It's heartbreaking to think that one single glossy page in a magazine endorsed with 'CHANEL', or some other well-known brand, costs more than a good splurge in a few quaint Portobello Road boutiques. Being a very broke, pennies-off-the-floor-scraping teenager, it was hard to imagine that this could even be true. Yet it is.

Advertising has such a huge hold over us and we don't even realize. Advertising may as well be some powerful Greek God that other mini Gods, such as LVMH and Gucci Group, bow down to and ask for its help - in the hope that they too will become powerful and all knowing.

However, they never get to 'see' Advertising, they just hear about it from the leaders known as Media Agencies. The mini Gods realize that they must create alliances with the Media Agencies who hold the secrets to Advertising's power, and with the great friendships and recognition that they build, Advertising is soon on their side…

Think about it, all the beautiful pieces of artwork that are presented to us throughout the magazines we aimlessly flick through are there for a reason. Why else would you suddenly want that masculine tailoring look that you've seen umpteen times in that same Karl Lagerfeld advert?

Interning at Plastique and witnessing the ambitious new title tackle the media giants in the hope of getting good advertising was an interesting process to watch. Phone call after phone call and sell, sell, sell. Without advertising a magazine ceases to flourish, equally the advertising needs to gel with the overall look and feel of the publication. I now like to think that I understand the logical side of advertising, of how and when to approach the right brands that a successful magazine needs to be associated with.

The editor may front the show but the success of a magazine is all about efficient teamwork, and not forgetting to mention, a fantastic advertising director with a bulging contacts book.

By Petrina De Gouttes