INNOVATIONS IN MAGAZINE MEDIA

2012 WORLD REPORT

A SURVEY BY THE INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL MEDIA CONSULTING GROUP FOR FIPP - THE WORLDWIDE MAGAZINE MEDIA ASSOCIATION

JUAN SEOR JOHN WILPERS JUAN ANTONIO GINER EDITORS

Information creates relations

censhare is the leading information system for integrated print, web and mobile publishing. censhare can manage all information and media channels, enabling semantic communication between content and people and processes to reduce obstacles in business innovation.
publishing. communication. collaboration.

www.censhare.com

INNOVATIONS IN MAGAZINE MEDIA 2012 WORLD REPORT

You will notice more than three dozen bright orange square icons placed in many of our stories this year. They are QR Codes (Quick Response codes), also called 2D tags. Using your mobile phone QR Code reader, you will be able to use the codes to watch terric videos about the subject of the chapter. While QR Codes/2D tags have been used in Japan for quite a while, they really burst on the scene worldwide in 2011. You see them in magazines, newspapers, billboards, yers, even bus stops. In magazines, editors and advertisers are using the tags to add multi-media experiences to print stories and advertisements. To make these tags come alive, go to the app store on your smartphone or camera-equipped tablet, and download one of the many QR Code Readers (QRReader, ExecTag, Scan, QuickMark, etc.). When you want to use one of the tags, open the app on your phone, point the phone at the tag, and, hey presto, youre watching a video, listening to an interview, seeing an advertisement come to life, and more. Enjoy!

P. 28

P. 60

P. 90

P. 24

P. 62

P. 48

P. 42

P.50

P. 20

P.38

P. 72

P.46

INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 7 A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS .........................................8 PERSON OF THE YEAR: David Carey, Hearst Magazines................................. 10 NEWSWEEKLIES Bloomberg Businessweek ..........................................20 MAGS MAKING A BUZZ Landlust Magazine .....................................................24 Les inRockuptibles .....................................................28 Minha Casa................................................................... 32 Hip2B2 ...........................................................................36 One Piece across Shueisha Magazines .................38 1626 .............................................................................. 40 vtwonen, the magalogue ..........................................42 Garden & Guns............................................................ 46 PAPER INNOVATIONS Making new sense of the magazine cover ........... 48 ADVERTISING Making print come to life ..........................................50 Want it? Click it, get! .................................................56 Coupon craze ...............................................................58 The sapplet: a tool by any other name .................. 60 INTEGRATION India Today.................................................................... 62 Sports Illustrated ....................................................... 68 ONLINE ADVERTISING AOLs Project Devil...................................................... 72 SOCIAL IMAGE NETWORK Pinterest ...................................................................... .78 TABLETS Kindle Fire .....................................................................82 UNBUNDLING ...................................................................86 B2B Interview with Hanley Woods Frank Anton ........ 90 PAYWALLS....................................................................... 94 USER-GENERATED CONTENT/UGC Ladies Home Journal ................................................98 WATERMARKING. THE NEW QR CODES .............. 102 AUGMENTED REALITY .............................................. 108 ODDBALL/OFFBEAT .....................................................112 MAGTWEETS ................................................................. 116 PRINTCITY ......................................................................120 ABOUT INNOVATION ....................................................124 ABOUT FIPP ....................................................................126

P. 108 ISBN: 978-1-872274-73-7

P.10

A SURVEY BY

PrintCity Alliance members participating in the production of the Innovations 2012 cover are: Cover paper: UPM Finesse Gloss 300g Cover paper: Sappi Magno Plus Hybrid Inks & Coatings: Sun Chemical SunCure Hy-Bryte Printed by: Hammesfahr With thanks to our paper sponsor: Inside paper: UPM Finesse Premium Silk 130g

ON BEHALF OF

Printed by: Polestar Wheatons

Copyright 2012 by INNOVATION Media Consulting Group and FIPP. All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners.

First edition published: 2012

INTERNATIONAL LICENSING SYNDICATION DIGITAL PLATFORMS

For more information about licensing or syndicating any of our portfolio, contact Joanna Marshall at Joanna.Marshall@immediatemedia.co.uk

INTRODUCTION

EXCITEMENT AND ERUPTIONS IN MAGAZINE MEDIA

Attention designers, writers, photographers, illustrators, art directors: are you stranded in Europe or elsewhere by the volcanic ashcloud?

n April 2010, the eruption of Eyjafjallajkull caused European air-space to close down for eight days. Virtually every airport in the Northern Hemisphere was aected, leading to much passenger anger, confusion, and general mayhem. Stuck in Dublin airport, a young writer and editor, Andrew Losowsky, decided to put out an online call, quoted above, for other writers, designers and photographers to help him create a magazine about the whole experience the only condition being that everyone had to be stranded at an airport. He was joined immediately by a designer stuck in New York and soon, with the help of more than 50 other contributors equally trapped, and 88 pages later, Stranded was born. Yet the whole magazine had been put together online, the team never meeting physically. (Incidentally, copies of Stranded Magazine can still be ordered from Zinio or the print-ondemand service of MagCloud, and all monies go to the International Rescue Committee). The ingenuity of people in the magazine media industry is amazing exploding volcanoes are only an incitement for them to spread their creative wings. But an exploding volcano is also a pretty good metaphor for whats happening in the media world. The launch of Apples iPad for example, was such an eruption, completely changing what we took for granted, and needing to be navigated with care.

Rapid technological development and an uncertain economic background are the driving forces behind the huge amount of experimentation being undertaken by magazine media companies. In this, our third edition of the INNOVATIONS in Magazine Media World Report, authors Juan Seor, John Wilpers and Juan Antonio Giner, on behalf of FIPP, have collected together more case studies than ever before of new ideas, developments and innovations. Its an eclectic mix ranging from grand schemes such as the complete transformation of the India Today Groups multiplatform content management structure and processes, to the oddball, such as a magazine with a $10,000 cover price. Digital developments are at the fore of course, and this year there is a major focus on how advertisers and media owners are breaking new ground together Hearsts sapplets for example. But, encouragingly, print still retains the ability to surprise and innovate for advertisers and a whole section is devoted to some great ideas that engage the reader with the product an ad that changes on a page, driven by solar power, is really quite remarkable. Our INNOVATIONS in Magazine Media World Report has now become an eagerly awaited publication. Last years report was even translated into Chinese by the China Periodicals Association, and Id be happy to talk to anyone interested in publishing future language editions. Of course, given the limitations of space there is a restriction on the amount of detail we can give on each case study. The guiding principle behind this report, therefore, has always been to act as a showcase for all the brilliant, and imaginative work that goes on at magazine media companies today. In style we aim to produce content that is interesting, thought-provoking, and challenging. Many, many readers of the rst two reports have told us how they have been stimulated into action after reading, and its always pleasing to get such positive approval. Im sure this years INNOVATIONS in Magazine Media World Report will maintain this ne tradition. Read and enjoy.

Chris Llewellyn

President & CEO, FIPP

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS

THE DIGITAL-FIRST MOMENT

There are inflection points in history that sages predict and when they come, we all panic. This is one of them.

he digital revolution has come of age and changed publishing so, so deeply that nothing will ever be the same or will it?

Technology and social media are changing everything and nothing because our journalistic and commercial soul remains while we get more readers, new audiences and loyal communities. A magazine regardless of its distribution platform requires planning, imagination, good reporting, great editors, magical art directors and compelling advertising messages, now more than ever. 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the internet. For publishers the first decade of the web was one of dismissiveness at first and polite investment second. The second decade saw the advent of highly disruptive sites, services, platforms and social networks.

John Wilpers (left), Juan Seor (middle) and Juan Antonio Giner (right)

The present decade has already seen the boom of a plethora of web-enabled mobile and tablet devices that clearly point to a bright and promising future of new engaged audiences. Indeed for the first time in history, the problem with magazines is not one of readers most can reach more readers than ever before it is one of revenues. The new mantra to reach those revenues is to become digital-rst. At INNOVATION we do indeed espouse and promote a digitalfirst culture of editorial and commercial integration. But digital-rst should not mean digital-only. The story is what comes rst. So, we rather believe in a story-rst, platform second approach. The platform is not the message. The message is still good storytelling, segmented content, compelling covers, beautiful photography, great design, clever headlines and serendipity. And all this in print, online, on tablets and on mobile. And yet we still meet publishers and editors stuck in the mud, denying the undeniable. Others believe every digital fable touted as the next big thing while losing sight of what really makes a good magazine. And some are injecting digital botox into ageing print titles without rst embracing innovation and good journalism. This report is another example of how good storytelling and innovation are driving the future of this industry in print, from print and beyond print. This annual showcase of creativity, new products, new commercial strategies and successful cases conrms an old saying in our industry: the problems of magazines will be always solved with more and better magazines, more and better crazy ideas, and more and better editors and publishers not afraid to take risks.

EDITORS

Juan Seor John Wilpers Juan Antonio Giner

senor@innovation-mediaconsulting.com wilpers@innovation-mediaconsulting.com giner@innovation-mediaconsulting.com www.innovation-mediaconsulting.com

DESIGN

Javier Zarracina

CONTRIBUTORS
Khadijah Anderson Deepa Buddhavarapu Francis Cho Kevin Clang Melissa Colfer Edith Davis Peter Day Leslie Drew Carolanne Donovan Vanessa Dunstan Teresa Elsey Juan Antonio Giner Abigail Green Laura Imkamp Nick Ironside

Christine Lee Nat Low Meghan Macdonald Mary Cate Mannion Mary Colette Masteller Sam Mathius Mary McCrossan Linda Nockler Nicolette Orlemans Melissa Rodriguez Juan Seor Elizabeth T. Strowd John Wilpers Lily Yuhas Michaela Zanello

COPY EDITORS
Kristie Reilly Emily Holden

CONSULTING EDITOR
Thomaz Souto Corra

COVER

Deborah Withey

ILLUSTRATIONS
Luis Graena

MARKETING, SALES AND FINANCE

Marta Torres

PUBLISHERS
Chris Llewellyn Helen Bland
www.pp.com

FIPP - the worldwide magazine media association

PERSON OF THE YEAR

THE LEAN, MEAN ERA EXECUTIVE

Hearst Magazines President David Carey is leading Hearst toward the top of the magazine world with aggressive but smart innovation investments

f a media company was looking for an executive to lead it into the lean, mean 21st century, it might be a really good idea to choose someone who wrote lean, mean magazine business plans as a hobby in his 20s, business plans for publications that would scale only when revenues could support growth. Hearst Magazines President David Carey is a fascinating mix of pragmatist and visionary. On the one hand, he insists that in successful organisations, innovation always follows risk. On the other hand, nothing moves from proposal to practice if it cant start small and ultimately have a good chance to make money. Magazine publishing started smashingly for Carey, breaking out as the phenomenally successful creator and publisher of Smart Money, a publication that was the result of one of his later business plans. Smart Money started with a small dedicated team and drew on resources from the two parent companies, says Carey. I think we had ve or six staff members at launch.

DAVID CAREY HEARST MAGAZINES PRESIDENT

10

Digital sales wont cannibalize print media: Hearsts Carey

Heres an old African saying that perfectly describes how to navigate the media industry today: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
DAVID CAREY. HEARST MAGAZINES PRESIDENT

Then over time, as the revenues scaled up, we were able to add more resources to the original team. This allowed us to break-even in less than two years. There was one bump in Careys charmed (he might argue calculatedly adventurous) life, and that was the rather spectacular failure of Cond Nast Portfolio. But not letting a good failure go to waste, Carey learned to approach magazine launches in a Spartan fashion, a lesson hes applied ever since. Since arriving at Hearst as president in June 2010 after being group president at Cond Nast, Carey has been a whirling dervish, and a very successful and prolic one at that. In just 18 months he has built a roster of accomplishments many publishers would be proud to cite as their careers body of work: The US $900m acquisition of Lagardres magazines outside France, adding 100+ titles and making Hearst a truly international company (40 per cent of Hearsts revenues are now international). Carey credits Hearst Magazines International President/CEO Duncan Edwards as the architect of this highly complex deal Through acquisitions and launches, Hearst is now the #2 position in

circulation and advertising revenue in the US behind only Time Inc, and ahead of long-time rival Cond Nast The test of HGTV Magazine in a time of housing market stress in the US: the magazines first issue did incredibly well with consumers, selling 450,000 subscriptions and newsstand copies The ramping up of Hearsts digital products, resulting in 450k paid digital subscribers per month and a digital division that was protable for the rst time in 2011 An equally robust record in epublishing with 40 book titles in eformat and more on the way The expansion of its services business to the point where 20 per cent of Hearsts revenue comes from companies such as iCrossing (a $325m acquisition) and CDS Global The creation of the brainstorming skunk works App Lab, which has developed or launched more than 150 digital editions and apps across the magazine division. (The designation skunk works is used in business to describe a group within an organisation given a high degree of autonomy to develop its own

11

PERSON OF THE YEAR

experimental project) INNOVATION chatted with Carey about his career, his time at Hearst, and his plans going forward:

INNOVATION: In your note to the staff at Hearst in January 2011 you said: Heres a challenge Id like to propose to you for 2011: Lets dramatically dial up our entrepreneurial thinking. Lets put a nal stake in the heart of playing it safe. Lets move out of our comfort zone. Lets think of ourselves as inventors and pioneers who just happen to nd themselves in a wellfunded start-up So, what happened? DAVID: I asked the team to think about
playing outside their comfort zone to come up with something we could use as an example to others of the kind of things we could do.

We launched Cosmo for Guys, an iPad-only product, last summer with a radical promotional idea ...iPad head girl video

Kate White, the brilliant editor of Cosmo, came up with the idea for Cosmo for Guys. We knew men were readers of Cosmo, but it was hard to get them to read the magazine in a public setting. We knew 30 per cent of trac to the Cosmo website was male - men trying to gure out women, and vice versa, goes back to the beginning of time. With that knowledge, we launched Cosmo for Guys, an iPad-only product, last summer

12

Panel discussion of three big names in magazines: David Carey, president, Hearst Magazines; Tom Harty, president, National Media Group, Meredith Corporation; Bob Sauerberg, president, Cond Nast

with a radical promotional idea built by the editorial team using new technology. The iPad head girl video went viral with 700,000 views in a matter of days (by January 2012, it was up to 1.2m views). So we were able to use a viral video to help create a new editorial brand. The video resulted in the sale of thousands of subscriptions, and the video itself hit the top 30 on YouTube. In 2012, brand extensions like Marie Claire @Work and Cosmopolitan Latina both with a print and digital component -- are a major push to attract new readers and advertisers. Were blessed with so many brands that have great elasticity, and can be stretched in many new directions.

shape of our business ve or 10 years down the road, those are tremendous assets.

INNOVATION: You recently hired a head of content extensions to give magazine content a longer shelf life bringing content outside of print into apps, television, games, guidebooks, and more (e.g., last spring you announced that Cosmo was partnering with Mosaic, the production company, to develop programming for lm and television). DAVID: We often compare our content
extensionidea to the lm industry where the theatrical release is really only the beginning of the process. After the theatrical release, you have your pay-per-view, then the premium DVD, then the mass market DVD, and then the release to hotel rooms, and everything in between. When we rst publish content, we now have a plan on how to use that content two or three years out: a magazine, a book, a social media play. To date, we dont work the long tail of our content hard enough. For example, we have our Drop 5 lbs,

INNOVATION: You recently told your staff that constant change is going to be with us forever. You have said that you think Hearst has a fantastic set of values that gives us a real advantage relative to other media companies in dealing with constant change. What are those values? DAVID: At Hearst, it starts with a commitment
to growth, the availability of capital, and the willingness to invest it to take great brands in new directions. Our CEO Frank Bennack has a saying: If you are not growing, you are falling behind. We are fortunate to be able to invest in programmes we believe in and to launch new products when others cannot tough market conditions dont scare us o. Lastly we are a company that has long been able to use partnerships to bring products to market in a fast way and to mitigate risks. We are known for our partnership orientation, in the US and abroad, and thus a great number of people come to see us in the Hearst Tower, and with very good ideas. That allows us to grow faster, to leverage these relationships. The Hearst DNA is all about a focus on growth, to have an open mind, to smartly invest in good times and not, and partner with other media companies where appropriate. In a time when it is hard to predict the exact

13

PERSON OF THE YEAR

We have our Drop 5 lbs, which is a new weightloss effort out of Good Housekeeping. It started as a column and now it is a book, and this month it debuts as a TV programme on the Cooking Channel.
14

Hearst Magazines president David Carey and New York Times media columnist David Carr debate the changing face of magazine brands, the real impact of the ereader, revenue models that work, and much more

over its three years in business. (It topped Adweeks 2011 Hot List.) Now you and Scripps are trying to repeat the magic act with HGTV Magazine, which you tested late last year. What made The Food Network Magazine work (at a time when the iconic Gourmet magazine was closing), and how will that magic help HGTV Magazine? DAVID: You can move fast and aggressively
when you start with a brand that has tremendous equity and how great are the Food Network and HGTV brands. Then you work with an outside partner who contributes great category expertise and also strong promotional resources! We have just such a partner in Scripps. After just one issue of HGTV Magazine, we have more than 300,000 subscribers. It worked incredibly well with the Food Network Magazine, too. Again, we started modestly, and quickly built on our success. Food Network Magazine is already #1 on the newsstand and challenging the longtime category leader in advertising pages. In this case, Scripps and Hearst working together can accomplish far more working together than alone perfect.

We have big plans for Marie Claires monthly column Big girl in a skinny world.

which is a new weightloss eort out of Good Housekeeping. It started as a column and now it is a book, and this month it debuts as a TV programme on the Cooking Channel. We have big plans for Marie Claires monthly column Big Girl in a Skinny World. We have a lot of holiday editorial content, so along with our fantastic editorial director Ellen Levine and our content extensions group, were looking at how can we combine all that together in one place and create something new. Theres tremendous opportunity to window our rich content across platforms, and across time.

INNOVATION: In 2011, you completed the purchase of the US portion of Lagardre Actives non-French magazine properties, specically, Elle, Elle Decor, Car & Driver, Cycle World, Road & Track and Womans Day as well as Hachette magazines in other countries. What are the things that excite you about it? DAVID: Its a combination of so much
talent, so many brands and creative thinking that free ows around our expanded global network. We now have the greatest global pool of editorial talent the magazine industry has ever seen. And thats our key advantage, during a period when business models are being re-invented and new products launched constantly around the world.

INNOVATION: Hearsts joint venture with Scripps, owner of the Food Network, to start Food Network Magazine, has been a stunning success

INNOVATION: 2011 was a fantastic

15

PERSON OF THE YEAR

year for Hearst how do you top that? DAVID: Now we have the great privilege of
really operating the businesses we acquired. How wonderful is it to have these former Hachette magazines, and their talented editors and publishers working for Hearst? The acquisition has gone well, despite its great complexity, and now with the integration in 2012, we will have an enhanced market presence to drive our print and digital businesses. With the acquisition and integration behind us, we can fully deploy the enormous creativity that the company represents. Our goals for 2012 are clear: create new opportunities independent of the macroeconomic trends, further diversify our established businesses, streamline our processes and operations, and empower our people. More specifically, a number of our titles will introduce fresh designs and re-imagined editorial formats starting with Harpers Bazaar. Our close relationship with Mark Burnett is already providing dividends for our magazine brands, less than a year after Hearst acquired a 50 per cent stake in his company. We will invest in emerging

ecommerce initiatives, and look forward to the upcoming launch of our two branded YouTube channels. Duncan Edwards and his team have done a spectacular job expanding the companys global footprint: we launched 12 new editions around the world in 2011 and have more launches and ecommerce initiatives in the works for 2012. iCrossing is also expanding globally with the recent acquisitions of Wallaby and Red Aril. We also set ourselves the goal to reach more than one million paid digital subscribers per month. We will fast-track the transition to HTML5 for all our sites, which allows for a far better user experience on mobile devices. iCrossings connected brands strategy, now bolstered with a more robust data platform, positions Hearst to grow its leadership position in digital marketing services. And CDS Global, our second largest business in the US, will continue to add more technology solutions to serve its increasingly diversied client base.

