Imagine a world without the most modern of modern western concepts- the marketable celebrity and the jaw-droppingly stunning model. How would advertisers cope?

Imagine television without heroes to worship, radio programmes without the very ‘special guests’, the internet without its plethora of information, pictures and idle speculation about the stars of the entertainment world.  And magazines. How would the magazine industry cope without their cover stars?

Well, we might be about to get a little insight. Earlier today, IPC Media’s UK monthly women’s magazine, ‘Essentials’ launched its first issue with “no models or celebrities.” It claims to be the first women’s glossy magazine to have adopted this approach.

Instead, 10 ‘real women’ adorn the October cover, with the rest of the issue also following the no-celebrity/model mantra. In addition, no-one has been airbrushed.

The magazine has made the issue of keeping celebs off the cover page a permanent standard policy, in order to bring a completely new wave of cover star- and a new type of reality model. How post-modern. But why?

Essentials began advertising for its initial batch of cover stars in June, when they launched an online competition asking readers to provide a photo and a summary of “what makes them amazing.” A video featuring a behind-the-scenes tour of the cover stars can be found on their Facebook page.

According to the magazine’s editor, Jules Barton-Breck, the magazine’s break with tradition boiled down to that ever-reliable barometer- the readership. Instead of pushing magazine sales through the popularity of familiar faces, Essentials have shown a willingness to listen and interact with their audience- and appear to have recognised the importance of having a strong social media presence by launching an online social media campaign for their 10 October cover stars.

“So many of these women look, and are, amazing that we wanted to celebrate them,” said Ms Barton-Breck. “ In our recent reader survey, 70% told us that they would rather see a real woman on the cover of a magazine than a celebrity, so we’re excited to be the first magazine in the UK to do this every month.”

As Adrian Niculescu stated on this blog in June, social media offers useful marketing interaction: “You can contribute through text, links, images, videos and everything which will help that community evolve and grow. Selling, gaining new partnerships and the money earned as a result through social media, is just a reflection of the quality of your social media presence.”

It’s a bold move- especially for a magazine with a burgeoning following. Marketing Week points to recent ABC figures which show that ‘Essentials reported a 12.9% circulation year-on-year increase, performing ahead of many of its rivals.’  So will the wisdom of the crowd win through?

And is it time to rest some of the public’s borderline psychotic celeb- browsing habits and have greater exposure to ‘normal’ people on the pages of our magazines? Or should we continue to embrace the celebrity/model cover-star culture for what it is- escapism?

Post your thoughts in our comments section and let us know!