Her Campus Undergoes a Cultural Reset By Launching the First-Ever Cover Issue Fully Produced by Gen Z, For Gen Z Starring Jalaiah Harmon
July 22, 2021 (Boston, MA) – Today, Her Campus, the number one media brand for college women and Gen Z with millions of monthly unique readers and thousands of student influencers at 400+ campus chapters across the country announced a complete overhaul of its flagship website HerCampus.com - the most robust redesign the company has completed since its inception in 2009.
“Our site redesign represents such an incredibly exciting moment for Her Campus Media, our audience, our contributor community, and our brand partners,” said Annie Wang, Co-founder and Creative Director of Her Campus Media. “Through the last nine months or so, we have considered the most important needs and asks from across these various stakeholder groups to build a site that, simply put, does good and makes life better for each of these vitally important parties in this interconnected ecosystem of digital media.”
The site redesign puts Her Campus at the cutting edge of what it means to be a modern publisher serving a modern audience. Its emphasis on striking visuals, streamlined organization, and new methods of content curation, coupled with its refreshed vision for content strategy, meets Gen Z exactly where they are, and where they expect publishers to be, in order to keep pace with their extraordinary, plugged in, on-the-go, and values-driven lives. Additionally, the site provides brand and advertisers new opportunities to serve college women and Gen Z through delivering strong digital experiences that uplift, inform, and support its audience.
Coinciding with the redesign is the launch of a first-to-market, quarterly digital cover issue - aptly named Cultural Reset - which will feature 16-year-old viral Tiktok dancer (3MM+ followers) and choreographer, Jalaiah Harmon. The best part? The issue was photographed, styled, creative directed, and reported by a team made up entirely of Gen Z talent. The heart of Her Campus has always been community. With a production team of college-aged and student creators behind these new quarterly cover issues, Her Campus is able to give back to our audience, while elevating and showcasing the talent of the rising Generation Z. Each quarter, Her Campus will feature Gen Z talent on our cover, and the issues will be produced entirely by college-aged creatives, from the creative direction, styling, and glam, to the actual shoot and story. We are a digital space for Gen Z, by Gen Z, and these issues will be the ultimate emblem of our mission statement.
The inaugural issue cover features Jalaiah Harmon, a 21st century twist on the American dream. In 2019, Jalaiah choreographed the Renegade dance that broke the internet. She went viral overnight, but her success was muddled by controversy over dance credit and appropriation. Two years and over two million followers later, Jalaiah is focusing on her future, with plans to open up a dance studio in her native Atlanta, craft new choreography, and fight for change. At just 16 years old, Jalaiah is undergoing her very own cultural reset — just like Her Campus.
“We chose Cultural Reset as this month's theme because Her Campus is undergoing a reset as we shift our focus toward our Gen Z audience,” said Her Campus Deputy Editor, Iman Hariri-Kia. “As you will see, Jalaiah is experiencing a similar transformation. Both Jalaiah and HC aren't changing who they are at their core, but continuing to evolve — and this redesign marks the beginning of a new era, a fresh page, a clean slate.”
Fashion, makeup, and hair products for this Inaugural Cover Issue were provided by Lulus.com, Fenty Beauty, and Aussie Hair Care for Jalaiah Harmon and her team of Gen Z stylists and makeup artists. To read Harmon’s story and to experience the new Her Campus site, visit www.hercampus.com.
About Her Campus Media
Her Campus Media is the #1 media portfolio for college women and Gen Z, reaching 130MM+ social followers and 20MM+ monthly unique visitors across its family of brands Her Campus, Spoon University, College Fashionista, InfluenceHer Collective, and Generation Hired, and network of 50,000+ influencers and ambassadors across 1,600+ colleges. Leveraging its digital, social, experiential, influencer and on-campus reach, Her Campus Media provides award-winning integrated marketing programs for leading brands. Her Campus has been named to Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2021, Adweek’s Performance Marketing Campaign of the Year for 2020, Entrepreneur magazine's Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America, and Forbes 100 Best Websites for Women among other accolades.