INNOVATION: Are tablets the future of publishing? DAVID: The tablet is not THE future but it is
a very important PART of the future. With the App Lab, weve created a world-class facility

16

... a number of our titles will introduce fresh designs and re-imagined editorial formats starting with Harpers Bazaar.

to engage in research, client discussion, and internal brainstorming. Apps will not take over, they will not replace print, but they can live alongside all that we do and augment the reader and advertiser experience.

INNOVATION: Where do you see magazines in the next fifty years? What will the magazine experience be like in 2062! DAVID: Magazines are going to be around for
our great-great grandchildren to read. I do think that magazines live naturally in a digital world. There are those, of course, who think the future of print is not bright we simply dont agree. We see exciting new magazine concepts in the US and other markets all the time and expect that will always be the case.

the rules. So you have to start with being exible. All the new technologies allow new entrepreneurs to enter areas to compete with us eectively and inexpensively we must use our scale as an advantage, and not to slow us down.

INNOVATION: Hearst has lots of digital experiments in the US. Which of those do you see being scalable internationally? DAVID: In the US, were really focused
on mobility, which directly translates to international markets. We are becoming more successful in driving significant web trac on smart phones and tablets, thanks to the implementation of HTML5, which allows for a far better mobile experience. At the same time we learn a great deal from our international markets, which are often much further along in the mobile area, so learning goes both directions. Were moving aggressively into the ecommerce space. Our president of marketing, Michael Clinton, oversaw three ecommerce partnerships for Hearst this past year in the mens fashion, gift and ne jewellery space. Weve long been curators of great products, which our editors recommend to consumers: the next obvious step is to

INNOVATION: What are the most important things magazine publishers must do to survive and thrive as media make the transition from print to multi-media and multiple platform publishing? DAVID: You have to be nimble, no question
about it, to compete against a world of entrepreneurs who wake up every morning trying to invent the future, which they do with open minds and a willingness to break

17

PERSON OF THE YEAR

monetise that process when possible.

INNOVATION: You launched an internal website called HearstInnovation.com. How does it work, and has it been useful/successful? DAVID: HearstInnovation is a key initiative
of our CEO, Frank Bennack, and represents an internal online hub for Hearst Corporation employees where anyone can bounce ideas around and build them and possibly make them a reality. You can share, research, and, ideally, prove your concepts with employees throughout the company. The intention is to create media and models that customers want and, of course, make money. People opt in to be part of the lab. I cant speak publicly about it yet, but some very promising ideas have been developed. There are a couple of ideas that have risen to the top and are under consideration for funding.

the Dow Jones website FINS last year, you said you fell in love with magazines as a kid in Long Beach, California. They opened up a window to a world that I didnt know, you told FINS. I havent travelled very far from where I grew up. Ive always loved the magazine business. Which magazines were magic for you as a youngster and responsible for putting you where you are today? DAVID: I used to read all of the home
furnishing magazines, as I had a strong interest in architecture and design. Growing up, I also loved the car and auto field, always dreaming about cars I couldnt afford, and so Car and Driver and Motor Trend were special to me. And isnt that what magazines do best? Offer us windows into worlds we wish we were part of?

INNOVATION: In a recent interview you said you wrote business plans for magazines as a hobby when you were in your 20s. Have any come to fruition? DAVID: Well, the original experience,
which predated my Smart Money stint, was focusing on how to leverage pre-existing resources. Smart Money started with a small dedicated team and drew on resources from the parent company. I think we had ve or six staffers at launch. Then over time, as the revenues scaled up, we were able to add more resources to the original team. That is very similar to how we launched Food Network Magazine and tested HGTV Magazine. For many years we have been creating new products, staed modestly, and then, with success, built a larger structure as the enterprise grew. If, God forbid, they fail, then the downside risk is not that high. Innovation involves risk. We have a great track record, but we dont expect to succeed 100 per cent of the time if that was true, were not reaching high enough.

INNOVATION: What was the car you most wanted as a young reader of Car and Driver and Motor Trend? DAVID: At age 17, I really wanted a black
Pontiac Trans Am... but had an ugly Plymouth Duster. I still havent gotten it yet, but you do find people going back and buying old cars they wanted as teenagers. Maybe it will be on my bucket list.

INNOVATION: Whats in your future? DAVID: I feel very fortunate that I have a
job of great complexity and opportunity, at a company that is eagerly embracing the future. We achieved a great deal in 2011, but we have a lot more to do. The worlds around our brands are lled with enormous opportunity. Theres an old African saying that perfectly describes how to navigate the media industry today: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. What an apt description of the approach for growing our company reach across units in the Magazines Group, across divisions in Hearst Corporation and partner with other media companies around the globe. I, like the other 10,000+ members of Hearst Magazines, feel lucky to be here.

INNOVATION: In an interview with

18

and so Car and Driver and Motor Trend were special to me. And isnt that what magazines do best? Offer us windows into worlds we wish we were part of?

Always dreaming about cars I couldnt afford,

19

NEWSWEEKLIES

A MODERN-DAY LAZARUS
Bloomberg Businessweek may be the best $1 purchase in a long time as the new lean, mean, visually provocative magazine rises from the dead

hen Bloomberg L . P. b o u g h t Businessweek in October 2009 for US$1 it was a failing US-focused weekly business magazine losing upwards of US$60 million a year. Fast forward two years, Bloomberg Businessweek, as it is now known, has the sheen of a publication on its way to becoming notable if not indispensable, the stated objective of its editor, Josh Tyrangiel, a rising star at Time magazine before joining Bloomberg Businessweek. At a time when print media is more often than not pronounced dead in the water, Businessweeks ad pages were up 21 per cent year-on-year for the rst half of 2011 and the subscription rate base was recently raised from 900,000 to 980,000; subscriptions are up 12 per cent. While still in the red, Businessweek has seen its losses reduced to less than half of what they were when Bloomberg took the helm. Why the revival? The answer in part comes from understanding the parent company, Bloomberg. Michael Bloomberg, currently the thirdterm mayor of New York City, founded Bloomberg in 1981 with a $10 million severance cheque from Salomon Brothers where he had been a bond trader. The stock and trade of the company on which it built its reputation and substantial nancial re-power is known as the Terminal, literally a black box that provides financial data, news and tools/

Bloomberg Businessweek editor Josh Tyrangiel and creative director Richard Turley, pick their favorite magazine cover of the year.

20

applications for nancial professionals at a cost of US$20,000 per year. The Terminal captures about a third of this multi billiondollar market and accounts for 85 per cent of the rms revenues. Much of what has made the parent company a success accounts for the revitalisation of Businessweek. In terms of Businessweeks culture, it bears a closer resemblance to a nancial company than a media house in many respects. Its known for its performance-oriented drive and focus on innovation as well as very high levels of customer service. Not only does it pay well-above industry standards, it also oers incentive-based compensation. Bloomberg News, a news service provided in conjunction with the data service on the Terminal follows The Bloomberg Way, a 361page set of rules and policies that dictate style and writing standards as well as ethics. Matthew Winkler, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, sees the news provider as being dened by Five Fs: factual word, rst word, fastest word, final word and future word. Bloomberg insiders like to speak of providing news for the 300,000 financial market players that have the most at stake. There are those who complain that the company owns ones life and those who choose to bow out may never return (Bloomberg never rehires an employee who has left the rm). But then there are the perks:

Businessweeks ad pages were up 21 per cent yearon-year for the rst half of 2011 and subscriptions are up 12 per cent

21

NEWSWEEKLIES

the futuristic New York oce building adorned with ne art, orchids and exotic sh in supersize sh tanks, not to mention the free food. For many new hires, the cavernous open-plan work environment is an adjustment, although not for anyone with any experience of working on a trading oor. When examining the case of Businessweek, its hard to argue that the mother ships deep pockets have not provided for a gilded transition. It is also true that one of the business rationales for the purchase was the fact that Bloombergs global news reporting and analytical infrastructure could be leveraged very cost-eectively. As one might expect, Businessweek includes significant global coverage. It also makes

use of content from associated partners like Charlie Rose who has a highly acclaimed weeknight show on Bloomberg TV that features interviews with notable people from business, government, science and the arts. Tyrangiel chose early on to focus resources on design, and hired Richard Turley, former art director of the Guardians G2 section, to lead this eort. The sleek new modern look, evident in both the print and online editions, has caught the attention of many in the industry. In particular, a new encapsulated digital edition of the publication, Bloomberg Businessweek+ (BB+), released in March 2011, showcases the investment in design. For instance, there are no stock photos on BB+, all are produced on spec and it shows: the BB+

22

app is now regarded as one of the slickest in the market. The investment made in the digital platform is in keeping with what might be expected. The print edition is seen as a way to develop brand recognition with new audiences, particularly corporate executives, CEOs, CFOs, CIOs and the like who may not be acquainted with Bloombergs products. Over time, this expanded pool of readers will surely make the inevitable migration to the digital platform. What might editors and publishers learn from the Businessweek case? Most will not have the platoons of journalists at their disposal or the deep pockets of a cash-rich private parent company. They will, however, have the ability to replicate elements of the Bloomberg culture and strategy, in particular its singleminded focus on excellence and innovation as well as its foresight in understanding the central role of design in a world increasingly dened by digital applications. As we know, this is the territory Apples Steve Jobs understood very well. Judging by the modern glass architecture of the Bloomberg New York headquarters, Steve Jobs and Michael Bloomberg were cut from similar cloth. While Jobs set out to transform our lives, Bloomberg only wants to become the worlds most influential business and nancial news organisation. It would not be smart to bet against this happening.

INSIDE THE NEW BUSINESSWEEK NEWSROOM: LEAN, MEAN AND PROVOCATIVE

Its a brave new world at Bloomberg Businessweek headquarters in New York City. The 400 journalists of the pre-Bloomberg era are gone. Today, fewer than 50 top editors, writers, reporters and designers work in an open-space newsroom (they can, however, call on the network of Bloomberg News 2,300 journalists in 146 bureaus and 72 countries). The editor sits across one of the open desks from the creative director. In the back of the newsroom is a meeting space and at the entrance is the map room where the page proofs are posted on the walls. This new small but energetic newsroom has a weekly deadline of Wednesdays at 8pm, resulting in the rst print issues hitting the street the next morning. So when Steve Jobs died on a Wednesday, the ready-to-go issue was killed and a new 64 page-issue was produced, printed and distributed in less than 24 hours. The newsroom management style of the new editor could be called the why not? way. You can sell him a crazy idea and he will not object until he sees the nal output.If its great, no problem; if not, its killed. The new editorial formula is called the panini (sandwich) approach: opinion and news in the front of the book, pop-culture and life style at the back of the book, and three or four long cover stories in the middle. The covers are unique, original, provocative and real street sellers. The so-called screaming covers not only must sell briskly on the street, they must also scream to busy readers from their desks where piles of reports, dossiers and magazines compete to catch their time and attention. From all indications, the screaming is working.

23

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

READ IT ON PAPER, OR DONT READ IT AT ALL

Germanys Landlust eschews everything digital in an attempt to help its readers slow down and appreciate nature

n a world that is constantly, almost overwhelmingly c o n n e c te d w i t h t w e e t i n g, emailing, texting and updating, a unique German magazine offers an alternative.

Landlust, whose name suggests a fondness for nature, is a breath of fresh country air and an antidote to the hustle and bustle of 21st century living. Landlust takes such a contrarian stance to the digital world that it has adopted an approach that publishing experts might call sheer madness: it eschews everything unnatural, including Twitter feeds, iPad apps, Facebook fan pages, blogs, even a digital version of the magazine. Read it on paper, or dont read it at all. Amazingly, more than a million people do. At its core, Landlust focuses on living simply in our intense high tech world. There is a need to slow down. Everyone has the right to enjoy the beauty and good things in life, says the editor, Ute Freiling-Huchzermeyer. Landlust strives to illustrate the beautiful things that are often overlooked. We can nd these beautiful things right in front of our doors, says Freiling-Huchzermeyer, and we want to bring them to our readers attention. When ipping through the current issue of Landlust magazine, recipes for hearty stews,

24

Landlust TV spot

We didnt have any idea how many people we might be able to reach with our concept, but knew we had an idea that we wanted to put into practice.
UTE FREILING-HUCHZERMEYER. LANDLUSTS EDITOR

blueprints for birdhouses, and images of owers covered in snow splash across the pages. The magazine focuses on ve core topics: The Garden, Kitchen Recipes, Rural Living, Country Living, and Nature, which blend to capture the true essence of country living within 200 glossy pages. Launched in 2005, the editors were originally unsure of what to expect and without doing any market analyses, they simply hoped for the best. Yet today the magazine has not only survived, but also thrived. We never expected such an increase in circulation, says Freiling-Huchzermeyer. We didnt have any idea how many people we might be able to reach with our concept, but knew we had an idea that we wanted to put into practice. Despite the lack of market analysis, Landlust s first issue had an initial circulation of 50,000 copies. Seven years later, the circulation has reached an astounding 828,000 and counting. The success is based in part on their niche in the magazine market. Landlust s focus on slowing down and appreciation of nature created what has been called the deceleration market. The idea of taking a step back is at the core of Landlusts essence. To discover deceleration, to settle, to live in the here and now this is what we want to contribute to with our magazine, says Freiling-Huchzermeyer.

25

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

26

In addition to its unique market niche, Landlust also stands out for its hands-on, old-fashioned approach to publishing. There is no iPad app, no Twitter account, nor even an online version of the magazine, and yet it keeps on growing. Instead of tweeting about the magazine or reading articles online, its readers hands are covered in mud from planting flowers or chopping apples for their latest pie recipe. To immerse oneself into the world of reading, you need something haptic, which, according to Freiling-Huchzermeyer, is something that you cannot experience through a computer screen. The magazines website is instead considered an additional service with reference addresses, and tutorials, as well as a database and archive. Despite its narrow niche, the magazine has been able to gain, and maintain, a wide variety of readers. Landlust attracts both those who live in the countrys more rural areas with large gardens as well as those who live in Germanys urban areas whose gardens consist of a single potted plant. Editor Freiling-Huchzermeyer, aims Landlust loosely without any sophisticated market segmentations. There is a sense of life that our readers have in common, she says. They look for and settle in a natural and native way of living. Landlust writing style is decidedly conversational and easy. Through gardening tips, knitting patterns, and features about ordinary people in their homes, Landlust exudes an authentic and genuine feel. Readers letters to the magazine reveal that readers peruse the publication from cover to cover, and some even save previous issues to re-read or display as artwork in their homes. And thats exactly what FreilingHuchzermeyer wants. It is important for

us that people actually read the magazine, she says, The readers letters prove that they dont run over the pages, but actually read them in depth. The act of immersing oneself into the magazine embodies the very ideal of deceleration, taking time to escape into a more natural view of life. Through rustic recipes, hands-on crafts, and nding happiness just outside your front door, Landlust has found a brilliant editorial formula to let Germans rediscover their rural roots in a haptic natural way.

There is a sense of life that our readers have in common.They look for and settle in a natural and native way of living.
UTE FREILING-HUCHZERMEYER. LANDLUSTS EDITOR

27

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

I CANT GET NO SATISFACTION

Les inRockuptibles discovers a formula for success by never accepting the status quo as acceptable

es inRockuptibles thrives on its motto: Never be satised. Their dissatisfaction has clearly paid o.

After a successful relaunch, Les inRockuptibles went from selling 10,000 magazines a week in 2010 to 60,000 a week today. However, the title started as a monthly do-it-yourself fanzine 25 years ago by a group of students, Les inRocks aimed to discover the next best thing in music, showcasing new bands, and taking risks to promote emerging musical trends. It was credited with popularising The Smiths and The House of Love throughout the Francophone world. Since then, it has turned the amateur fanzine into a full-fledged magazine, increased its frequency from monthly to weekly, set up Les inRocks in Argentina, and began distributing mix tapes and CDs once a month to further promote its featured bands. But it had been doing this back when it was selling only 10,000 copies a week. What happened? Matthieu Pigasse happened. When the CEO of Lazard France bought the magazine in 2009 he added 24 more pages and expanded its content into the political and societal realms while continuing to enhance its musical and

28

Watch a Le Figaro/Buzz Media interview (in French) with the director general of Les InRockuptibles, David Kessler

cultural authority. This ambitious and expensive move had dramatic effects. It reshaped the consumer demographic from a mostly male constituency to an even ftyfty male-female split. Les inRocks managed to successfully expand into the traditionally unrelated eld of politics and society while maintaining most of its original readership by simultaneously improving its coverage of popular culture. The older [readers] didnt leave, holds the magazines manager, David Kessler, because they can still nd what they like: music and culture. In fact, its cultural clout has become so compelling that Les InRocks sales soar an extra 10,000 copies when accompanied by its monthly mix CDs of fresh new French bands. Not only that, Les inRocks allowed its motto of never be satised to transcend beyond its marketing model, applying it to the tone of its political writing. The magazine is always struggling for a better world, declares Kessler, in reference to both its cultural and political commentary. With a leftist voice, Les inRocks aims to create relevant critical analyses of current events that make no compromises to the status quo. Think the US political website Democracy Now! rather than The New York Times or Rolling Stone. Kessler justies the political reorganisation 0f its pages by explaining, Our aim is to try to discover what is moving in our modern societies. Music is a very interesting phenomena because very often it tells what young people think. By switching its focus from exclusively covering what young people listen to, to also focus on what young people think, the website exudes an air of total youth culture, not just music. Les inRocks IS young France, not just young French music fans. As a result, readers can discover the best

Our aim is to try to discover what is moving in our modern societies. Music is a very interesting phenomena because very often it tells what young people think.
DAVID KESSLER. LES INROCKUPTIBLESS MANAGER

MATTHIEU PIGASSE . CEO OF LAZARD FRANCE

29

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

new underground music before their friends AND enjoy left-leaning critical analyses of current events. Les inRocks has created a way to see the world. Amazingly, most of its content is free online at lesinrocks.com. Readers can even download free iPhone and iPad apps, which are loaded with most of the websites interactive features.

Purchasing a subscription, on the other hand, allows the reader to enter into contests for free books, DVDs, concert tickets, and cultural events, as well as receive exclusive issues on new fashion trends, overviews of the summer festivals, and, of course, the weekly print version of the magazine. The Les inRocks website contains so many free articles and new streaming music its a wonder the print magazine has been increasing sales. Its clear that the model it is

30

of total youth culture, not just music. Les InRocks IS young France, not just young French music fans

The website exudes an air

allowing readers to vote for their favourite musicians. Every month, 15 bands compete for the spotlight, live and online. The inRocks Labs jury appoints one nalist per month while readers appoint another nalist each month. By the end of the year there is a competition between the 24 nalists to determine the best new band of the year. The contest encourages reader interaction with the site, promotes talented local bands, garners Les inRocks attention and praise within the French popular music world, and allows the magazine to check its cultural prescriptions with the facts on the ground.

currently following is the same championed by TV and streaming website Hulu: attract lots of people to the site with free content, and, once readers are impressed with the free content, a profitable percentage will pay for the upgraded, improved content that a subscription enables. Lesinrocks.com even has its own free radio station, inrocks.radio, and television station, inrocks.tv. The TV station is a media collection (like a culturally vetted YouTube channel) that features new music videos and exclusive band interviews. Inrocks.tv is partnered with Blow Up, a web video magazine co-produced by Arte France and Camera Lucida. The TV station also shows current events reporting and news pieces, consistent with its aim to showcase what is moving in modern society. Lesinrocks.com also features the inRocks Labs section, a partnership with Levis that presents a calendar of concerts and cultural events that the magazine promotes. Participants in the inRocks Labs are allowed to vote for their favourite of the magazines featured artists and sample these artists music via an onsite streaming radio. The inRocks Labs showcase up-and-coming artists by hosting concerts around France and

Les inRocks sees itself as a holistic vision of a magazine. It understands its audience; it knows that its readers are concerned with both culture and news, and moreover it understands that culture often influences the news and vice versa. By blurring the boundary between entertainment and politics, Les inRocks creates a space where the consumer can read intelligent and critical political commentary while listening to the most popular new music. After two years of stunning growth, Kessler admits that they are very satised. Missing the irony, it may seem like Kessler is betraying the Les inRocks motto. Hardly. With plans to completely revamp its website in 2012, Les inRocks is still innovating at the speed of light. Despite the fact that the company is thriving, Kessler maintains that they still want to do much better and that they need to ght to be better. True to its successful philosophy, Les inRocks proves that only the most dissatised can strive for and obtain true satisfaction.

