentage of the folks that rushed into the bridal world when they lost their corporate gigs or graduated university and couldn’t find a job will give up. It isn’t the “paved in gold” party all the time, recession proof industry they thought it was.

What does this mean for we that remain? Hunker down, market local, build your own online presence and sit back and watch. It’s gonna be fun!

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Davefrancombe

Christine, as usual a well written and insightful piece. Couple of thoughts.

Wedding Planning websites like The Knot have robust e-commerce plays that generate significant revenue and in essence compete with local vendors who spend dollars to be included on their local directories, but sell many of the same products.

If you look at the early editions of the magazine, the mast head says clearly “The Shopping and Trend Guide”. It was modeled on “Lucky” with every item from gowns to cakes to tiaras having a website listed, so brides could go to the source and purchase an item if they wanted. Were GM products woven into content – yup, but so were plenty of other items.

The magazine had news stand circulation at 9 of the top 10 sellers of bridal publications, along with controlled/unpaid distribution to bridal shows, bridal lists and vendors. ABC audit will show all the numbers, as did their media kit. Nothing unusual there. However, a positive was that brides who opted-in to Getmarried.com received one free magazine, putting a copy directly in the hands of an verified user, which was of value.

The idea was to update the traditional print model using new media ideas and content integration, something TV shows are laden with today.

Just some insight behind the magazine.
- Anonymous
  
  Thank you for your insight Dave.
  While I understand that most large portal sites have a robust e-commerce function and receive a large chunk of change off of their e-commerce plays, I don’t have to agree that it is a good thing for small local vendors.
  
  When you first launched, I applauded you on Think as the next new wave. I had high hopes for the integration of all the different media channels you were using.
  I am sorry to see that it didn’t have the success it should have.
  - Davefrancombe
    
    Thanks. Your viewpoint is considered and educated.
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http://twitter.com/AisleDoWeddings Tracey Baxter

What’s interesting and perhaps scariest of all is that there is nothing on the getmarried website that says anything about this and the whole site looks like ‘business as usual’ still appearing to actively accept advertisers, brides, etc.
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