thesis 2.0: publishing in a digital age

Publishing APPtitude

Is the future of publishing all in the apps? 

Just finished reading Arnon Mishkin’s feature “Why Steve Jobs Could be a Savior for Media Companies” in Leading Voices, posted on PaidContent.org. Oct. 22, 2009. ContentNext Media Inc.

I thought it was a great article in that it generated a brainstorm of ideas on spin-offs, creating blog revenue streams, rethinking magazine business models, and what to do with a blog driven publishing model.

The article says that on the web all content gets posted and made available ubiquitously — through search engines, aggregators and the like. I’m wondering how Digital Magazine content works, since you have to subscribe or download the pdf to read it. If it’s a subscription based, non-public flip book, is the content within it searchable by engines such as Google and Bing? So, that if someone searching on a particular topic could come up with a listing of a publisher’s digital magazine that includes an article or more about that topic? This way maybe having another way to get in front of a potential reader, not just the people who know about the publication through some other method.

Why is it so hard for content makers to create value on the web? Because the web has evolved to minimize content makers’ ability to retain users. Thanks to the power of search, users can bounce from one site to another so effortlessly that its tremendously difficult to monetize their visits.

Herein lies the challenge for blogs. But, I do still believe once people find your content, if its good and matches their interests closely that they can get lost within your pages or posts and also bookmark you for future reference. Especially if your content fills one of their niche interests, if you have quality content then the reader should want to come back again, it stands to reason.

The article talked about the creation of apps, and how when someone downloads one they become a true user of it for several reasons: there is generally a desire to minimize the number of apps on one’s device, and this creates limits to where one gets their information, according to the article. Plus there is a cost for switching from one content provider to another...

So my thought is that the publisher needs to also be in the business of creating apps. If you created an app that allowed users to choose from your stable of publications then maybe users will pick the app from the publisher with the most titles that appeal to him/her. 

The article notes that each app developer can bundle content, the opposite of iTunes. This would be great for publishers if they can let readers bundle together articles that interest them, selecting from the various publications that publisher produces.

The article referenced “in-app purchasing.” (Look up what this is) The article has a great list of what companies should consider when looking to develop apps. One of these considerations is how to move users from their inherently low-margin web sites to different types of apps and e-readers.

I wonder if certain publisher apps would be preferred by different types of consumers, and thus give advertisers another way to define their target markets. Take for example the ads for Apple computers and PC...the brands definitely project what type of person they believe is a PC or Mac. I think we will see that trickle over to the e-reader market, I’m a Sony or I’m a Kindle. And would someone on a Sony prefer different types of content than a Kindle user?

Even within Apple we could see a distinction in users: I’m a tablet and I’m an iPhone user... 

Or maybe a publisher wants to bundle available titles to be available on specific devices based on the user personality. Say, will a blackberry owner be someone who wants access to more business and tech titles, and would an iPhone user be interest more in entertainment, gaming, user titles? It would be interesting to find some studies that might show any trending/user profile information like that.

To Blog or Replicate, that is the question

There is always the argument that going purely digital by creating digital replica is best for publications whose print editions aren’t thriving, but don’t want to lose an established brand. Well, Matt Steinmetz makes a clear argument of the pros and cons and considerations to make before deciding in his Publishing Executive article for the October 2009 issue. I won’t restate the argument here, as my thesis is for a blog driven platform not a digital edition that resembles a printed copy.

But that isn’t to say the article didn’t spark a few thoughts. I agree that in any publishing endeavor readership must come first as a driving force. It’s up to you as the publisher to deliver a reading experience in a way your readership responds to, so a lot of factors would go into that. I still think you can attract that readership online first, and then drive them to a print or digital magazine as an opt-in subscription after you’ve already built trust, welcomed them into your community and given them a reason to continue patronizing your site. I envision a blog driven platform, but who knows.

I sense the latest argument from traditional publishers is that they have an established brand identity that trumps content created online and that this brand identity will save them. Just an impression I’m picking up, but I might be misreading signals. I think bloggers, and multi-blog platforms can build a trustworthy brand. A brand that will attract and keep readership. Look at Blogher, for one example. 

Digital magazines aren’t the only tech option to provide advertisers with better metrics, blogs can do the same. 

“A magazine, even a digital one, is like going to a movie,” says Johnathan Micocci, president of Grand Media. “It’s a designed experience with a beginning, middle and end. A Web site is like going to the library—plenty of information if you know where to look. People pay to go to movies, not libraries.” 

Ack, great quote but one that rips a hole in my theory. It gives me something to think about. WHat will people pay for and how can you brand your online space to have unique value? It’s an individualized answer. It goes back to who you think your readers are and what they want and value. 

Although blogs might not have a middle, they do begin and have an open-end. Another thing magazines offer that bloggers don’t is long-form writing. So my thought is that the blog media platform can drive readership to a long-form digital magazine (still no need for print, really). Back to the million dollar question: how do we get paid?

The article’s sidebar, 9 Tips for Boosting Your Digital Edition’s Circulation, was excellent. I’m wondering why we can’t apply this to blogging. I think bloggers are already comfortable networking and promoting on social media sites. Check that one off. Blogs are global and mobile. Can we find a way to capture email information for those who visit blogging sites or at least those who leave comments so that we can track what they looked at and invite them back when we have similar content? 

Can we find some new advertising widgets that are not aggravating like web pop-up ads, but that can be integrated smoothly the way ads are being integrated into video and podcasts? I know there are the text ads and such, but really, don’t you think the stack flush right will eventually be easy to ignore? 