31

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

TAKING A TREND TO THE BANK

Brazils Editora Abril spotted demographic changes that translated into new consumer needs that Abril translated into a new magazine

L
to come by lately.

aunching a great business is the result of discovering (and acting on!) great opportunities. But traditional media companies are finding great opportunities hard

In the face of these challenges, a Brazilian magazine spotted a trend, jumped on it, and ended up exceeding all expectations. In May 2010, the Editora Abril Group launched the first edition of Minha Casa, a monthly home improvement magazine geared towards the Brazilian middle class. The rst edition ew o the shelves, selling all 246,000 copies in the rst run, and an additional 50,000 copies in the second run. Minha Casas initial 7,290 subscribers increased 450 per cent in eight months to 39,911. After a little over a year, the magazine had attracted more than 9,000 Twitter followers, and enticed 16,141 users to register on the social networking segment of its website. In less than two years, Minha Casa has become the leading Brazilian home improvement magazine, circulating 188,000 copies a month. The success of Minha Casa did not come by luck, but by attention to emerging trends, detailed analysis, and planning.

32

Watch as the Minha Casa Remodel My House team refurbishes a room for a pair of newlyweds

Editora Abril monitors data about changes in the Brazilian economy and saw that over the last several years 17.4 million Brazilians income increased to the point where they were classied as middle class. Simultaneously, the number of homeowners and young professionals was increasing as well. This new middle class consists of a total 91.8 million people; roughly half the population of Brazil, representing just about half of the income of Brazil. Meanwhile, many people in impoverished areas were also moving into better housing. The Brazilian government launched a massive public housing campaign called Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My Home, My Life) in March 2009. Subsidised with a multi-billion US$ investment to build two million low-cost units across the country by 2014. At least a third of all the housing was

In less than two years, Minha Casa has become the leading Brazilian home improvement magazine, circulating 188,000 copies a month.

33

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

designated for families making no more than three times the minimum wage. For the rst time, approximately two million low-income families would have a safe, cosy space to call home. From the data on housing, it was clear that millions of people would need a guide to help them decorate and improve their homes. Editora Abril researchers determined the needs of this new market through pre-launch surveys and focus groups. For example, Katyane, a 37-year-old retail saleswoman told focus group researchers that there is no magazine on decoration aimed at our reality. It should understand the population, because rich people have their own decoration professionals. Katyane was not alone. I like Before & After reports. I see what has been changed in the ambience and see what interests me, remarked Alessandra, a single mother who works at a bank. But the products cant be expensive... nor too big, because my home is small.

Members of the Brazilian middle class made it very clear that their main concerns were about price, space, and function. Editora Abril listened, and launched Minha Casa. The magazine was designed to satisfy the needs of the new homeowners and apartment dwellers by providing a useful, high-quality print publication as well as an online social network with real-life stories, videos that highlight home makeovers, bargains on featured items, and a personal prole for each registered user. The magazine delivers before-and-after shots of redecorated homes, a section dedicated to apartments, a section showing multiple ways to decorate the same space, and nancial tips for property owners. Being mindful of their target markets financial concerns, the magazine features both low and high priced items. Most importantly of all, Minha Casa retails at the affordable price of US$2.95, at least US$3 lower than other home improvement magazines.

34

The magazine is currently performing at 38 per cent above its budgeted circulation rate. The Minha Casa website is extremely popular, receiving 33 million page views from 2.3 million unique visitors a month. Once the concept of Minha Casa was solid, Editora Abril executed a massive launch campaign. Advertisements were purchased in trade press touting the unique proposition of the publication. All of Grupo Abrils publications featured Minha Casa ads. Promotions were placed on television and radio stations. Banners were placed at points of sale, as well as in bakeries, bookstores, newsstands, and checkout lines. Minha Casa placards showing young individuals and families in handsomely decorated rooms hung in Sao Paulo subway stations. There was also an internet campaign, resulting in the Minha Casa Facebook page receiving 7,500,000 impressions. The pice de resistance of the promotional campaign, Minha Casa Renovada, continued throughout the rst eight months of Minha Casas business. Sponsored by advertisers, one reader per month won a redesign of a room in their home. More than 10,000 people from across Brazil entered the contest. Minha Casas initial success has continued. While the magazine industry moves in fits and starts, Minha Casa did it right: it researched the market, recognised economic trends, spotted a need in a growing market, and moved quickly to develop a publication to ll that need. Thats a formula for success.

Headquartered in So Paulo, Grupo Abril is the second largest Brazilian media conglomerate after Rede Globo. Victor Civita founded the media group in 1950. Grupo Abril maintains partnerships with Country Music Television, Brazil Bravo, Cinemax, Sony Entertainment Television, Eurochannel, and others. It now exclusively holds MTV Brazil. The company originally launched the rst pay television in Brazil called TVA, which it still currently sells, in conjunction with high speed internet. Grupo Abril is the holding company for Editora Abril, and it also acquired Fernando Chinaglia Distribuidora in 2007, the largest distributor of publications in Latin America. Abril publishes well-known Brazilian titles such as Playboy, Elle, Veja, Mens Health, InStyle, Womans Health, Exame and VIP.

35

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

TAKING KIDS SERIOUSLY

South Africas HIP2B2 doesnt pander to kids but brings them into the kitchen to help cook up a successful, intelligent magazine

agazines are not known for listening to kids. Magazines sell to kids. They pander to kids. Magazines titillate kids.

Not South Africas HIP2B2.

Kids sit on the magazines editorial board, write stories, organise their own radio programmes, and appear on the HIP2 B2 television shows. Kids also act as ambassadors for the magazine and represent the magazine at events all over South Africa. No surprise, then, that seven million kids a year read HIP2B2. What is a surprise is that HIP2B2 is a magazine about math, science and technology. HIP2B2 is the brainchild of Mark Shuttleworth, a successful South African entrepreneur who, in 2002, also became the second self-funded space tourist. In 2002, Shuttleworth had a vision of a teen magazine distributed to thousands of South African schools to children in grades 8 and 9 (ages 13-14) to promote the study of math, science and technology. He especially wanted his magazine to reach students of all social and economic backgrounds. Mark started HIP2B2 after identifying a great need to inspire the countrys youth. says General Manager Cathryn Treasure.

36

Watch a short documentary about the HIP2B2 Road Show which visits hundreds of schools a year in South Africa

Mark is passionate about HIP2B2 and its ideals of inspiring South Africas youth to be the best they can be.
CATHRYN TREASURE. HIP2B GENERAL MANAGER

Key to the success of the magazine seems to be the fact that adults and kids work together to plan and write each issue. Take one of the latest issues, the Danger edition, as an example. It featured fun stu about scary things: volcanoes, vultures, sharks, earthquakes, creepy crawly things and more.The Danger issue couldnt have been completed without the vital input of learners, who sat around the table with me in an editorial planning meeting. A panel of learner editors is selected to join in the editorial process for every issue. Weve also already had great feedback from learners on our Facebook and Twitter, says HIP2B2s editor Janna Joseph. Other themed issues have included the Unexplained Issue, the Humour Issue, the Extreme Issue, the Mystery Issue, the Food Issue, and the Green Love Issue. Even though HIP2B2s mission is to focus on math, science and technology, theres more to a students life than learning. So the magazine also contains entertainment elements such as gossip, horoscopes, music and book reviews, fashion, and sport. The magazine is distributed free, so it is funded not by subscriptions but by advertising revenue and various sponsors including Shuttleworth himself. In the digital sphere HIP2 B2s hosts a website and a free online radio station

run by HIP2B2 Brand Ambassadors (teens themselves). The Facebook page is full of riddles and competitions. And their Twitter feed gives a daily dose of fun facts. The station is positioned as the soundtrack to the social media lives of teenagers and is in fact the only South African radio station specically created for teenagers, according to TheMarketingSite. com. The radio station plays current top hits, news and entertainment, always delivered from a young persons perspective. Then there is the HIP2B2 MXit portal where readers can join almost 100,000 other fans of the magazine on a site that allows kids to chat with one another and engage in fun games and other activities. We know that our audience is on MXit pretty much every day. And while theyre chatting to their friends, were always there to spark curiosity and generate further conversation. MXit is a great medium to get something out quickly, Joseph explains. Another way HIP2B2 is reaching school children is through the iThink challenge; a competition that involves 5,000 children from grades 8 through 11 competing regionally to be put forward for the chance to win a national prize. HIP2B2 is a magazine that respects and involves kids in every aspect of its operation - a business editorial formula that has served it well and matches its brand motto: Think. What you can be.

37

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

WHATS THAT MANGA KID DOING ON THE COVER OF MY BUSINESS MAG?

Japanese publishing giant celebrates 200 millionth copy of its manga book by taking over the covers of its 38 magazines

magine the reaction of regular readers of Playboy, Seventeen, Business Jump and 35 other titles in Japan who picked up their February 2011 editions only to nd a cartoon character on the cover. And it wasnt April Fools Day.

Three months earlier, in November 2010, One Piece, Japans best-selling manga, sold its 200 millionth copy in print. To celebrate its success, One Pieces publishing company, Shueisha, announced that the manga would take over all 38 of its magazines covers as part of a month-long promotional campaign in early 2011. Between January 31 and February 28, 2011, anyone who read any of Shueishas magazines, went to the bookstore, travelled through the Shibuya metro station in Tokyo, saw One Piece everywhere they went. Magazine covers as diverse as Seventeen, Playboy, and Subaru all had prominent placement of images of the One Piece hero, Monkey D. Luy. But Shueisha didnt limit its celebratory campaign to promotions on its magazines covers. It also added gifts, a lottery, and an online game. What provoked this national One Piece mania?

38

One Piece, created by Eiichiro Oda, was rst published in Japans Weekly Shonen Magazine in 1997. The manga features Monkey D. Luy, a 17-year-old boy on a quest to become the next Pirate King. In 1999, the animated version of One Piece was produced by Toei Animations. One Piece quickly became the most popular manga title in Japans Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Shueisha realised it had more than just a successful publication on its hands. It had a cultural phenomenon. Shueisha took this opportunity to show that this title should not simply remain a popular series, but should become an iconic part of culture says Shonen Manga Group deputy director Hisashi Sasaki. Planning for the One Piece take-over of more than three dozen Shueisha covers took more than a year. Shueisha wanted the manga to reach more than just manga fans. Shueisha solicited the participation of all its magazine titles which traditionally had very little to do with manga and promoted One Piece as a manga that should be read by readers of all ages, Sasaki says. With their magazine purchase, readers also received gifts. Eight Shueisha magazines came with an original commemorative item while the other thirty magazines gave readers presents through a lottery. Gifts came in all shapes and sizes, from a 3D mouse pad and a hooded dress to a computer keyboard and a

500-piece puzzle. Overall, Shueisha received a quarter of a million lottery entries. Magazines in Japan are mostly sold individually, so readers who purchased a Shueisha magazine received one of several different gifts and were eligible to win the lottery. Also they were given a special code to participate in an online game. The game, which included manga, magazines, bookstores, and the web, had a total of 2,813,161 plays involving more than 284,000 registered players. In the midst of the promotion, Volume 61 of One Piece set a new sales record, becoming the rst book to sell more than 2 million copies in just three days and ultimately hit the highest initial print run of any book in Japan in history with 3.8 million copies . After that, One Piece was on a roll and, in a summary provided by the company, the most recent volume (#64) of One Piece sold four million copies. Not bad for a manga character.

39

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Chinese fashion mag 1626 proves gimmicks like flashing lights, embedded audio, and 3D cakes have substance as well as style

I
clients.

t turns out ashy lights do work. So does noise. And the third dimension. In China, those tricks all worked in a big way for 1626 magazines advertising department and its

The design-conscious fashion mag based out of Guangzhou pulled some bold marketing moves that, by their own account, boosted advertising sales by 50-100 per cent and magazine copy sales by 15-21 per cent. Our clients were not satised with the traditional print ads; they wanted something more eye-catching and unusual, says 1626 CEO Oliver Yin. As a media company focused on the themes of original, fashion, fun, and attitude, 1626 is willing to provide such value-added services to match with the growing demand for innovation, interaction, and originality. At the same time, a successful innovation brings growth to circulation and ad sales volume of the magazine. In an effort to satisfy three major clients, 1626 popped LED lights behind the silhouette of a car in the cover for a General Motors Spark automobile campaign, spun an audio stream of ocean sounds within the magazine for Puma, and burst a pop-up 3D multi-tiered birthday cake for Hong Kongs Ocean Park on the publications cover. The intelligence and creativity of these campaigns begs the question: Why are the best innovations on the advertising side?

40

We do some innovations for the editorial side, especially on anniversary issues, says Yin. However, such instances are not as many as those on the advertising side because it always costs a lot. All of 1626 s creative advertising presentations are, quite literally, in your face. Its a testament to the idea that a magazines print ad spaces can be just as trendy, and in many cases, even more innovative than its editorial pages.

Our clients were not satised with the traditional print ads; they wanted something more eye-catching and unusual,
OLIVER YIN. 1626 CEO

41

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

THE MAGALOGUE: A CATALOGUE OF OPPORTUNITIES

Dutch lifestyle magazine vtwonen launched a combination magazine and catalogue in print, online and as an app with remarkable results

ow does a magazine compete with a catalogue?

Strike at the catalogues weakness (all of the products come from the same company). Create a catalogue oering a wide variety of products from a wide variety of sources. Better yet, make it interactive: let readers order what they want with a single click. Even better? Make it visually appealing and go beyond product listings to oer compelling content about the topic niche that will make readers stay with the magalogue even longer.

Dutch magazine vtwonen, part of Sanoma Media, did exactly that. vtwonen created what a single consumer-products company cannot: a print and online magalogue featuring a variety of retailers, oering the convenience of a catalogue and the eye-catching gloss and sticky content of a magazine. vtwonen is not one of those new digitalwonderkind publications. The magazine was rst printed in 1964 and today boasts a readership of 700,000, making it the most successful Dutch home decoration magazine in the country. Since its launch, the company has expanded from a simple print magazine to include live events, books, license opportunities, and

Watch a high-energy video promotion of vtwonens magalogue

42

iPad and iPhone apps. The magalogue was just its latest market-leading innovation. At this time, there are no magazines in the Netherlands who are doing the same [as] vtwonen, says vtwonen marketing manager Marleen Voerman. The magalogue was produced in print, online, and iPad formats. vtwonens goal with the magalogue is threefold: Satisfy readers who appreciate the convenience and options oered in the magalogue Deliver value for their advertising partners who now have an extra opportunity for exposure, and Increase sales for both vtwonen and its advertisers Collections are more prominent in

At this time, there are no magazines in the Netherlands who are doing the same [as] vtwonen,
MARLEEN VOERMAN. VTWONEN MARKETING MANAGER

combination, Voerman asserts, and vtwonen has the numbers to back it up. In January, the vtwonen website saw 141,000 visitors. In October, after the magalogue marketing campaign and release, the number of visitors jumped by 60,000 to more than 200,000 total visitors. This new activity translated directly into sales: online revenue increased 20 per cent compared to the previous year. The print edition of vtwonen also saw a big sales bump from the magalogues inclusion. Newsstand

43

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

The magalogue online edition is accessible through vtwonen website and the iPad version is available as a free app
sales shot up 15 per cent from 2010s numbers. Because of adding the extra magazine (magalogue) to vtwonen May edition, the circulation of the regular issue has increased, which is also good news for the advertisers, Voerman says. And the print and online editions are working together, just as planned, with 60 per cent direct trac from print magazine to the online edition, an increase Voerman calls remarkable. The magazine had a ROI (return on investment) of 34 per cent on its initial 126,000 (US$163,000) investment. In addition to the hard numbers, the magazine received positive feedback from readers and advertisers, as well as publicity in other magazines and journals. vtwonen oers our readers a place, oine and online, where all the products can be bought, said Voerman. By combining the power of all 10 partners and brands, vtwonen introduced a vtwonen experience. In the rst section of the magalogue, the vtwonen collection is divided by room. Home furnishings from several retailers combine to create beautiful kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms. In the second half of the magalogue, home

44

decorations are shown against a plain white background, with the title From spoon to birdcage, everything is vtwonen. The last pages feature short blurbs about each company. Only magazines who have a lot of licensing partners and who are able to connect these partners could do the same, says Voerman. The print magalogue has traditional contact and purchase information for each item. In the online version, white hearts litter the pages. Each heart is a link the reader can click, which will pop up a box with the products name and price, as well as an option to go to an external website for more information or instant purchasing. The magalogue took three months, fteen people, and 126,000 (US $163,000) to complete for all three formats. The print edition had a run of 300,000 copies and was included in the regular May issue of vtwonen for both subscribers and newsstands. The magalogue was also distributed at malls and in conjunction with related companies, such as Vereniging Eigen Huis, a homeowners association. The online edition is accessible through vtwonen website and the iPad version is available as a free app. vtwonen promoted all three editions of the magalogue through an extensive marketing campaign that included other Sanoma Media magazines, ads in newspapers, a television commercial, social media marketing, and even a billboard campaign. The companys social media promotions made use of its active Facebook page, which continues to be frequently updated with promotions, discounts, contests, and home decoration links. This years magalogue is in development,

with one more advertising partner than last year. Voerman says vtwonen hopes to expand its reach and include even more advertising partners in 2013. For this year, a major online push is in the works. An additional online issue is planned for the fall of 2012, featuring special discounts and timed to coincide with Woonbeurs Amsterdam, a prominent Dutch interior design convention. The offline campaign will remain essentially the same, but with an added radio campaign. At a time when magazine executives are looking for new sources of revenue and connections with their consumers, vtwonen has shown that a magalogue could become a staple in a publishing companys arsenal of protable products.

WHY STOP WITH A MAGALOGUE; OPEN YOUR OWN STORE

vtwonens innovations in 2011 didnt end with the magalogue. Last spring, the magazine opened its rst popup store in downtown Amsterdam. The guerilla marketing campaign which lasted twelve days included all sorts of lifestyle products with special cards distributed to give visitors discounts.

45

MAGS MAKING A BUZZ

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS MAKE MAGAZINE MAGIC

The unlikely title Garden & Gun plays to regional pride in a soulful way

ick two subjects for a magazine that would be least likely to attract investors, never mind readers. How about gardens and guns? Seriously?

