Posts tagged magazines
The iPad is our silver bullet. Here’s why
Mar 22nd
At the end of January when the iPad was officially announced by Apple, techies, developers and Mac enthusiasts all over the world rejoiced. The journos (the ones that know about technology) cried a sigh of relief as the silver bullet for the publishing and media industry had been shot. Want proof?
But there are still those that remain skeptical as to what exactly the iPad will deliver, let alone how it will save the media (and revolutionise marketing…remember?)
Well I’ve found proof.
VIVmag, an all-digital magazine from the US that offers insight, advice and authentic stories to “inspire and motivate women”, has created its next edition of the magazine with the iPad in mind.
The issue is more interactive, entertaining and engaging than not just any other magazine on the market, but any digital magazine on the market.
There’s a sort of demo/behind-the-scenes look at the forthcoming issue below.
The iPad isn’t only reinventing what we formerly knew as the print media though. It’s taking digital to the next level.
The iPad will take full advantage of everything we can now do within the digital medium such as videos, moving images, interactivity including live surveys and games, music, sound effect…the list is absolutely endless.
This tablet computer is single handedly changing the way journalists approach their stories and the way that editors display it. It is employing creativity and making it a necessity, not a luxury.
So, it’s not surprising that big brands are getting on board, quickly (we can’t wait to see what the big mastheads come up with).
I’m also interested to see what the advertising is going to be like on these publications when the iPad arrives given that the media industry has poured some much into already.
They have a real chance here to step up to the plate and do something truly different, creative and game-changing. However, the first problem to overcome is to make sure that the ads don’t trump the content and that they aren’t distracting.
While exciting times lay ahead, like anything via the internet, it will also be a time of trial and error.
Taking advantage of digital. Murdoch might be on to something…
Feb 12th
Given the disastrous circulation figures in the magazine industry, it’s no wonder the newspaper industry is looking to protect itself. Pay walls might actually be the way to go – just as long as they can get advertisers on board.
The debate about pay walls rages on in the media industry. Rupert Murdoch sure is determined to protect his vast empire, despite that fact his company, New Corp, continues to do well. But if the magazine ABCs are anything to go by, ‘ol Rupert might actually be on to something.
Yesterday’s ABC figures for consumer magazine sales for July to December show serious decline across the industry.
The PPA sold it like this: “In a world of ever more free content on the TV, radio and the internet, the UK public bought well over 1 billion magazines in 2009 and more than 85 per cent of UK adults continue to buy magazines.”
But figures reveal that the sector is continuing into decline consumer magazines falling by 1.3 per cent in the second half of 2009.
Yes we can attribute that to tough trading conditions, but it’s not like the economy is showing any signs of a full recovery anytime soon.
In the past couple of years, as advertisers have fallen away from magazines and favored other avenues such as sponsorship, magazine titles have looked to ramp up their digital activities.
However, magazine websites often only provide the reader with bitesize information and teasers, requiring the reader to then go buy the magazine that has ‘just hit newsstands’.
With the take-up of Kindle’s and the iPhone, consumers no longer need the physical magazine in their hands and are lacking in the time to actually sit and read them cover to cover.
But people do still read online. That we know. So perhaps if magazines offered online subscriptions they would increase their lunch-time reading audiences and advertisers would likely follow.
The advantage of the pay wall, as Murdoch sees it, is that readers can read both the online and printed version for one price. So if you have a subscription to, say the New York Times, and never read it in the printed version, the revenues from the pay model online will still trickle down keeping both versions alive.
It’s the best of both worlds. Or is it? What do you think?
The magazine industry has to do something now if it wants to protect its future. But first and foremost, it has to reassure its advertisers that it at least has a plan.
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