Blogs have the challenge of return visitors/consistent readership that the print or digital edition has built into it through the subscription model. I’m not suggesting people will pay to subscribe to a blog. I’m thinking there must be a way to adapt some of the strategies that work for digital editions to blog editions. 

The best advice all-round was from Allan Brown, sales director at Graduate Prospects, who said, Engage with the medium. 

E-editions up for BPA

According to an Oct. 1, 2009 press release issued by BPA Worldwide, its members are finding value in electronic editions. The total count of BPA members reporting digital copies rose 18.2 % to 338 in June 2009, up from 286 in June 2008. On average, e-editions made up 15.4% of total circulation for all BPA members reporting them on their June 2009 statements.

Greg Hansen, BPA's President and CEO, explained "From a publisher's perspective, e-editions offer potential for realizing distribution and circulation marketing cost efficiencies. On the international circulation front, they make it possible to overcome the traditional delivery and challenges of timeliness, which makes them attractive to international business readers. Publishers who offer digital editions also have the opportunity to increase consumer engagement..."

He goes on to highlight a few value added ways to connect readers with advertisers and mentions the benefits to subscribers.

I took a look at the top 25 magazines listed by volume of digital subscriptions and noticed that although BPA counts more than 300 consumer magazines in its membership, none of these were on the top 25 list. It appears that B-2-B and niche magazines are benefiting from targeting an online subscription base. And it makes sense that a business professional might want to have less paper delivered to an office and instead be able to access the latest edition of a trade publication as soon as its put to bed — especially if one travels a lot. 

Still, this bit of a rise in subscriptions to digital editions seems to back up the MPA's report that its members are also seeing a rise in online subscriptions. 

Misperceptions about Magazine Closings

I read the Aug. 2009 White Paper put out by the Magazine Publishers of America addressing which factors play a pivitol role in magazine closures. Basically: recession, recession recession; economy, economy, economy.

MPA offers stats from independent sources showing how closures were up in other recession years. 

But also, point to advertising revenue declines as the biggest factor in magazine closures. The MPA reports suggests that the recession is to blame for lagging ad revenue and I took that to imply that once the economy bounces back, the ad dollars will trickle back and all will be well with consumer print magazines. Um. I’m not so sure about that. I question whether ad dollars are not shifting to other mediums - ie. online. And, where did all the ad dollars for newspapers go? They are not just built on circulation and also rely on ad revenue. So am I faulty in my thinking if I consider that newspapers may be foreshadowing the challenges magazines face?

I’d like to take another listen to the radio program On Pointe had earlier this month that looks at the crumbling of Madison Avenue (as in, bye bye ad revenue?) and see what the magazine closure numbers are looking like this year from other sources. Still, good data here on how the economy effects publishing.

Summarizing MPA Circulation Report

Notes taken from an MPA White Paper published Sept. 2009


First off, the Magazine Publishing Association points out that newsstand sales are only 12% of the circulation pie. 





Numbers for the first six months of 2009 show newsstand sales overall declined compared to the first half of 2008, but MPA points out that the rise in subscription sales makes up for lagging newsstand and therefore the magazine industry’s total circulation is actually holding stable.




Challenges for newsstand sales noted include: 

• an economic downturn (consumers spending less on entertainment)
• a shift in where consumers shop (not grocery store but superstore)
• closing of Anderson News, accounting for 25% of distribution channel




What does this mean for the state of publishing today? If supercenters are not included in the retail space publishers distribute magazines to, then they are not going to be able to bank on the impulse purchases made in the check out line -- reportedly a revenue category that generates more than $4.5 million annually. It only makes sense to be where people are shopping and in a down economy that would be bargain stores.




Although MPA records a significant bump up in newsstand sales between May and July, the unusual rash of celebrity deaths including that of Michael Jackson (which generated $55 million in extra revenue for magazines) is not something to bank on as a sign of sustainable revenue. 




The closing of a key distributor certainly caused a loss in revenue due to challenges in delivering issues to the newsstand while current, but it’s an issue that has been sorted out. A discussion here of how online delivery means that the economic troubles of print distributors won’t trickle down to become your problem. Online delivery cuts out the time and cost of distribution, but perhaps raises its own set of challenges in being digitally up to date and cross-platform friendly.




So the upside of circulation in the first half of 2009 is subscription sales. According to MPA technology is driving efficiency in sales. Of note:




• More than 1 in 5 subscriptions will be sold online in 2009, up 70% compared to 2006.
• Subscriptions from amazon.com are on the rise, forecast at a 35% increase this year.
• Online sources do not cannibalize current subscription channels
• Online is easier and quicker for the consumer to navigate
• Selling online can be done with lower overhead than other channels







Interesting stats:

• Total magazine circulation is only down 1%

• Statistics from A 10-year Trend in Favorite Leisure time activity (1999-2008) conducted by Harris Interactive, shows reading as the most preferred activity. 

• A 5-year (2005-2009) trend in Media Usage report from Mediamark Research & Intelligence Spring 2009 shows a 4.8% increase in magazine use, a 2% decrease in newspaper use and a 20% increase in Internet use.




MediaDailyNews has a good news story giving the overview.




Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) is the industry association for consumer magazines. Established in 1919, the MPA represents approximately 225 domestic publishing companies with more than 1,000 titles, nearly 50 international companies and more than 100 associate members. Staffed by magazine industry specialists, the MPA is headquartered in New York City, with an office of government affairs in Washington, DC.