But in the American South, just such a magazine was launched, and its a roaring success. Garden & Gun launched in 2007, the same year as Portfolio. Five years later, Portfolio is dead; Garden & Gun has 236,000 subscribers and is growing at a rate of 10% a year. Ad revenue has grown 230 per cent in the last two years. Being soulful is the key to success, says Sid Evans, Garden & Gun founding editor. A magazine should be soulful. Its not a business strategy, but it is a business philosophy. President and CEO Rebecca Darwin says their mission made sense from the beginning: Garden & Gun is an idea about how to live a life that is more engaged with the land, the literature, the music, the arts, the traditions, the food, and the authenticity that has shaped the Southern way of life. It is about truly appreciating the richness of the South and knowing how that understanding can enrich ones life and translate beyond Southern geography. In a January 2012 story, CBS News reported that in truth, Garden & Gun isnt really about guns or gardens. Both are metaphors for the Southern lifestyle. Its authentic, old-school and unapologetic.

46

A magazine should be soulful. Its not a business strategy, but it is a business philosophy.
MARLEEN VOERMAN. GARDEN & GUN FOUNDING EDITOR

EVANS SEVEN INGREDIENTS TO PRODUCE A SUCCESSFUL REGIONAL MAGAZINE

1. Make people proud of where theyre from 2. Make food the center of everything 3. Never underestimate the power of a great story 4. Never underestimate the power of nostalgia. 5. Have a drink 6. Pick the right heroes 7. Make your readers the star

47

PAPER INNOVATIONS

MAKING NEW SENSE OF THE MAGAZINE COVER

Not everything creative is happening online. Magazine covers are letting readers use their five senses in new ways

T
Literally.

here are stunning magazine covers. Works of visual art. Masterful, exquisite, ingenious, provocative statements. Now there are also covers to be experienced.

Readers love a tactile experience something they can grasp onto, interact with, tell their friends about, play with, and be shocked or amused by. Something more than just an image. Visual appeal remains the core strength in cover design, but magazines are going a step beyond with strong digital or sensual experiences creative dierentiation that entices readers to explore and stay with their favourites. Imagine, for example, the chance to instantly smell the Mediterranean through the aromas of eucalyptus, pine trees and the ocean. Esquire Spain made that happen for its readers on its June 2011 cover. With a scratch and sni logo on its cover, readers w e re t ra n s p or te d to the famous El Bulli three-star Michelin restaurant in Catalonia. Esquire Spain editor Andrs Rodrguez was inspired to do the

Esquires scratch and sniff cover of El Bulli chef Ferran Adri

48

The June issue of Esquire magazine, using encapsulated ink, emits an aroma that allowed readers to imagine what it was like to have been at the world-famous restaurant El Bulli by Ferran Adri

Readers love a tactile experience something they can grasp onto, interact with, tell their friends about, play with, and be shocked or amused by. Something more than just an image.
Night Out, which is celebrated in countries where Vogue is published.
Novums cover with 1000 exible colored triangles.

aromatic cover after visiting the restaurant and surrounding areas of Rosas and taking in all the scents. Rodrguez and El Bulli chef Ferran Adri took it upon themselves to recreate those aromas thanks to the skills of legendary chemist Dario Sirerol. There is no doubt this Esquire cover smells like El Bulli, Adri says of the innovative technique. When you smell this, you smell the Mediterranean. Hungarian fashion publication, LACK magazine, struck a new creative chord in 2011 with fashionistas. LACK designed its magazine with an accessory in mind that all women cant have enough of: a handbag. Complete with a handle integrated into a sleek dark leathery exterior, the handbag cover complemented the magazines interior photography and design. Not only could readers catch up on the latest fashion developments, but they could also integrate the magazine into their wardrobe. German printing specialist megapac print, which produces advertisement products for magazines and newspapers, collaborated with Cond Nast Germany to wrap one edition of Vogue in blue jeans. On another occasion, it created a Vogue shopping bag for Fashion

Other megapac print innovations included a Vogue business supplement tucked inside the cover of regular Vogue magazine. In Germanys Glamour, megapac print included a special bookmark connected to a pull-out imitation of a perfume bottle, and in GQ, a zip door bind led to an ad that could be opened with a real zipper sound. Innovations in paper design can and should reect a magazines readership and mission. German graphic design magazine Novum did exactly that. It created a signature cover that bent and folded to the readers liking with more than 1,000 triangles die-cut into the surface of the paper more than 140 die cuts per cover. Readers no longer held a regular print cover, but one they could interact with and shape into dozens and dozens of dierent shapes. Many of these cover experiments were partly inspired by the success of a 2009 Wallpaper* magazine Karl Lagerfeld-inspired risky peel-able cover. In it French fashion model, Baptiste Giabiconi, appeared fully dressed on the cover in a Dior Homme suit that could literally be peeled away by readers leaving him undressed. So, while the iconic photo or illustration cover will always be an editors goal, now and then a sensory immersive cover can prove to be compelling, reminding readers and advertisers that there are still a lot of ways to re-imagine print and its covers.

49

ADVERTISING

BACK TO ATOMS MAKING PRINT COME TO LIFE

Creativity is alive and well in print advertising as stain-removing, bottle-opening, solar-powered ads prove

S
Right? Wrong.

urely, the most creative magazine advertisements these days are on magazine websites where audio, video, and interactivity trump anything old-fashioned, one-dimensional print ads can oer.

Just when you thought ad creators may have exhausted their battery of creative print advertising ideas, imaginative and often irreverent new campaigns are hitting the pages and blowing readers away. The most recent cutting-edge print campaigns include ads that talk to readers, ads that test drive cars, ads that literally open bottles, ads that demonstrate a bras cleavage enhancement, and solar-powered ads. The best magazine print ads are those that employ unique methods to engage the reader with the message and the product. In some cases, the reader becomes a part of the ad, and in others the readers experience the advertised product or event. In almost every case, the best advertisements involve a third dimension. The four tech tricks employed by advertisers include embedded audio (Playboy in Brazil), 2D tags or Quick Response (QR) codes (Reporters Without Borders), and augmented reality (Volkswagen of Norway).

50

CARLSBURGS PAPER BOTTLE-OPENER: Watch as a Carlsburg advertisement in Menzo magazine becomes a bottle-opener

The QR code or 2D tag and the augmented reality tools havent been around magazines very long, but their use is expanding after some early bumps in the road. Early on, QR codes were tucked into corners of advertisements, in an unavoidable, awkward attempt not to be intrusive to the real ad. While curiosity initially led readers to scan the codes, they were quickly turned o when all they received was more advertising. Later, phrases like scan for a chance to win enticed readers to try again. Finally, creative directors are putting 2D tags to good use, as evidenced by the creative directors of Publicis Brussels, who adapted the QR code experience for their client, Reporters Without Borders. Reporters Without Borders launched a free-speech campaign to spread awareness about suppressed speech liberties around the world. Readers scanned the centrally located QR code and placed it over the mouth of a pictured dictator. Their smartphone then played a video that showed only a moving mouth that looked like the mouth of the dictator, but was actually that of a RWB journalist who spoke honestly about the specific countrys free-speech situation. (Use the Microsoft Tag on page 55 to watch the ad.) The wittiness of the ad increases readers willingness to listen to the whole speech. Similarly, Trident gum used QR codes

Early on, QR codes were tucked into corners of advertisements, in an unavoidable, awkward attempt not to be intrusive to the real ad.

creatively for an ad in Thailand that featured a woman talking on the cover of the magazine A Day Bulletin. (Use the Microsoft Tag on page 52 to watch the ad.) Augmented reality also leapt forward as advertisers tried new, more engaging experiences. Car manufacturer Volkswagen Norway invited readers to download an app to test-drive one of their cars. On an empty road that spanned three pages, the reader could test-drive three new Volkswagen technologies: lane assist, adaptive lights, and adaptive cruise control. These digital innovations were still vastly outnumbered by clever print ads.

51

Brazil

This clever advertisement for Arcor bubble gum adds an unexpected 3D element

China

DHL uses a simple page turn to emphasize the simplicity of its international courier service.

Thailand

Trident Gum created this augmented reality ad, which allowed readers who scanned a QR code to see the woman talking on the cover of A Day Bulletin.

52

Brazil

A ripped dollar bill in this SulAmerica ad is joined with the tagline SulAmerica prevents you from doing the same with the resources of your company

Brazil

Playboy went digital, or should we say audible, with chip in covers enabling readers to plug in headphones to hear a woman whisper about the Skol Sensation music festival

SKOLS TALKING ADS SKOL embedded an audio message on the Playboy magazine cover in Brazil. A mini-chip inserted in the cover allows users to listen to a seductive womans voice by plugging a headset into the jack

53

US

Wonderbra went interactive with a bra-cinching ad that enabled readers to enhance a womans cleavage the same way the real Wonderbra would

Norway

After downloading a free app, readers were able to virtually drive one of Volkswagens new cars on a road spread across a magazines pages

54

Israel

BBR Saatchi & Saatchi, Tel Aviv created this green ad for Shikun & Binui Solaria, an Israeli energy company to promote advanced solar energy technology

Belgium

Reporters Without Borders asked readers to scan a QR code in this ad. When readers placed their smartphones over the mouth of a pictured dictator, they heard not the dictator but a journalist speak about suppressed speech liberties in several countries

TALKING DICTATOR: Publicis Brussels created the Cannes award-winning talking dictator QR code campaign for Reporters Without Borders

55

ADVERTISING

WANT IT? CLICK IT, GET IT!

Technology enables magazines to offer readers instant shopping gratification

ow often have you seen a coat or a watch or a bottle of perfume or a pair of shoes in a magazine, and thought to yourself, I want that?

Now you can have it pretty much right away. Hearst Magazines has partnered with Luminate, formerly known as Pixazza, a company that makes images interactive to allow readers to click on a photo on a magazines website, get information about the product in the picture, purchase it, and then share that information on their social media networks. When a reader goes to a Redbook or House Beautiful site, for example, and mouses over an image of Brad Pitt in sunglasses or Drew Barrymore in a sweater, they will learn how to buy similar sunglasses and sweaters. Why drive them somewhere else to make a purchase? Hearst Digital chief revenue ocer Kristine Welker told The New York Times. But shopping is not all that readers can do: Luminate also embeds each photo with Facebook and Twitter links, and publishers can add content of their own to further enrich the information behind the photo. Transforming online images from static one-dimensional objects into repositories of information and opportunities for social interaction changes the entire concept of a photograph. From now on, images

56

A couple of years from now, when a consumer mouses over an image and nothing happens, theyll think that site is old-fashioned,
BOB LISBONNE. LUMINATE CEO

can oer more than a visual message; they can offer interactivity, information, and functionality. With the addition of intelligence, if a picture is worth a thousand words, its now worth even more, Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies, told USA Today. Its just a different approach to how we view images online and it really extends the user experiences. A couple of years from now, when a consumer mouses over an image and nothing happens, theyll think that site is oldfashioned, Luminate CEO Bob Lisbonne adds. Luminate initially provided only shopping information when readers clicked on a photo. With that shopping information alone, Luminate delivers ads seen by more than 150 million viewers monthly, trebling the companys volume of just a year ago. The addition of more information and social media may be an answer to the problem of the so called attention economy how to better engage the distracted reader and perhaps turn the readers extended attention into a protable moment. Connecting all this interaction to readers Facebook sites means the purchase will act more as an endorsement of a readers personal style than an endorsement of the brand itself. In a bit less elegant but no less aggressive approach, Cond Nast is calling its March 2012

edition of Glamour the instant gratication issue. The company is running print ads throughout the magazine embedded with Snap Tags (a version of a Quick Response, or QR, code) that are plain circles with the Facebook F or Twitter bird inside. Cond Nast tested the concept with what it called its social issue in September 2011. Readers were instructed to download a Friends and Fans mobile app to their smartphone. By scanning a 2D tag, readers would like the brand on their Facebook account and be rewarded with shopping discount codes, videos, and giveaways. The goal of the campaign was to help advertisers increase their Facebook page likes, and it worked: advertisers gained more than 50,000 new likes. Prizes and discounts were also available if readers followed the advertisers on Twitter. No longer must we pine for the style of the stars: now we can order them up from the comfort of our couch.

57

ADVERTISING

THE COUPON CRAZE

The daily deal phenomenon is spreading to magazines where audiences can be targeted and new revenue streams generated

t didnt take long for magazines to jump on the daily deal bandwagon.

Competition in the world of daily coupon deals has increased dramatically in the last two years. LivingSocial, Dealster, BuyWithMe, and Groupon are just a few of the contenders, with Groupon leading the pack by a substantial m argin it has spread to 23 countries. While Groupon has yet to turn a profit, the company is growing subscribers at a phenomenal rate: from 83 million in early 2011 to 143 million at the end of the third quarter of 2011, inspiring hundreds of copycats. Daily coupon deals usually oer discounts at stores, cinemas, or restaurants in the area local to the reader. The reader acquires the coupon by paying online, then redeems it later at the store or restaurant. For the seller, it is a new way to reach audiences, advertise its goods, get rid of excess stock, or ll vacant seats. The early publishing challengers to the likes of Groupon have been daily newspapers. But magazines are entering the fray, including Hearst Magazines, Merediths National Media Group, and New York magazine. While third-party services that aggregate coupon deals provided by other sites (such as savings.com, pirq.com, choozon.com, and dealery.com) are nothing new, the two Hearst magazines (Car and Driver and Road & Track), as well as New York magazine and Merediths Parents magazine, are hoping to dierentiate themselves from the pack by providing deals

58

Jonty Kelt admits that it is paid a portion of the revenue from each deal but says that if the deals dont work, we dont get paid meaning that some deals have a minimum uptake number or tipping point as it is commonly referred to. He also says that magazines like New York look to daily deals and social commerce to generate both incremental income and new audiences while providing added value to their existing audiences. In contrast to New York magazines local approach, Merediths National Media Group also partnered with Group Commerce to provide a daily deal service to advertisers across its multiple titles and massive combined audience of 75 million women. that specically cater to their existing niche customers, connecting their advertisers to their customers needs and providing oers relevant to their magazine content. Hearst plans to expand its daily deals to other magazines as well, such as Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan. In a partnership with Group Commerce, New York magazine began its foray into ecommerce in 2011 with a newsletter and site called New York Deals (nymag.com/deals). Group Commerce is a white-label service provider, delivering a product that clients such as New York magazine can label as their own (other, similar white-label deal providers are Tippr and ReachLocal). Group Commerce provides the technology platform, including the payment gateways, commerce experience, and reporting and analytics. The New York magazine sta curates the deals. Readers who sign up for the New York Deals newsletter receive it by email daily. And in keeping with the culture of social media, they can easily share the deals with friends via email or their social networks. While neither New York nor Group Commerce have revealed their financial arrangements, Group Commerce CEO The rst eort is called Parents Deals and looks just like all the others. Meredith started the programme with Parents and American Baby magazine on Parents.com but has plans to very quickly expand to its other brands, including Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle, says Liz Schimel, EVP of digital and customer relationship management at Meredith. As with other programmes, readers who sign up via the magazines Facebook pages or website receive their Parents Deals via email weekly, though Meredith plans to increase the frequency of the deals in the near future, Schimel said. Readers can also follow the deals on Twitter. The deals are available for a limited time only. Out of a pool of some 360 active daily deal sites, each month dozens are launching while others disappear according to Yipit.com, an aggregate deal service and daily deal site tracker. While some may think the e-coupon craze ship has sailed, the forays into the business by Hearst, Meredith, and New York magazine may signal the start of a new trend cutting down on the coupon noise by providing readerspecic oers that are relevant to targeted audiences, not just broadcast to the masses.

59

ADVERTISING

A TOOL BY ANY OTHER NAME

The sapplet is the social media marketing darling as it spreads an advertisers message via game-like experiences to readers friends

T
social application.

he word makes no sense, but the function is pure gold. The hottest new advertising tool is called a sapplet, short for social applet or small

A sapplet is a branded social media application that creates a richer content experience and increases social engagement through game-like features, combining ecommerce and social media. Hearst Magazines is betting heavily that the sapplet will be a critical piece of an advertisers campaign. Since Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, announced its new partnership with New York Citybased social media application manager Buddy Media, the buzz has centered on Buddy Medias new sapplet feature that encourages consumer interaction with a companys Facebook page. Buddy Media is a Facebook management system that has partnerships with eight of the top ten global advertisers. With its scalable, secure architecture and straightforward administrative tools, it allows brands to launch, maintain and measure their Facebook presence in any country and in any language. With the launch of sapplets on 13 Hearst magazine Facebook pages such as Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Redbook and Marie Claire. Hearst will become the first

60

publisher to launch a network-wide sapplet program, and is now the largest publisher presence on the Buddy Media Platform. So, if advertisers want to reach a certain demographic, they dont have to negotiate with each magazine individually. With sapplets, there are more opportunities for Hearsts advertising partners to customise, sponsor and create more brand recognition. To help drive the grassroots, perhaps even viral nature of this programme, consumers activity with the sapplets is shared through their network of friends, spreading awareness and encouraging further interaction with the sapplets sponsoring brands and the magazine. The Facebook apps will allow fans of these Hearst titles to access such features as: Vote For Your Favorite: a vote up/vote down tool that enables consumers to vote on brand products, user-generated content, and brand videos An interactive Personality Boutique: arecommendation feature that suggests

With sapplets, there are more opportunities for Hearsts advertising partners to customise, sponsor and create more brand recognition

products based on a users answers to a personality quiz. Users can explore the recommended products, leaving them just one click away from purchasing that product Custom Badges: Site visitors earn badges for engaging an advertisers custom tab (such as taking a personality quiz or writing a comment), which can then be shared on their Facebook wall.

61

INTEGRATION

INDIA TODAY READIES FOR TOMORROW

Editorial integration breaks down silos, leverages skills and content across multiple titles and platforms, and builds best practices and morale

oida, just outside Delhi, is a symbol of the rapid changes taking place in India. This suburb is where the international Formula 1 flying circus landed for the rst-ever Indian Grand Prix in late 2011. More than half a billion TV viewers saw grandstands and pit garages as sleek and modern as anywhere in Europe. Outside the sophisticated Buddh International Circuit, Noida is a hub of modern business parks, factories and shopping malls. The contemporary look is more than skin-deep; behind the glossy, heatreective glass theres modern thinking going on, too. It was that kind of thinking that brought The India Today Group to Noida to consolidate and integrate its diversified collection of media businesses to create a truly integrated 21st century media company. Chairman and editor-in-chief, Aroon Purie began publishing India Today magazine in 1975. To start with, it was just a scheme to keep the presses rolling at his family printing company. The first edition sold just five thousand copies but Puries brand of quality journalism caught hold and circulation grew rapidly. The magazine is now Indias most read publication with a weekly circulation above one million. Purie still has the printing business, but now its dwarfed by his media empire. He

62

The India Today Group (ITG) began publishing the popular and iconic India Today magazine in 1975

has used the success of the magazine to build the India Today Group (ITG). The company has licensed Auto Bild, Cosmopolitan, Readers Digest and other western magazine titles. ITG has also expanded into television with the highly successful news channel, Aaj Tak. This Hindi language channel regularly attracts audiences of up to 20 million and has spawned spin-offs in other formats and languages. In addition the group has launched a successful daily newspaper, radio stations, and a suite of internet and mobile services. As the group grew, it developed into a collection of unrelated parts. Until this year, ITGs 1,200 editorial staff were scattered around Delhi in 11 disparate oces. There were certainly good examples of collaboration and cooperation, but there was no evidence of an integrated media company. India Today Group existed at the corporate

ITG then expanded into television with the highly successful news channel, Aaj Tak
level, but not at the editorial, operational level. The decision to bring the whole group together in a new building in Noida provided a perfect opportunity for change. Aroon Purie did not just want a geographical move to Noida. He wanted the change of address to coincide with a structural transformation of the company. Puries aim was to create an integrated media group that was ready to compete in a world where output platforms are rapidly changing.

63

INTEGRATION

The old non-integrated way of working had given rise to some deep-seated problems: the urgent, fast-paced areas of the group such as TV news were obsessed with speed but sometimes lacked intelligence and depth of analysis. By comparison, in the quieter magazine offices, intelligence and analysis was everywhere but on occasion the journalists drifted too far from the news agenda. There was also a lack of coordination and, thus, wasteful duplication of eort in newsgathering and planning; each output platform ran its own news-gathering team. On the output side, too, there was little sharing of graphics, video and photography around the group. The rst step was to determine which areas of the group could usefully be integrated. The reaction from senior editorial figures was universal: integration means loss of control. The strong output brands were rightly resistant to any muting of their editorial independence by centralised control. They were also highly protective of their own working methods. Magazine editors and journalists had grown used to having their own oces, meeting rooms and support sta. The idea of sharing space with rowdy, fastpaced TV journalists was uncomfortable. So too was the idea of sharing planning diaries, stories and contacts.

There was strong and vocal resistance but Purie and his senior team pressed ahead. They could see that the individual newspapers, websites, magazines, radio and TV channels were not taking full advantage of their most valuable asset: membership in the India Today Group. To avoid damaging these brands, the organisation was split in two: intake (or news-gathering) on one side and output (or production) on the other. The idea was that the intake side of the operation would benet strongly from integration whereas the output side should remain separate, retaining editorial and managerial independence. Purie wanted to create a central news-gathering turbine to feed many diverse, independent outlets. There were three areas of the newsgathering operation that could be integrated without damaging the crucial brands that underpin the whole group: breaking news, planning and intelligence/analysis. Puries team, advised by outside consultants (*), wanted to make three changes to start the integration process: Create senior editorial posts that cut across output platforms: an ITG group editor-in-chief and a series of macro editors covering areas such as politics,

64

sports and business for all the platforms. Create a news hub IT system run by a dedicated synergy staff on which all platforms would enter breaking news, planning agendas, logistics information, and background intelligence. This internal intelligence network would be available to all editorial sta on desktop and mobile devices and would become the backbone of the companys newsgathering operation. Bring the groups key editorial staff together on one open-plan floor with the macro editors and news hub at the centre. These three changes began the integration of the companys news-gathering operations physically, organisationally and editorially. On the output side, the various platforms remained independent although all the companys graphics units came together into a common pool serving all outlets. Graphics also moved into the main editorial area, preventing this crucial department from becoming remote from the editorial agenda. This process of integration has taken time. Two years so far and the process is not complete yet. Its also faced plenty of resistance - it took vision and courage to re-

Aroon Purie has grabbed hold of the editorial expertise that was kept locked away in the newsroom of a magazine or a newspaper or TV channel

make a large, protable media group from the ground up, especially when some senior sta were strongly opposed to change. The temptation would be to leave it alone and give in to inertia. Just as he did when he launched India Today 37 years ago, Aroon Purie has done something new. Hes grabbed hold of the editorial expertise that was kept locked away in the newsroom of a magazine or a newspaper or TV channel. Now, those silos are being broken down and the expertise of seasoned editors in areas such as politics, fashion, and world aairs is being propagated throughout the organisation.

65

INTEGRATION

These changes at ITG are a first step. The next phase is to completely integrate the intake operation with all journalists organised by subject matter rather than output platform. For example, TV political reporters would be part of the politics department across all media rather than the TV department. Following the path of integration has three benefits. It makes the organisation more ecient, it helps all platforms produce better content, and it prepares the way for new outlets such as connected TVs and tablets that blend audio, text, photos and video. It shifts the focus of the group from the medium to the message.
(*) INNOVATION Media Consulting - editors of this report - advised India Today Group on its integration strategy.

Now, those silos are being broken down and the expertise of seasoned editors in areas such as politics, fashion, and world affairs is being propagated throughout the organisation

This video walks the viewer through a variety of open-space editorial environments at publications around the world. The spaces were designed by INNOVATION Media Consulting, which did the design at the India Today Group.

66

Prototype renders of the open-plan-oor integrated newsroom

67

INTEGRATION

RE-WRITING THE PLAYBOOK

Sports Illustrated integrated print and digital early on and then proceeded to try anything that just might work. Lots did.

ports Illustrated (SI) has always been at the forefront of the digital revolution.

Under the leadership of Terry McDonell, US title SI architected a digital workflow that integrated seamlessly with its existing print workow. The magazine was among the rst to recognise the early signs of the digital revolution. SI jumped on the bandwagon and ended up creating a remarkable success story. The genesis of Sports Illustrated s transformation lies in its mission from being a printed magazine to become a sports media company dedicated to serving enthusiastic, committed sports fans. We had 50 years of goodwill because the original idea was so strong, says McDonell. The idea

68

This is Sports Illustrated app - SI Swimsuit Premium - tested on HTC HD2 tablet running Android 2.3 Gingerbread

was representative of the interest of fans in the growing sports environment. With this inherent need to engage and connect with our sports fanatics emerged our digital strategy. The idea was to make the magazine more relevant to our young readers and sports enthusiasts who were increasingly accessing content on various digital platforms. To achieve this digital mission, SI focused on the following strategies to create sustainable reader and revenue growth:

1. CONTENT is still the Holy Grail

The core of the magazines business still lies in its strong journalism. What changed was the way Sports Illustrated reimagined its existing content on digital platforms to complement the print version. In other words, it was simply an intelligent extension of existing content and resources. The magazine identied early on that a digital platform oered unique opportunities such as flexibility in presenting breaking news stories on web and digital platforms before they lost avour, something not feasible with the print version. Print has limitations in terms of space and is time-bound. Digital platforms enable

Be as eclectic and as experimental as you can possibly be. Look for ways to use your existing content. Be open, move fast, and constantly look for innovative ideas always keeping user-experience in mind.
TERRY MCDONELL. EDITOR OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED GROUP ON WINNING STRATEGIES THAT CATAPULTED THE DIGITAL REVENUES OF THE MAGAZINE

69

INTEGRATION

Sports Illustrated will deliver WHEREVER, WHENEVER, and HOWEVER you want it.
TERRY MCDONELL. EDITOR OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED GROUP

3. INTEGRATING digital workow with print workow

The digital editor says that none of us have the same job as three years ago. One of the most essential and crucial components of adopting digital platforms was building competencies within the sta. SI went in for very little hiring but focused instead on job rotation and building new skills. Leveraging the wealth of experience of its existing sta, SI moved people around, throwing them challenging assignments along with the right exposure to familiarise themselves with digital workow. As reported by tech blog Mashable, Stories are assigned for print, tablets and the web by the same vertical editors in conjunction with SI.com managing editor Paul Fichtenbaum and are then optimised for their respective platforms. When a large story breaks, for example, separate angles are developed for the web, for Sports Illustrateds social channels, as well as for print. The same set of people working on print and digital makes a truly collaborative process, ensuring that quality is consistent across all channels of SI.

the embedding of multimedia-rich content (videos, audio interviews, photo galleries) and increased readership via content social media sharing options. SI is one of too few magazines that retained its staff photographers, a strategic move that proved benecial as it leveraged its vast repository of pictorial media across the web and other digital channels.

2. Make friends with TECHNOLOGY

SI moved its web team from Atlanta to the corporate oce in New York City where it could work in close collaboration with the print team. This effort paved the way for easier adoption of digital platforms as they started to emerge. SI leveraged the corporate investment made by Time Inc to enhance and strengthen its IT resources. The magazine also partnered with The Wonderfactory to design and develop the right applications for various digital platforms. Keeping a close watch on digital trends, SI prioritised platforms such as developing applications and designs for tablets, which was envisioned as offering exponential growth.

SI was also one of the rst magazines to realise that it needed an integrated web and print strategy.

70

Designing SI for multiple platforms posed the biggest challenge. The designers had to reformat the issue with varying aspect ratios for tablets, web, mobile, and print. Even within the tablet universe, each tablet demanded a dierent aspect ratio. The design department quickly familiarised itself with design requirements, often learning by making mistakes. The team uses WoodWing software that allows them to create layouts for print and digital platforms simultaneously. The software also automatically updates all layouts with any copy edits that are made to a single layout for one platform. This whole process is managed by an impressively lean team of nine designers. Whats even more impressive is that while SI previously produced 5,000 pages of content in a year, today that production level has snowballed to more than 100,000 pages if all of the various platforms are included. SI also focused on product packaging, positioning, and pricing. The magazine came up with Innovation Sponsorships for its advertisers. Most of the advertisers were enthusiastic about exploring the endless creative possibilities that digital platforms oered. The magazine developed eective online marketing campaigns, PR, and pricing strategy to market its new oerings. SI also offered its print and digital products via All Access, a one-price subscription model that allows passionate fans to subscribe to content on print, web, mobile and tablets without requiring subscription to individual platforms. The numbers are impressive. Digital revenues were up by 22 per cent between 2009-2010 and were on track for doubledigit growth again in 2011. Currently, digital accounts for 30 per cent of SIs revenues while print accounts for 55 per cent and marketing 15 per cent. Being an early bird often lays the platform

95 per cent of their writers work for both print and digital platforms.
MASHABLE MEDIA SUMMIT

for success. I have made mistakes that made me look stupid,McDonell says. But mistakes are an essential part of learning and growing. Initially, we created fancy buttons on our website, which the users found no value for. Focus on your end customer, the reader. Focus on user experience and interaction. Simplicity is the key. While digital platforms allow for fancy designs, 3D, videos, and other features, it is extremely important to understand what the user would really like on your site. When we started on the journey to adopt digital platforms, we encouraged our sta to ideate. Anyone who had an idea and could do rough sketch to represent his idea moved forward. For McDonell the sooner one starts working on the digital strategies, the sooner one gets closer to his fans. One must experiment and allow room for mistakes as taking a cautious wait-and-watch approach will only mean that you will be left behind. Final score: Sports Illustrated adopted a culture of innovation and now it is the way of life at SI.

Advertising Age recently named Sports Illustrateds tablet app the Best Sports App of 2011 as part of its Media Vanguard Awards. It is the second year in a row that Ad Age has recognised SI for creating innovative, technology-driven means of extending its franchise. There is simply no more a dynamic, comprehensive whole-magazine app on the market, said Advertising Age.

71

ONLINE ADVERTISING

IS BI REALLY BETTER?

GG

ER

AOLs Project Devil super-sized ads are just one of six new online ad formats designed to fundamentally change web advertising

hat do former NBA star Yao Ming, Burj Khalifa, and AOLs Project Devil ads have in common?

They are all really, really big.

But is being really, really big actually any better? Well, if you are an NBA basketball player, a Dubai skyscraper with global aspirations, or, according to AOL, the latest, best idea in online advertising, bigger is most denitely better. Since the fall of 2010, AOL has been encouraging the ad industry to adopt larger, more creative online advertising formats that can accommodate such things as movies, photo galleries, and polls. Arguing that theres no reason webpages should look the same as they did 15 years ago, AOL pushed marketers, publishers, advertisers and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to change the way online ads are presented and conceived. AOL officials believe that display ads should be considered content, and that those ads could live alongside editorial, providing users with a seamless digital experience. Initial research was encouraging: The results were o the charts, showing that users look at Devil ads 4x more often and 4x longer than standard rich media and that Devil increases interaction rates by 7x, according to AOL chief revenue ocer Ned Brody.

General Mills brands Cheerios and Pillsbury Crescents, Columbia Pictures The Social Network, Lexus, and Macys were among the rst brands to use new super-sized ad formats

72

For many months, AOL ran the larger format ads across its own network of websites. AOLs early ad partners included: Sprint, Macys, Pillsbury, JCPenney, Gillette, Lexus, Olay, Walmart, Unilever, and General Mills. In early 2011, IAB approved the Project Devil ads as one of six new standard online ad formats included in its Rising Stars eort to shake up the online advertising market. (See sidebar at end of chapter for details on the other six formats.) AOLs super-sized ads are approximately four times the size of the largest traditional online ads and can accommodate up to three interactive features, including videos, coupons, games, polls, maps, and photo galleries. Moreover, when users click on one of the ads interactive features, they are not redirected away from the website. Even after the IAB approval, nobody took the bait until May 2011 when Hearst Digital Media became the first company to join forces with AOL to employ the Devil supersized ads on some of its magazine websites. Hearst announced it would partner with Pictela, a division of AOL, and employ the IAB Portrait ad unit (IABs name for the Project Devil format) across its web of magazine sites as well.

Shortly thereafter, FOXNews.com, Meredith Corporation, Variety, The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, and The Weather Channel among others signed up. AOL is seeking to triple its current number of larger format publishing partners from 10 to 30 in the rst quarter of 2012. The super-sized ads serve as an important step in the online ad industrys big-picture eort to produce more creative digital ads that both engage consumers and cause advertisers to spend more money. Gone are the days of advertisers looking to simply run their ads in the traditional small banner ads. Advertisers are seeking instead to breathe life into the brands and products they are promoting. [Our clients] are interested in promoting conversations, publishing content, and producing great experiences around their brands, says Hearst Digital Media chief revenue ocer Kristine Welker. The Portrait ad unit allows us to deliver a premium format that puts branded content into the context of the expert content that lives on our sites. In total, six larger ad formats have been approved by IAB, two of which were created by AOL: the Devil 300 x 1050 and the Pictela 970 x 90 expandable pushdown. With the

73

ONLINE ADVERTISING

Initially, marketers and agencies liked the supersized concept but were hesitant to participate because they prefer working with standardised units that can be employed across multiple websites, as opposed to formats that must be custom-made for a particular site. Marketers did not want to invest in the Devil units and then be restricted to deploying them only on AOL websites. AOL put a lot of eggs into the Devil basket as the company strives to replace its early subscription-based success with an ad-supported media play. The larger ad format is one catalyst that could impel marketers to reallocate their ad revenue from traditional media, such as print and television, to digital, says Je Levick, president of AOL advertising. AOL executives believed that the larger ads would better seize consumers attention and hold it longer and, lo and behold, they were right. The average reader spends 47 seconds longer viewing the new ad formats than standard ads and watches 24 more seconds worth of video. The eectiveness of the larger ads extends beyond just viewing-time, however. Hearst has run Pictela ad units across websites such as Marie Claire, Seventeen, Harpers Bazaar, and Esquire. The IAB Portrait generates higher ad eectiveness at every level of the purchase funnel, including a 25 per cent increase in online awareness, a 30 per cent increase in brand interactions, and a 263 per cent increase in purchase intent, says Welker.

The average reader spends 47 seconds longer viewing the new ad formats than standard ads and watches 24 more seconds worth of video

standardisation of the formats, marketers are much more likely to actually use the ads, which incorporate support for multiple types of interactive media, including video. The Devil ad format provides an app-like experience, where marketers and advertisers have the capacity to publish numerous forms of content and utilise social feeds to tap into conversations with the public, Welker says.

74

Devil units have recently been sold to brands like Verizon Wireless and Procter & Gambles Duracell batteries, and AOL has run the ads on a variety of its own websites, including StyleList, MovieFone, and AOL Travel. The Verizon Devil ad includes a poll where viewers can vote for their favourite tablet feature as well as a short commercial about tablets. The Procter & Gamble Devil ad includes fun, interactive features with social media integration, a Learn More tab, and a 10-part, ll-in-the-blank quiz. Previously, AOLs stake in the display advertising market had been on the decline. AOL display ad revenue fell eight per cent in 2010 as the rest of the market experienced a 17 per cent increase. AOL executives hope that Project Devil will be exactly what AOL needs to power a comeback. In its third-quarter report, AOL cited a 50 per cent growth in Project Devils adoption rate, which contributed to third party advertising revenues increasing close to 30 per cent. Project Devil momentum continues, said AOL CEO and chairman Tim Armstrong. Quarter-over-quarter, customers, campaigns and revenue all grew by over 50 per cent. Early fourth quarter 2011 results for Project Devil were reportedly not good, however. Ben Schacter of the Macquarie Research Group wrote AOL sold fewer oversized/custom ad units in the fourth quarter of 2011 (28 per cent of days) than in quarter four of 2010 (40 per cent of days), and we did not see a single Project Devil ad on the homepage in quarter four. Yikes, how did this happen? commented the editors of DigiDay.com. The industry seemingly fell in love with the idea of bigger, better, bolder ads over the past few years as part of an eort to bring on more big brands and elevate CPMs (cost per impression).

TechCrunch was supposedly selling Devil ads for $67 CPMs. Yet you almost never see them. And after AOL announced last year that Hearst was going to be the rst of many publishers outside the AOL family to start utilising Devil ads, its been awfully quiet. The question is, did AOL fail to execute Devil ads on its own properties? Or did brands not take to them, knowing they could get so much other cheap inventory all over AOL and the Web? One quarter, however, does not a trend make, especially after substantial Devil growth in prior quarters. And pundits are always quick to pounce if they think they smell blood. The real test of AOLs paradigm-busting ad format will come in the reaction of readers, advertisers and publishers over the remainder of 2012 and beyond. As online revenue becomes more and more important, the industry can only hope that the Project Devil format and the other ve Rising Stars formats catch the readers and the markets fancy.

The IAB Portrait generates higher ad effectiveness at every level of the purchase funnel ...
KRISTINE WELKER. HEARST DIGITAL MEDIA CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER.

75

ONLINE ADVERTISING

BYE-BYE BORING BANNERS

SIX NEW DIGITAL AD FORMATS ARE SHAKING UP THE ONLINE AD WORLD
In the digital world, things change almost hourly (or at least it feels that way). So someone please explain why digital banner ads have remained virtually unchanged for the last fteen years or so? The same thought occurred to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in the fall of 2010, and it decided to do something about it. In September 2010, IAB announced a re-imagine interactive advertising contest for online ad formats with higher levels of creativity and engagement. Five months later, in February 2011, six innovative ad formats were chosen as winners from a pool of 36 candidates submitted by more than two dozen companies. The six new formats, however, were not immediately dubbed standard IAB ad units. They rst had to undergo a six-month long period of in-market validation. They all passed. Here is a brief synopsis of each of the winning formats: PORTRAIT: AOLs Portrait unit, originally dubbed Project Devil, contains a large, user-friendly canvas, measuring 300 x 1050 pixels. From twice to ten times as deep as the old standard online ad sizes. So, rather than having multiple, smaller ads run simultaneously on a page, a single, larger Portrait unit can stand all by itself, thus making for less clutter and more punch. The Portrait unit was named a winner for its cutting-edge plug-and-play functionality and easy fusion with page content. SLIDER: The Slider unit was submitted by ad agency Genex as a collaborative effort with Unicast and Mediamind. The Slider unit mimics the capability of a touch screen across the bottom of a web page. Viewers can slide over the advertisement with their cursor to reveal the full ad in its entirety. IAB selected the Slider unit for its top-notch optimisation of creative space, which puts viewers in complete control of their advertisement experience. BILLBOARD: The Billboard unit was entered by Google/YouTube and is alternately known as the Masthead. Similar in shape to its road-side namesake, the Billboard runs the full width of a page and provides viewers with the ability to keep ads open or have them closed in a love it or leave it value trade. So far, the Billboard unit has demonstrated impressive results. Viewers who saw the ad on YouTube were four times more likely to watch the companys videos, search for the brand, or visit the advertisers site than those who were not exposed to the ad, says IAB spokesperson Laura Goldberg. FILMSTRIP: Submitted by Microsoft, this powerful 3000 x 300 pixels unit (thats really, really big!) which can be viewed in a 300 x 600 pixel window, packs ve ads into one. The Filmstrip presents viewers with a highly engaging experience and relies on contextual mapping to connect with viewers in a compelling way. When weighed against other rich-media ads, the Filmstrip unit elicits an inspiring 90 per cent increase in exposure time and rate of interaction. PUSHDOWN: Designed by Pictela, the Pushdown unit is elegant, functional, and contains an intuitive visual toolbar that showcases unlimited high-denition content, including videos, photos, animations, and applications, which viewers can share directly to Facebook and Twitter. When compared to standard ad formats, the Pushdown unit soars above the competition, generating a 338 per cent increase in interaction time and a 440 per cent increase in consumer interactions. SIDEKICK: Advanced by Unicast, the Sidekick is an expandable ad format that drives page content horizontally to the left, allowing viewers to freely interact with a plethora of creative possibilities that do not interfere with the page content. With engagement time skyrocketing to more than seven times the industry standard, the Sidekick unit has denitely This video gives you a look at each of the six radical new online ad proven that this ad format is a real contender. formats that include everything
from video, contests, slideshows and more all in the same ad!

76

SOCIAL IMAGE NETWORK

LOOKING GOOD
Pinterest is sending traffic to magazine sites in numbers that rival the big boys (Google, Yahoo)

T
unique visitors.

wo years ago, Pinterest did not exist. One year ago, almost no one had heard of it. As recently as May 2011, the site had only 418,000

Then lightening struck.

In January, a mere eight months later, Pinterest passed the 10 million monthly unique visitors milestone, hitting that mark faster than any independent website ever. By the end of February, Pinterest was at 12 million uniques and still growing. Some businesses were seeing Pinterest refer more trac than Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube combined. As if to show they have learned from past mistakes underestimating new digital phenomena, some magazine executives decided NOT to wait on the sideline until it was almost too late. Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes and Gardens, and Real Simple are three magazine brands that have already made it into the top 20 sources of content on Pinterest. (No surprise that these brands jumped on the bandwagon so quickly as an estimated 70 per cent of Pinterest users are female.) Pinterest is, simply, an online photo bulletin board and social network focused on images instead of text. Users upload pictures of their favourite books, clothing, cameras, places, buildings, places, etc. to a board of their own choosing which they can

78

In January Pinterest passed the 10 million monthly unique visitors milestone

then categorise into one of Pinterests 31 categories (see sidebar). Those images are then shared with their own Pinterest friends as well as with anyone on Pinterest looking in the categories where the boards are collected. The beauty of the site, both in look and process, is its simplicity. Users nd pictures they like on the web (or on their friends Pinterest pages) and hit a button either on their Pinterest page or in their toolbar and, hey presto, the photo and a short description are posted for their friends and other Pinterest users to nd. Its intuitive and, thus, its a new shiny thing that non-geeks can adopt with ease. And its fun. Who doesnt like lists and pictures, especially of their favourite things? Pinterest pins go viral when users re-pin one anothers postings, and that is happening with stunning frequency. Over 80 per cent of pins are repins, demonstrating the tremendous virality at work in the Pinterest community, says Robert Moore, CEO of RJMetrics, an online business intelligence service provider, in his company blog. To contrast, a study

79

SOCIAL IMAGE NETWORK

done at a similar time in Twitters history showed that only about 1.4 per cent of tweets were retweets. Going viral is also aided by the ability to create communal boards. For example, bridesmaids can share dress ideas or party planners can share meal choices or book clubs can suggest books or groups going on trips can recommend places to visit or restaurants, etc. Pinterests traffic charts arent hockey sticks - theyre rocket ships, reports Moore. Pinterest is retaining and engaging users as much as two to three times as eciently as Twitter was at a similar time in its history. Pinterest demonstrates some of the strongest user engagement, retention, and virality metrics I have ever seen in an online business, concludes Moore. While the number of unique users and weekly visitors are, in Moores words, astonishing, the amount of time users spend on the site is equally astonishing for such a young site. The average user spends 98 minutes a month on Pinterest compared

to 150 minutes a month on Tumblr and seven hours on Facebook. Whats attracting readers? Everyone loves great images. Especially of things they care about. So fashion-gawkers, home-decorators, and foodies are among groups for whom Pinterest is especially attractive. The folks at the Time Inc Lifestyle Group also noticed the rocket-like growth of Pinterest and acted quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Pinterest is already second only to Google as the top overall referral source for RealSimple.com, according to Lifestyle Group director of audience development Deborah Curtis. Pinterest is third overall providing referrals for CookingLight.com and fourth for MyRecipes, where it has beaten out Yahoo. In both cases, Pinterest is the top social media referral site. Whats important to note is that, unlike Facebook and Twitter, where magazines rate their success by the number of likes

80

To build that traffic and sales potential, some brands, including RealSimple.com, include a PinIt button in article pages next to their other social sharing buttons, to encourage Pinterest users to add new pins. If Pinterests stratospheric growth doesnt get magazine executives attention, comments like this should motivate them to get on board. Now. A dedicated magazine reader and blogger, Samantha Sam, wrote on Lets Get Digital last year that I love this site (Pinterest) so much that while I dont think it will replace my magazine habit, I have found myself repeating on more than one occasion, Back away from the Pinterest back away

A lot of our brands are all about beautiful imagery, and thats what Pinterest is all about,
DEBORAH CURTIS. LIFESTYLE GROUP DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

LOOK OUT FOR LOOKBOOK.NU

Fashion magazine editors should also be on the lookout for another social image network that is gaining phenomenal traction. LOOKBOOK.nu describes itself as the worlds rst, truly editor-less fashion magazine. it is already the largest online community dedicated to showcasing member-uploaded street style fashion photography. Once the pictures are up, the community rates (or hypes) them. Looks that are well hyped are listed at the top of the Hot section and users who are consistently hyped gain karma, which gets them more exposure on the sites front pages. With more than 2 million unique visitors in recent months, and sites devoted to the US, UK, China and Japan, it is fast gaining ground on the fashion industrys leading publications (UK Vogues average monthly circulation is 221,090). Big brands such as Zara, American Apparel and Forever 21 are actively placing contextual ads, tracking trends and running click-to-buy campaigns. And modelling agents are scouting for talent as well as fresh faces. And as to be expected, it was all started casually four years ago by twenty-somethings Yuri Lee and her boyfriend, Jason Su, in a at in San Francisco with the ambition to become the global fashion photo-sharing brand.

or followers they can count, success on Pinterest comes from users finding something they like and pinning it to their own Pinterest page. That is where the viral activity happens, Lifestyle Group general manager Tina Imm told minonline.com. Five of the nine Lifestyle brands have Pinterest accounts. A lot of our brands are all about beautiful imagery, and thats what Pinterest is all about, Curtis told eMediaVitals. Its much more visually engaging and more stimulating than other social media sites. Whats in all this for magazine publishers? Traffic, of course, but also sales of both subscriptions and products. Every pinboard with a picture from a magazines website features a link back to the publishers website and Twitter account.

81

TABLETS

KINDLING A FIRE UNDER THE APPLE TREE

Bottom line? Questions of size, control, design, interactivity, navigation, and functionality still remain

ungry for their slice of the digital market, magazine publishers have increasingly seen tablet devices as a natural outlet. And although Apple is justly credited with having created the tablet phenomenon, publishers have sought an alternative to the iPad and Apples policies, hoping for a less-expensive device that would nd widespread adoption. So when Amazon introduced its muchawaited 7-inch (18cm) tablet, the Kindle Fire (US$199), on 28 September 2011, more than a few magazine publishers were eager to see its effects on their industry. (The iPad, by contrast, has a nearly 10-inch [25cm] screen and starts at US$499.)

82

A demonstration of the Kindle Fire and how it looks while viewing magazines and newspapers

Amazons site promises your favourite magazines... with glossy, full-colour layouts, photographs and illustrations.
THE TABLET FOR MAGAZINES; PUBLISHERS PLAY BALL
At the Fires unveiling, Amazon made it clear that magazine reading would be a key feature of the device. Amazon had drawn up deals with big players in magazines in advance of the launch, so it was able to demonstrate what magazine content would look like on the new tablet. Amazons negotiations to get magazines on the Fire are believed to have gone much more smoothly than the negotiations those same publishers had with Apple for the iPad. (Key issues for the publishers with both Apple and Amazon were the sharing of customer data with the publisher, and control of pricing.) Having seen Apples missteps and benefited from subsequent industry conversation, Amazon was in a good place to negotiate, and, as such, guaranteed the Fire an impressive suite of content from day one. In November 2011, Amazon announced that the Fire would launch with access to more than 400 magazine and newspaper titles. Early adopters were offered a free three-month trial subscription to 17 Cond Nast titles. (All Kindle Fire magazine subscriptions would start with a two-week free trial.) Amazon aggressively markets the Fire as a

magazine reader. At the top of its online list of the Kindle Fires features before movies, books, and apps, and after only stunning colour touchscreen is magazines in rich colour. Amazons site promises your favourite magazines with glossy, full-colour layouts, photographs and illustrations. It also teases special editions of titles like Vanity Fair, Wired, and GQ that include built-in video, audio and other interactive features. After all the hype, the actual experience of reading magazines on the Fire has received mixed reviews. Once consumers started receiving their Fires on on 15 November 2011, the feedback came rolling in. Engadget rated the magazine reading experience as good but not great, noting that the display seemed a little too small and lacked the resolution necessary to read smaller text. David Pogue made a similar observation in The New York Times, noting that the Page View (which mimics the print layout) makes the text too small to read, while the Text View (providing only the text) eliminates the pleasure of browsing. Other reviewers and consumers noted sluggish page turns, complex navigation, and page thumbnails that interfered with reading, although Amazon has since pushed a software update that addresses concerns about the devices responsiveness.

83

TABLETS

Other reviewers were less charitable. Jakob Nielsen of UseIt.com put the Fire through usability research and concluded: The magazine reading experience could be good but actually is miserable because the content isnt designed for the device or for interactive reading, pointing out the Page View/Text View problem, poor navigation features, and unhelpful tables of contents and search. Josh Smith, writing for Gottabemobile.com, stated categorically, Kindle Fire magazines are as ugly as sin. But he directed his criticism at the publishers, noting that some magazines suffered from poor formatting, lack of clickable links, and pages of images disconnected from their related text, while other magazines shone. Tech blog Mashable came to the same conclusion: Many things look wonderful on the Kindle Fire, but only if the partners design for the screen... GQ and The New Yorker looked great. Esquires PDF pages, though, look bad and some are unreadable if you zoom in. Magazine issues and subscriptions sold through the Fires Newsstand come in one of two formats: as a standard magazine or as a publisher-created app. Having developed a dedicated app bespeaks the publishers commitment to providing content specically for the Fire, so magazines in app form are optimised for the device, with

better formatting, improved navigation, and an overall better reader experience. Standard magazines come with no such guarantee. What about interactive extras? They seem less important than cleanly adapting the content of the print version. Addressing publishers in Techpinions, Colin Crawford noted, Over-designed multimedia versions of consumer magazines appear to distract readers from the core content. The majority of tablet readers seem happier with simple enhanced PDF versions ... that emphasise the readability of the articles on their devices. Seeing Apples success with the Newsstand feature in iOS 5 (Cond Nast reported a 268 per cent increase in subscriptions after its release), Amazon has adopted the same Newsstand idea on its device. Customers organise their newspapers and magazines in one place and have instant access to a dedicated store for magazine issues, subscriptions, and apps. Many believe that Amazons motivation in producing a tablet is to more closely tie its customers to the content it sells. And this, at least, seems to have been an unqualied success. Writing for The Verge , Joshua Topolsky notes that the links from the Fire to Amazons content are seamless: Where Amazon is particularly strong is in breaking down the sense of a barrier between the content you own and have on the device, and its various stores where new content is available ... The experience is completely painless, and far more integrated in the Fire than it is on the iPad or any other Android tablet.

Introduction of the new Kindle Fire tablet in New York, 28 September 2011
JEFF BEZOS. AMAZON CEO

84

Of course, while barrier-free access to trusted and curated content is a plus for consumers, it has the long-term effect of tethering them to Amazon. This feature of the Fire is also a consideration for publishers who prefer not to be restricted by Amazons policies or who would like to provide content through multiple sources. The slight end-run around Amazons content monopoly is to purchase magazines through magazine-reading app Zinio (although in-app purchases also accrue a fee for the tablet maker). Zinio quickly produced a version of its app for the Fire. Amazons gambit for a share of Apples tablet market seems to have worked: Amazon reported selling four million Fires for Christmas 2011, and analyst Tavis McCourt at Morgan Keegan has estimated that one to two million of those sales replaced the purchase of an iPad. Magazine publishers know that the tablet will be an important part of developing their digital readership. But once bitten, twice shy: preceding the Fire, the blossoming of low-priced tablets that failed to gain much traction (Xoom, Playbook, Galaxy Tab) was disheartening, especially given the need to format content specically for each device.

Where Amazon is particularly strong is in breaking down the sense of a barrier between the content you own and have on the device, and its various stores where new content is available ...
JOSHUA TOPOLSKY . EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE VERGE

Publishers hunger for a tablet that will be widely adopted and widely used to consume their content. Its not yet clear whether the Fire will be that tablet for magazines especially if the 7-inch screen proves just too small for magazine layouts. Rumours of a 10-inch Amazon tablet abound, though, so the promise of a pleasurable magazine reading experience linked to Amazons dominance as a content distributor may still be just tantalisingly out of reach.

85

UNBUNDLING

WHATS OLD IS NEW (AND PROFITABLE) AGAIN

Breaking up content and putting it back together in highly focused mini-ebooks delivered on low-cost digital platforms creates new readers and new revenue

ho has the time to read a whole magazine in a single sitting? And who says every reader is interested in

every story in every issue? Finally, who says readers have to consume stories at a time and on a platform of OUR choosing? With free time such a valued commodity and readers interests increasingly fragmented and maddeningly specific, the unbundling (and rebundling) of media content is becoming one very successful, and, thank God, lucrative strategy for some publishers. Publishers of several magazines are embracing unbundling with gusto, breaking out their content and developing unique content packages that are more user-friendly and delivered on low-cost mobile platforms. The content is being re-used and repackaged and made available in dierent formats on multiple platforms. What consumers are seeing now are unmagazine apps or mini-ebooks for people on the go.

BRIDES unbundled and rebundled in an app some of their best content for the most comprehensive mobile application ever created for brides on the go - the BRIDES Wedding Genius

Most are of a variety called stand-alone consumer experiences, according to Hearst executive vice president John Loughlin.

86

These new publications are essentially tools to help readers accomplish a task or solve a particular need, ranging from planning a wedding or getting in shape for a vacation to simply shopping, cooking, baby-care, or virtually any other activity of daily living. The new, highly targeted and rebundled content packages are gaining traction and providing new revenue. BRIDES magazine created BRIDES Wedding Genius 2.0 which serves as an idea book and planner for brides-to-be. With all the wedding-related content BRIDES creates, what better place to curate it than in an app? This app allows the user to plan their entire wedding while waiting in line at their local coee shop, sitting on the subway, or lying in bed. With the apps unique features and functionality, brides-to-be can browse through wedding dresses, accessories, nd stores, and even select a destination for their honeymoon. The latest BRIDES Wedding Genius 2.0 upgrade also saves future brides from having to carry around a heavy planner. The BRIDES Digital Binder serves as a pocket wedding

The BRIDES Digital Binder serves as a pocket wedding planner where all the wedding ideas and inspirations can be stored and accessed at any time.

planner where all the wedding ideas and inspirations can be stored and accessed at any time. The bride-to-be can also manage the budget and guest list when syncing the binder to their online account at BRIDESWeddingGenius.com. BRIDES magazine has made this app a unique utility for any bride-to-be and blends the magazines style with the needs of its users. Best of all, future brides can download it for free in app stores. LMK, which stands for Let Me Know, is an app that takes unbundled Hearst content and rebundles it and allows users to create their own new app around the topics that interest

87

UNBUNDLING

them most. Created by Hearst Entertainment and Syndication, this app curates news from dierent sources and delivers the best news to its users. Every photo, story, and stat is customised for its user and is constantly updated so that the reader is always in the loop. This app keeps you informed up to the minute, even notifying the user with breaking news. No more searching the web to nd sites to bookmark or building lots of RSS feeds. Everything can be accessed on the go in one app that consumers can download for free. There are hundreds of fitness apps to choose from, but Mens Health magazine took its best exercise content and created a tness app that gives users complete control over their workouts. 1000 Exercises by Mens Health and Womens Health allows users to create their own workouts as well as publish their workouts for other users to access. No need for trainer-guided workouts when you can develop your own routine with this app and track everything you do all from your mobile phone. There are more than one thousand moves and hundreds of exercise videos to watch while working out.

With its high-quality images and user-friendly interface, developing a fitness regime has become easier with just the touch of a button. Life magazine is respected, even revered for its high-quality, iconic and often historic photography. Now Life s editors have unbundled its photographs and rebundled them in an app that allows readers to find photos not by edition but by topics such as most popular, news, celebrity, sports, animals, and travel. Venturing into the free app can result in the loss of many, many hours of revelling in some of the worlds best photographs ranging from last week all the way back to the Great Depression.

1000 Exercises by Mens Health and Womens Health allows users to create their own workouts as well as publish their workouts for other users to access.

88

Life Mobile allows its users to zoom in, pinch and swipe through a vast amount of photography. There is also a feature that allows the user to create their own LIFE cover and share it with their friends. Want to nd out if you have what it takes to be a LIFE photo-editor? With the face-o feature, you can do just that. The high-quality images from this app that can be viewed on a smart phone are beyond amazing. Hats o to LIFE photography! But unbundling is not just about apps. There is also the so-called single, taking old content around a single hot topic or appealing theme, and producing a collection. Some magazines have discovered that taking some of their best work in various niches and rebundling that work as mini-ebooks can draw new readers and new revenues. Hearst looked around its Good Housekeeping archives and, presto, a wealth of recipes that could be unbundled from their original editions and repurposed into mini-cookbooks, generating new income and pointing users to the companys more expensive digital cookbooks. In late 2011, Good Housekeeping had published 33 digital cookbooks, including ve mini-cookbooks. After the publication of the US $0.99 cent mini-cookbooks, sales of the full US $17-$21 cookbooks increased. The company ventured outside the kitchen in a partnership with Open Road to publish Cosmos Sexiest Stories Ever. For just 99 cents, readers found it hard to resist titles like: Sex Under the Stars by Jane Green, Birthday Sex Shell Never Forget by Jennifer Weiner, and Falling in Lust at the Jersey Shore by Meg Cabot. The collection, along with the mini-cookbooks, made it to the iBookstore bestseller list. Rodales Runners World is also experiencing success with e-singles. Editors there are blending new content with work from their

archives to create a series of Essential Guides around topics of perennial interest to their readers. Next up are e-single personal health guides from Mens Health and Prevention as well as gardening singles from Organic Gardening. The New Yorker discovered gold in the hills (mountains, actually) of old content. Launching their New York Reader series with a compilation of earlier stories about The Digital Revolution, The New Yorker put out an ebook sponsored by American Express. Old content, but new readers AND new revenue from both the sponsorship and the sales on iTunes ($2.99 for nonsubscribers). That was followed quickly by At the Ballpark, an iPad-only collection of eight decades of New Yorker baseball writing including authors like John Updike, David Grann, and Roger Angell. It was wildly popular and represented more added revenue through the sponsorship by United Airlines and more iTunes sales. More ebooks followed: compilations of golfing stories, nature stories, great adventures, and dining. For magazines with rich archives, and even for new titles, the opportunity to nd new readers and revenues via unbundling and rebundling content in narrow niches delivered on low-cost digital platforms represents yet another new arrow in the quiver of solutions to the publishing business model of the future.

89

B2B

TO BE OR NOT TO B2B
Hanley Wood decided it didnt want to be the 21st century equivalent of the old buggy whip maker

hy would a B2B publishing company that owns really owns its verticals want to change?

Could be a modern case of the 1890s buggy whip maker. If you asked the biggest buggy whip maker in the late 1800s about the future of automobiles, he would have dismissed them out of hand, says Hanley Wood CEO Frank Anton. You know how that turned out for him. Hanley Wood is the dominant B2B print publisher in the United States in the building, rebuilding, and architecture industries. But Anton could see big changes ahead that his company was largely unprepared to meet. There is a whole new dimension to media now. Are you set up to exist in this new world? We werent, Anton admits. So there has to be a wholesale self-examination. You have to take a very hard look at what you are doing and how you are doing it, and decide if you want to change or not. There can be no sacred cows. Anton decided Hanley Wood needed to change.

FRANK ANTON HANLEY WOOD CEO

And he pursued it with gusto.

90

He brought in outside consultants (*) with the charge to look at the editorial operation top to bottom, no holds barred. Everything was fair game. And everyone in the company could have a say in the future of the company. After observing the company for three months and interviewing more than ve dozen employees across every department, the outside consultancy delivered the diagnosis: the successes of Hanley Woods high-quality print publications were masking the symptoms of serious digital deciencies, and the singlemarket focus that had served the company so well in the past was now handicapping the companys ability to grow and change. The physical structure of the editorial department (private offices and isolated cubicles) reflected disconnected, siloed organisational problems. Staers at one title struggled with problems staers at another title had solved long ago. Workers in adjoining oces barely knew or spoke to one another unless they worked for the same brand, and then communication between walls was often by email instead of face-to-face. Worst of all, digital was largely an afterthought. It was time for us to gure out what to commit ourselves to, says Anton. The brand silos had been a strength, but they also created limitations that did damage. It was

Everything was fair game. And everyone in the company could have a say in the future of the company

hard to share best practices and there was an incredible duplication of work. In one nowinfamous case, three Hanley Wood staers from dierent titles showed up in the same oce of an advertiser in Seattle, surprising even themselves. So Anton embraced the solution: an integrated, open-space editorial operation with a digital-first focus under a single editorial leader. To move from recommendations into reality, Anton created seven task forces made up of volunteers from across the company (more than 70 staers asked to participate). The task forces attacked seven key challenges: work flow, technology, space, personnel, training, analytics, and organisation. The task forces were chaired and populated by a full spectrum of the Hanley Wood world, ranging from senior executives to entry-level staers and representing every department: tech, production, editorial, development, marketing, systems, and sales.

91

B2B

And Anton gave them damn-near carte blanche. The only non-negotiable items were a digital-rst, open-space design and the creation of the role of president/content at the executive level, reporting directly to Anton (editorial had not previously been represented on the executive committee). Beyond that, the task forces could accept, alter, or reject the recommendations, as long as they could support their conclusions. We have a long tradition of using task forces to help management deal with dierent problems25 years, in fact, says Anton. When we go to people who work here and say, Here is the problem, their input has always been valuable and almost always solved the problem. You have to have the right kind of culture for it to work, he says. It wont work if you have a command-and-control culture. In that case, the employees will say, Why should I put my head on the block only to have it chopped o? None of the task force members are worried for their heads. This is a wonderful and unprecedented opportunity, said Space Task Force member and editor of Architectural Lighting, Elizabeth Dono. I cant think of too many companies that would go to these lengths to improve the workspace and involve the staff to this extent. They realise the value of the people here. The biggest changes will be the integration of the formerly isolated brands, the open-space work area, and the transition to digital-rst. While each title will retain its thematic focus, the staff (and the content they create) will be available to solve problems and

generate material that can be leveraged, where appropriate, across nearly three dozen titles. In a physical reminder of the commitment to integration, staers with similar tasks will be seated in proximity to one another, and lead editors will be on the oor with the rest of the sta, right in the thick of the operation instead of behind solid walls. While the exact structure of the editorial operation has not yet jelled, there is a commitment to create content in new ways for new audiences on new platforms. The integration process began in March 2011 and is due to be completed in mid 2012. In addition to maintaining its high-quality print products, Hanley Wood will expand its social media oerings (websites, iPad apps, e-newsletters, Ning communities, Twitter feeds) and move into curating content and building communities. Editors roles will change. Instead of just directing the creation of original content and pushing it out to their readers, editors will become content curators as well, searching for the best content in their niche (both internal and external) and delivering it with a special twist to their readers in multiple efficient and convenient ways thus becoming a complete source of information and insight in their area of expertise.

92

The roles of editors will change from just producing content to being responsible for curating an audience experience based on that editors expertise in an area,
ANDY REID. PRESIDENT OF HANLEY WOOD DIGITAL

just beginning, Anton sees benets already. I think the biggest benet so far is the sense among the sta that this is a good thing, that were taking control of our future, that were finally going to be ahead of the curve, he says. Perhaps the most important thing, though, is that the people who will be aected are excited and not recalcitrant they want to help facilitate its success. Oce walls will start coming down in late 2012. But other walls are already disappearing.

The roles of editors will change from just producing content to being responsible for curating an audience experience based on that editors expertise in an area, says president of Hanley Wood Digital, Andy Reid. We want the editors to become the arbiters of relevance for their audience by putting the Hanley Wood imprint on a much wider selection of content. Similarly, the editors will direct the creation of communities of shared interests among their readers that will enable those readers to create and contribute content, speak to their peers about their successes and challenges, and share thoughts in elds they nd compelling, Reid says. While editors roles are changing, so will the roles of almost everyone else in the editorial department. New job titles will also be added to help create content on the new platforms. Writers will be expanding their presence online; artists will be moving into digital work. Web editors will be tasked with broader responsibilities beyond simply posting print content, from constantly monitoring analytics to making changes to maximise the impact of the web oerings. Infographers, videographers, multimedia creators, community managers, and other interactive roles will all be added to the editorial team over time. Even though the integration process is

Its a new day at Hanley Wood. No buggy whip types need apply.
(*) INNOVATION Media Consulting - which edits this report - worked with Hanley Wood as their outside consultants.

The new Hanley Wood vision as articulated by staffers today A digital-rst growth organisation An innovative organisation A focus on solving customers problems A fast-moving organisation An open, integrated organisation An organisation with a clear mission and strategy An organisation that communicates internally as well as it communicates externally An organisation creating community and using it to solve problems and create content The characteristics that will describe the new Hanley Wood Organised Integrated Agile, fast Entrepreneurial Innovative Mission-driven Fun, rewarding Web savvy

93

PAYWALLS

WHICH WALL IS THE RIGHT WALL?

The idea that you cant charge for the best content is baloney.

f all the confounding conundrums facing a 21st century magazine publisher, the question of whether and how to charge for content has almost everyone completely ummoxed. With the unimpressive track record of online advertising (click-through rates are still in the low single digits), magazine publishers are trying to gure out if paywalls represent the next great revenue engine for their industry. While publications have experimented with a variety of approaches to paywalls, there is no clear case of an approach that works so well as to be the model. Yet. The world of paywalls is divided into four camps, some parts of which can overlap. There are paywalls, ad walls, registration walls, and like walls.

Paywalls are the most straightforward: pay for content and you get to read it. Of course, y of approaches tonothing is really simple anymore. Paywalls paywalls, there is no clearare divided into soft and hard paywalls.

case of an approach that works so well as to be the Hard paywalls are what they sound like: model. Yet r, he or she has toNo cash, no content. A soft paywall allows

give the magazine information, mostreaders access to a limited amount of content often just a name and e-mail address,over a certain time span but the paywall kicks but sometimes location, incomein if the reader wants more. Another version of the soft paywall allows readers access level, phone, etc. to everything except what the publication

94

The Media Briengs Paywall Strategy 2011 conference, featuring speakers from eConsultancy, Future, The Guardian, and The Media Brieng

At least one magazine has experimented with whats called a like wall for an individual piece of content

considers premium content, which is kept behind a paywall. The second approach is often referred to as the freemium model. After paywalls come ad walls. This approach takes the cake for being intrusive (readers are forced to watch what is often a very large, very loud video before they can access content). Nonetheless, this approach also guarantees advertisers that readers will at least see (and often hear) their message. Third, a magazine can put up a registration wall. If a reader wants to read what the site has to oer, he or she has to give the magazine information, most often just a name and email address, but sometimes location, income level, phone, etc. Finally, at least one magazine has experimented with whats called a like wall for an individual piece of content. For the simple (if very public) gesture of liking the magazines Facebook page, The New Yorker offered a 12,000-word story by one of their best authors (Jonathan Franzen) writing his pilgrimage to the South Pacific island of Alejandro Selkirk to ruminate about the surprise death of one of the most famous young authors of his time, David Foster Wallace. More than 17,000 Facebook users liked The New Yorkers on Facebook to gain access to the story. Another 3,354 people Tweeted about it, and there were 100 million press

impressions about the campaign. If theres no cash in the like wall transaction, whats in it for the magazine? Demographic data and access to the readers dozens, perhaps hundreds, even thousands of friends on Facebook. Using the Facebook Insights tool, The New Yorker can discover the readers gender, age, home, referral source and just how many people the magazines story was sent to via the readers news feed. That data is extremely valuable for the magazines marketing team and its advertisers. But paywalls of any stripe are not for everyone. In 2008, The Atlantic dropped its paywall. The perspective was that since print subscribers pay for the magazine, The Atlantic should not allow others to read the content for free online, says Scott Havens, vice president of digital strategy and operations at The Atlantic (he was not at The Atlantic when the paywall decision was made). Overarching this was the assumption that doing so (letting people read the magazines content for free) would cannibalise print subscriptions, he says. After The Atlantic stopped using its paywall, trac skyrocket. The decision was made in order to create buzz, increase site trac, and

95

PAYWALLS

In 2008, we did less than US $1m in online ad revenue well do US $12m this year, so weve had a dramatic improvement.
SCOTT HAVENS. VICE PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL STRATEGY & OPERATIONS AT THE ATLANTIC

Im not sure that it didnt work, but the audience probably wasnt ready for it, Haven says. The rise of tablet consumption changes the game in many ways and lowers the barrier for paid content. There are some who think all this angst about paywalls is unnecessary. There are easy ways to create revenue from content, according to Matt Shanahan, senior vice president of strategy for Scout Analytics. His company provides digital revenue optimisation solutions that equip publishers to maximise their online revenue and prot. Shanahan advocates using a registration wall and a paywall. Because most magazines are not news driven, the most important aspect for revenue is building a loyal audience, says Shanahan. In this case, the combination of a registration wall and paywall are the most eective approaches. That said, Shanahan believes a good strategy is to allow a first-click-free for articles, but then requiring the reader to register on the second article.

simply be part of the national conversation with our magazine content, says Havens. At the time, there wasnt that much web content on theatlantic.com. Now we produce 100 stories a day so that equation has changed. The increase in ad revenue alone was enough to make The Atlantic happy about its decision to drop the paywall, Havens says. We have more trac, more experience on the team, stronger brand momentum, he says. In 2008, we did less than US $1m in online ad revenue well do US $12m this year, so weve had a dramatic improvement. Why did website visitors desert the magazines website originally, though, after the paywall was installed?

96

Because most magazines are not news driven, the most important aspect for revenue is building a loyal audience,
MATT SHANAHAN. SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF STRATEGY FOR SCOUT ANALYTICS

weekly. Its a matter of readers-per-copy and their value to advertisers. Some people will pay to receive lots of great content, says Ambrose. Others will not. But both groups of readers are valuable to advertisers. And the internet allows us to discriminate between those people who care enough to pay, and those who dont, with metering systems. For magazines, the combination of a registration wall and paywall is the best option, Shanahan says. This combination is often referred to as a metered model because of the meter that triggers the registration and subscriptions. The common view of the market place is that print is dying because publishers are giving away the same content online, Matt Shanahan says. This, however, is completely untrue. What is true is that there is so much more competition for readers time that its harder and harder for print to compete successfully. Regardless of the system of payment, 2011 saw the erection of hundreds of magazine paywalls the world over - a trend that seems unstoppable. Of course readers will see more paywalls, Ambrose says. The idea that you cant charge for the best content is baloney. Think of the TV market in the US. There are hundreds of free cable channels, but HBO has made a very nice business behind a paywall despite the fact that there is an ocean of free TV around it.

This minimum type of registration allows the publisher to contact regular and occasional readers when new content is available and bring them back, says Shanahan. Another level, such as 10 articles per month, can be established for fans who have to convert to a subscription because of the amount of content they consume, says Shanahan. Not so fast, says Daniel Ambrose, managing partner for Ambro.com. He thinks paywalls are totally unnecessary for some magazine websites, and ad walls are probably not a good idea for any magazines. But he agrees with Shanahan about the value of registration. People is the worlds most profitable magazine, Ambrose adds. But People achieves its profitability by giving away more content to more readers than any other magazine. How is this possible? While more than three million people subscribed to People in print, there were roughly 40 million people who read it for free

Some people will pay to receive lots of great content, wrote Ambrose. Others will not. But both groups of readers are valuable to advertisers.
DANIEL AMBROSE MANAGING PARTNER FOR AMBRO.COMATLANTIC

97

USER-GENERATED CONTENT

WHEN LADIES HOME JOURNAL USES UGC, ITS NOT A RADICAL IDEA
More and more magazine editors are allowing readers to direct and even write the content of their publications

or decades, readers have turned to magazines looking for thought leaders and experts. Theyve sought advice, direction, or factual knowledge on subjects near and dear to their hearts. (As if asking the experts at Cosmopolitan why men cheat was a bona de solution to all of lifes problems, readers nonetheless put their faith in the words written on a magazines pages.) Not so much anymore. Readers dont need to buy a magazine to nd answers to their problems or questions. Information on everything under the sun can be found instantly and at no cost through a variety of digital sources that may or may not be magazines. And may or may not come from experts or thought leaders. So, what are the thought leaders of the predigital era to do when people stop seeking their thoughts? To remain a go-to source, some magazines have decided that the best way to keep readers engaged in their brands is to make those readers a part of the brand. Magazines do this by soliciting user-generated content, or UGC. Magazines use of UGC falls into two categories:

Ladies Home Journal hands content over to readers

One group is made up of magazine

98

We really ipped this model. Usually content creation begins with an editor. We have content creation that begins with a reader.
SALLY LEE. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF LADIES HOME JOURNAL

companies that solicit UGC to make a better magazine and increase their readership, reach, and relevance. The other group, arguably the more innovative of the two, is made up of companies that dont already have a print magazine about a particular subject, but build one online made up entirely (or mostly) of UGC to generate a buzz around their brand. Leading the charge in the rst group is a very unlikely candidate for the honour of most radical innovator: the venerable (as in nearly 120 years old!) and substantial (3.2 million paid circulation) Ladies Home Journal. Beginning in March 2012, Ladies Home Journal will be choosing material written by readers on its Facebook page, DivineCaroline. com (a Real Girls Network/Meredith

property), and other digital sources for inclusion in LHJ. And its not going to be a token inclusion; the reader-generated content will actually drive much of the magazine. We really flipped this model, says editor-in-chief Sally Lee. Usually content creation begins with an editor. We have content creation that begins with a reader. Ladies Home Journal editors didnt wake up one day and decide user content was a good idea. Signicant amounts of research showed that LHJ readers wanted to play a greater role in creating the content and that they wanted to hear from their peers, not just a couple of experts anointed by the editors. Heres one anomaly: unlike many publications using reader content, LHJ plans

99

USER-GENERATED CONTENT

to pay its readers professional rates for their work. LHJ is now easily one of the largest magazines to jump on the UGC bandwagon, and its success (or failure) could be the tipping point for other major consumer magazines. Another great example of the rst category of magazines using UGC is Wallpaper* magazine. Repeating its 2010 Custom Covers project, in summer 2011 it gave its readers the ultimate chance to engage with the brand they were able to design their own cover online and have it delivered to them in high-quality print a few months later.

The key was to create an environment that allowed an engaging online experience and also an equally enjoyable tactile experience in print, says Meirion Pritchard, art director at Wallpaper*. The 2010 project was a huge success: more than 22,000 custom covers were printed for the 2010 Handmade issue of Wallpaper*, and the 2011 project was just as successful. The rule of thumb for the second group of magazines using UGC is to create a magazine from scratch using only UGC. If people are talking about your brand and/or your niche, you already have user-generated content that you can easily turn into a magazine, online and/or in print. A good example of this innovation can be found on the leading French cooking website Marmiton.org. The site launched a magazine early in 2011 as a celebration of its 10-year anniversary, but the print publication was so successful that it turned into a regular event. The rst two issues sold 90,000 copies and has become the market leader in its segment. Another publishing company takes a unique approach creating a magazine

A magazine written by fans for fans really shows just how much a company means to those people and just how much people want to give back to the company
ADAM GOODGER. FOUNDER OF MOUSEMAG

100

The best way for people to read what they want to read it for them to write it themselves,
ADAM GOODGER. FOUNDER OF MOUSEMAG

comprised entirely of user-generated content about a third-party brand. MouseMag, a UKbased digital and print publication, is a Disney community project for the Disney community, says the founder, Adam Goodger. Made up entirely of reader-written content, MouseMag talks about all-things Disney, from restaurants to attractions and from cruises to well-kept park secrets. Why entirely UGC? The best way for people to read what they want to read it for them to write it themselves, says Goodger. A magazine written by fans for fans really shows just how much a company means to those people and just how much people want to give back to the company. Everyone who contributes does so of their own free will, in their own time and for no return at all. I think that shows just how much people think of the brand they are writing about. MouseMag is completely free, can be downloaded in PDF form, and is also available through the iPad app MagCloud. Even though the publication brings in no profit for Goodger and his company, he still views it as a huge success. After slightly more than a year in business, MouseMag has published ve issues and, according to Goodger, each issue has been downloaded between 2,500 and 3,000 times. As far as content goes, MouseMag has many regular contributors, and Goodger is receiving an overwhelming amount of interest from people who want to write for the publication. Even better - The Walt

If a magazine publisher is not using user-generated content, its missing out on a wealth of opportunity to improve its brand and increase its customers brand loyalty

Disney Company itself has recently turned to the magazine for user-generated feedback on the company. The take-away from all of this UGC activity? According to Wallpaper* and LHJ editors, if a magazine publisher is not using user-generated content, its missing out on a wealth of opportunity to improve its brand and increase its customers brand loyalty. Every day editors delay using UGC means more readers are leaving their magazine for more relevant experts of their own choosing elsewhere.

101

WATERMARKING

RAISING THE WATERMARK

The arrival of digital watermarking is taking the QR code concept to a much more elegant level

can this page. These words are gamechangers.

Just as QR codes are moving out of the innovator and early adopter stage, along comes a new and much more elegant, much less obtrusive method of enriching a readers print magazine experience. Digital watermarks. Gone are the ugly little black and white QR code boxes. Now, the code for transporting a reader to a rich digital experience is embedded in the photo or piece of art itself. The July 2011 issue of House Beautiful magazine was one of the rst major consumer magazines to put digital watermarks to use, offering the combination of twodimensional print experience enhanced by a three-dimensional - and exciting - digital experience. As readers flipped through the pages of House Beautiful, they noticed an unusual set of instructions on what appear to be otherwise ordinary pages of the magazine, SCAN THIS PAGE or BUY NOW or VIDEO. After downloading the Digimarc Discover app to a smartphone, a reader could hold the device up to the page and, presto, be taken into a whole new realm of interaction with their magazine: a video of a designer talking about his favourite lamp or a slide show of a before-and-after redecorating project or a video about how a chair is constructed or a link to buy some of the editors favourite books about home decorating.

102

This video shows Digimarc Discover in action within the pages of House Beautifuls July/August issue

House Beautiful also oered the technology to its advertisers, and Glidden Paint did a video about the process of choosing the right paint for a room. House Beautiful SVP/publishing director Kate Kelly Smith, credits her editor-in-chief, Newell Turner, with the innovation: Newell has been the editor-in-chief of House Beautiful for two years, in the industry for over thirty. He stands for education and moving forward: We are all about living within a beautiful space and design is all around us, so please open up your eyes and live in it whether it be outside or inside your home or wherever you are. The last thing we want to do is take a QR code - a black and white box - and put it on our page. That is NOT a design element for a design magazine! No longer is there a need to disrupt the design and beauty of the editorial page, to disrupt that beautiful visual of a living room or kitchen or outdoor space that readers dream about having, says Smith.

On one of the stories about a designer, Newell simply published the words: Scan this page. He gave directions on how to do it, but didnt do a major call-out.
KATE KELLY SMITH. HOUSE BEAUTIFUL SVP/PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

The adventure began in the July-August 2011 edition of House Beautiful, traditionally the small space issue. Its the summer, people relaxing on the beach, recalls Smith. On one of the stories about a designer, Newell simply published the words: Scan this page. He gave directions on how to do it, but didnt do a major call-out. So, many of our readers were reading with their smartphones, and, sure enough, they scanned the page to bring the designer up on their screens on their iPhone or on their Android. And the designer came to life. He was talking about

103

WATERMARKING

It was fantastic! That was our moment of saying, Wow! We have very, very engaged readers - our reader is sitting and reading with her phone.
KATE KELLY SMITH. HOUSE BEAUTIFUL SVP/PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

how to live in 295 square feet and how you could do that and how he did it. It was fantastic! That was our moment of saying, Wow! We have very, very engaged readers - our reader is sitting and reading with her phone. She always has it next to her. Weve got something here! says Smith. With each subsequent issue of House Beautiful, Smith and Turner added more Digimarc experiences, bringing the reader to Tibet to see chairs being made or to a chat with Turner talking about upcoming issues. The experience proved personal, the information

104

deepened understanding, readers hungered for engagement - and for more. Digital watermarking has changed the reader experience, says Smith. Readers can go from the printed page to a video experience on their mobile devices. Readers get access to new content and our advertisers get an engaging new way to connect with consumers by branding their own content. Beginning with our February 2012 issue, we partnered with our long-time advertiser Glidden Paint to introduce the rst-of-itskind, integrated advertising experience between print and online editorial content, says Smith. When certain print features are snapped with the Digimarc app, Glidden Paint splash pages promoting the brands new colour expert blogger portal, MyColortopia.com, appears prior to our digital editorial feature, says Smith. Taking readers from the printed page to an advertisers brand message and then on to our website for the editorial feature using a mobile app has never been done before and were pleased that Glidden has signed on for this exciting programme, concludes Smith. Smith concedes that some other consumer magazines are applying this opportunity solely to advertising, but not so with House Beautiful. There is a very big dierence, says Smith. The dierence being that the content has been provided by editorial and we are surrounding it and giving it a much richer experience its an editorial partnership that has driven this integration. Its fantastic! This editorial partnership is driven by very clear understanding of her reader. Our reader is extremely tech-y. says Smith. Shes not twenty. Shes probably 40, 45, 40 plus, with a sweet spot of fty, and shes as engaged as a 20-year-old because her home is at the heart of who she is. She loves it; she

Digital watermark is a piece of technology that enables you to do something,

ADRIAN FLEMING. DIRECTOR AT DIGITAL SPACE IN THE UK

lives it; she entertains in it The watermark experience brings the House Beautiful reader into an experience of actually seeing what she wants. The Glidden Paint participation cements the nal connection the reader can see it, understand how to make it, AND order home the materials to create it! The readers long-time friend and companion - the print magazine - is becoming a more personal, more real advisor and tutor with the integration of print and digital. House Beautiful is not the only magazine using the Digimarc watermark system. Others include Seventeen, and Beer West in the US and 831 Magazine RiDE in the UK and V8X in Australia etc. As exciting as digital watermarking might be, it may not be for everyone. Adrian Fleming, director at Digital Space in the UK, believes all the new technological innovations need to be run through tests of purpose, content, and audience. Digital watermark is a piece of technology that enables you to do something, Fleming says. You probably dont get up in the morning and think, What I need to do is buy a new computer with a certain microchip in it. You buy a computer based on what you can do with it and what benets it ad ds to you. Your skill level and your ability make you buy the piece of technology.

105

WATERMARKING

The technology is only an enabler. Whether its digital watermarking, QR codes, augmented reality, or image recognition, they are all really cool, but the reality is that all they do is connect a user to an experience. But what you connect with is so much more important - its probably 99 per cent of the reason you should be doing something or not doing something, Fleming says. Digital watermarking, says Fleming, has its pros and cons. Pro? The best pro consideration is that you cant see it, says Fleming. Con: the worst con is that you cant see it. It is there but you dont know what to do with it. There are lots of other things that can be pros and cons, but they are based on the editors ability. If your ability to explain the watermark is good, if you have the space and the media format to educate your audience, and if you have great content that is educational, informative, adds value, entertains, then you can do it successfully. If you havent got those, you shouldnt be using digital watermarking! concludes Fleming. The great thing about digital watermarking is that what it can do is as powerful as the mobile web. If you can do it on a website,

There are lots of other things that can be pros and cons, but they are based on the editors ability.
ADRIAN FLEMING. DIRECTOR AT DIGITAL SPACE IN THE UK

particularly a mobile one, you can integrate it with a digital watermark, says Fleming. But if youre not very good at that, we have the same problem again! If you are not doing one of the three key things (educate, entertain, or engage), dont do it. says Fleming. If your primary reason is to generate PR activity or extra funding from an advertising budget, youre not approaching this in the right way. This is a strategic decision and you pick the right technology based on what that strategy is. Todays magazine reading experience can be transformed by technology. But the success of that transformation depends not on the technology but on the human editors making the decisions about how to use the technology to enrich the readers and advertisers experience.

106

FIVE TIPS FOR WATERMARKING SUCCESS

DONT GO TO ALL THE WORK ONLY TO HAVE IT FAIL IN THE PAYOFF
Every magazine using watermarks will use them differently, but they should all consider the following tips to achieve the best results for their watermark campaigns: Tell your readers how to use it! Every time a publication uses digital watermarks, it should also include instructions for downloading the app (if its a Digimarc system there is the Digimarc Discover app, or they can use a custom -branded app that includes the Digimarc Discover and other systems features) and directions on how to read digital watermarks and nd the mobile-optimised content in the publication. The instructions should be visible and remain in a consistent location where readers can easily nd them. Make it worth their while Readers respond best to compelling payoffs, especially when the pot of gold at the end of the process consists of exclusive content that can be found only through the watermark. The most successful payoffs let readers extend their interaction with the subject of a printed article, image or advertisement via behindthe-scenes videos, interactive games, promotional offers, and the ability to share and save content are some of the most popular types of payoffs. Tell them WHY it will be worth their while Include descriptive text next to the watermarked image or text, or in a table of contents similar to what House Beautiful provides. Ideally, the description will briey indicate what readers can expect from the payoff and create a sense of excitement. For example, beneath a watermarked photo of a model you could say: Point and focus to see exclusive, scintillating back-stage videos from Fashion Week. Mobile-optimised Create payoffs, which are mobile-optimised. Dont just send readers to your non-mobile-optimised web page. A payoff that is difcult to view and interact with on the phone creates a poor user experience. Readers are less likely to revisit payoffs if they have a bad experience the rst time around. Test and test again Dont risk failure. Run tests of your watermarks and their corresponding payoffs before going to print. Make sure the technology works in real-world conditions, on multiple devices (as payoffs can look different depending on the device and operating system), and that the correct URLs have been assigned to each payoff.

107

AUGMENTED REALITY

MAKING FUTURE MAGIC

How two UK companies are using augmented reality and other mobile technologies to change the publishing game

hat would car enthusiasts do if their favourite auto magazine had a sports car come to life on the cover? Or imagine bird lovers reactions if a ock of rare birds lifted o a magazine centre spread and ew by? Or think about fashion lovers eyes popping as runway models actually walked by on the page? For the car enthusiasts, its no longer a matter of imagination. For the others, its only a matter of time. Top Gear magazine (from BBC Magazines, now part of Immediate Media) teamed up with technology giant, Aurasma, to create one of the rst magazines to fully implement augmented reality (AR) with the December 2011 edition. Throughout the issue, readers equipped with an app from Aurasma were able to point their iPhone4, 4S, iPad 2 or Android device at each page of the magazine and bring it to life with streaming video. While other magazines have used AR selectively in earlier editions, none have fully utilised AR throughout an edition. The UK-based Aurasma really ramped up the implementation of its mobile technology in 2011. In addition to Top Gear, Aurasma has worked with well-known publishing brands such as InStyle UK, Stu, and Business Weekly. It even partnered with the British government: Aurasma created the ocial app of Londons Tech City, a section of the citys East End dedicated to high-tech companies.

1
Download Aurasma app

Point your device at this seasons Spurs home shirt or club badge

3
Watch exclusive

4
Double tap to view full screen, or single tap to

108

Top Gear readers who download the free Aurasma app can see content from the December 2011 awards issue come to life by pointing their smartphones and tablets at the pages, revealing highlights from the TV show

Top Gear magazine teamed up with technology giant, Aurasma, to create the rst magazine to fully implement augmented reality (AR) with the December 2011 edition

109

AUGMENTED REALITY

Bauer Media featured one of the rst fully interactive magazines of the world when the fashionable publication hit the shelves on 1 September 2011 with its parent title, FHM.

new technology set to shake up magazine publishing. Just ask Adrian Fleming, director at Digital Space. Nine out of ten projects dont use augmented reality, he says. Instead, Digital Space has created a technology that makes QR codes and watermarking seem like ancient relics. Imagine a fashion magazine where you can use an app to scan the shirt, skirt, dress, or bracelet on a model in order to see how much it costs and where you can buy it. Now go grab the latest copy of FHM Collections and actually do it. Bauer Media featured one of the first fully interactive magazines of the world when the fashionable publication hit the shelves on 1 September 2011 with its parent title, FHM. Talk about the full nine yards, both editorial and advertising content got the techno-treatment, meaning every element of the magazine could be interacted with. And were not talking about a small pamphlet here: it was 100 pages long.

With the Tech City app, physical landmarks come to life, as do ads and displays across the area. It impressed one particularly highprofile personality so much he said, this app is about to change the way we see and interact with information. That man was none other than British Prime Minister, David Cameron. Nice endorsement. Even with the new avenues augmented reality has opened up, its not the only

110

The functionality was made possible by Digital Spaces technology that integrates invisible algorithms and watermarks that they call, well, Digital Space. Editors and ad directors have to be licking their lips over this development. Its not everyday that they get a new and unique way to increase the time a reader spends with their publication. More time on the page, more engagement, more ad revenue, and new revenue sharing with the companies selling goods through the new technology. Another great perk is the ability to monitor what the reader interacts with. By keeping track of the content readers are most interested in, magazines will be able to adapt as needed. Our focus is to make sure whatever technology we use, its right for the client and is, in our opinion, commercially viable, Fleming says. Digital Space doesnt create projects that will, catch a few headlines. Rather, Fleming says, they develop a strategy based on the specic environment a client is involved in. Magazine publishers are already exploring the options. Just last year, Digital Space technology was featured in

Xbox Magazine, Mens Health, Cosmopolitan, and Marie Claire . Established consumer brands such as Nike and Ferrari also used the technology in print ads during 2011. With increasing frequency, the publishing world seems to get turned on its head by a new technology. Its an exciting time but also a treacherous one. Too much commitment to a technology that fails to take o can be disastrous for publishers in todays market. Fleming points out that many who jump into tech-fads too quickly nd themselves asking, Wait, what are we doing and why? Its not about the technology.

Technology is one per cent of the value and success of what we do.These new forms of technology only add value if theyre used in the right way.
ADRIAN FLEMING. DIRECTOR AT DIGITAL SPACE

111

ODDBALL, OFFBEAT MAGAZINES

A MAGAZINE ON STAGE? HOW ABOUT ONE THATS SEVEN FEET TALL? ...
The definition of what makes a magazine continues to be stretched. Literally.

V
No. No way. Well, youre wrong.

isualise magazine.

Yo u see a glossy, colourful, perhaps even a slightly titillating publication, probably with a celebrity on the cover, right? Or perhaps a rich website brimming with stories, photos and videos. Does live theatre come to mind?

Pop-Up Magazine is produced on stage at theatres across the United States. It is just one of several, um, unusual visions of what constitutes a magazine these days. Others include a two metre tall magazine, a diamondstudded US$10,000 per copy edition, a magazine about useless knowledge, and a magazine that featured a model with a strategically placed tattoo readers could peel o for a little thrill. First, lets go back to the magazine as theatre. Pop-Up Magazine premiered about three years ago at the Brava Theater in San Francisco. After just four performances all of which sold out in minutes PopUp Magazine moved its show to the San Francisco Opera House. Each subsequent issue goes to press about every six months.

Visionaire received the Guinness Book of World Records recognition for creating the worlds largest magazine

112

]]

Ive heard some version of this [question] from a lot of people: I was wondering, whats a live magazine? And then I came to the show, and it was like, oh, its a live magazine!
DOUGLAS MCGRAY. POP-UP MAGAZINE EDITOR

friends, as part of a great night out? Of course not. So why do it? Like traditional magazines Pop-Up Magazine includes light stories mixed in with longer narratives and images, yet unlike traditional magazines it also has recordings and videos and even live music and performances. Just what IS a live magazine, then? McGray explains: Ive heard some version of this [question] from a lot of people: I was wondering, whats a live magazine? And then I came to the show, and it was like, oh, its a live magazine! About 900 people attended the NYC magazine to watch the staff of ESPN The Magazine perform. Some were graphicaided pieces, which were performed at the beginning of the night, and then the cast went into their longer feature stories, documentary lms, photography, facts, and radio. This collaboration proved to be an important one for the collaborating magazines in many ways. First of all, the collaboration with Pop-Up Magazine added to the partner magazines brand image and broadened the reach of writers and contributors Also, the collaboration with ESPN The Magazine meant big things for Pop-Up Magazine as it opens important doors for future collaborations with other big-name magazines. What could top a live magazine? How about a two metre tall magazine? The worlds biggest magazine was

Pop-Up Magazine travelled to the East Coast of the US in the spring of 2011 to collaborate with ESPN The Magazine, where the magazine went live for one night in New York City. Contributors to ESPN The Magazine s big night included The New Yorker, Found magazine and Wired. ESPN The Magazine Live was performed at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts where, unfortunately, as with every Pop-Up Magazine performance, no video or audio recording of any kind was allowed, so we cannot see images of the amazing night. Why doesnt Pop-Up video its performances so others can enjoy this radical new idea? Pop-Up Magazine editor Douglas McGray told the Society of Publication Designers: I think it helps make each issue feel rare, and special. Sure, we could film an issue, and throw it online, but is it going to be as satisfying an experience for someone sitting at their desk at work, eating lunch alone, watching in a browser window, as it was for someone who went to the theatre with their

113

ODDBALL, OFFBEAT MAGAZINES

published by Visionaire in November. Ordinarily a magazine of typical dimensions. Visionaires record-setting edition measured two metres tall by almost 1.5 metres wide. Only 250 copies of this version were printed with a price tag of US$1,500 (2,500 smaller versions 1m by 1.2m sold for $350). Visionaire took the Guinness World Records title for the worlds biggest magazine. To top the worlds biggest magazine, it only seemed to make sense to try to nd the worlds most expensive magazine. For consumers who think $4.95 is a lot to pay for a magazine, they may experience severe sticker shock at a magazine priced at a cool US $10,000? A special edition of Kohls magazine out of the UAE was priced at $10,000 for the diamondstudded version. The cover of the magazine was coated in 91 grams of gold and encrusted with 622 diamonds and took 86 hours to create. Magazines are not only expensive, large and sometimes visually stunning, but they also can be full of useless knowledge. Useless Knowledge magazine launched in 2002 and is full of exactly what one would expect from its title: useless facts and information. Instead of turning readers away (the title practically screams dont buy me!), the publication has not only survived but also thrived, to the point that it has more than 10,000 articles under its belt and writers from all over the world submit articles. Wrapping up this years tour of the odd and unusual is Dasha Zhukovas Garage magazine. Garage is a high-art meets high-fashion avantgarde publication. Zhukova is breaking out of the mould in a erce, no-holds-barred way: one of her inaugural covers featured a model with a tattooed labia featuring a stunning buttery drawn by Damien Knight. Of course, the actual tattoo is not on display on the cover; there is a copy of the buttery placed discretely over the true tattoo. Consumers who purchased the magazine could peel o the tattoo to reveal the real one. Talk about avant-garde.

Magazines are not only expensive, large and sometimes visually stunning, but they also can be full of useless knowledge.

114

115

MAGTWEETS

MAGTWEETS: YOUR INDUSTRY IN VERY FEW CHARACTERS

In an age of nanoseconds and, yes, 140-character Tweets, whos to say we cant give you valuable intelligence in dozens of what earlier generations might have called snippets?

Digital-only magazine reading is 11% of total magazine audience. Reuters

Almost 6 million children in Germany between the ages of 6 and 13 read magazines in their free time. VDZ, Germany

Mobile ad spending worldwide is predicted to reach US

$20.6 billion
in 2015. Gartner

In China and Brazil, approximately 20% more internet users will go online each day than will watch TV. TNS Digital Life

In January 2011, there were seven advertising QR codes in US magazines for each editorial code. By September 2011, the ratio was nearly 25:1. ClickZ

One Facebook fan = 20 additional visits to your website over the period of a year Hitwise.com

(ages 16-74) in Poland use the internet for reading online magazines and newspapers. Eurostat

17% of individuals

68% of Indian readers

say they form a connection with their magazines. Association of Indian Magazines

Tablet and ereaders boost magazine reading and engage consumers: 90% of people are now consuming more magazine content on tablets and e-readers. MPA, USA

When asked if the internet helped improve self-condence, just 12-14% of French, Germans, British and Americans agreed, compared to 79% of Saudi Arabians, 42% of Chinese, 52% of Indians, 55% of Vietnamese. TNS Digital Life

said that since acquiring their mobile device, they are consuming just as much - if not more magazine content. EMMA/FAEP

90% of respondents

116

87% of those interested in reading magazines in the US on a digital device still want a printed copy. MPA

90% of all Finns read

at least one magazine title according to the Finnish National Readership Survey. FIPP World Magazine Trends

21% of the Fortune 50 are using QR codes in their billboard and magazine ads. SpyderLynk, US

15% of online videos

viewed in November 2011 were ads. Social Times

Magazine advertising increases purchase consideration by an average of 22% overall, and generates a direct sales increase of 9% among those exposed to the advertising. Magnify, PPA, UK

Guinness World Records recognised the world record for the oldest magic magazine: Abracadabra, rst published on 2 February 1946 in Birmingham, UK. WorldRecordsAcademy.org Vogue will open a fashion and design college in the UK in September 2012 offering a yearlong fashion foundation course. BBC News

82% of US consumers

are interested in including a gift card pre-loaded with a digital magazine subscription Magazine Mobile Reader, Afnity & MPA, USA

Internet users in China spend an average of behind only Japan. gplus.com

2.7 hours per day online

The number of magazines launched in the US in 2011 grew 23.8% with the food category seeing the biggest gain followed by regional magazines. FOLIO

60% of US digital consumer magazine readers go to an advertisers website. MPA

At 5 hours a week,
the Chinese spend the most time shopping online per week. TNS Digital Life

Nine out of 10 Indian readers do nothing else while reading magazines. Assoc. of Indian Magazines

In Germany, you are never further than 1,200 metres from the nearest magazine seller, calculated as a pure average Print wirkt, VDZ

Magazines have always sent their stories off to Hollywood: Saturday Night Fever, American Gangster and Goodfellas and TV show Taxi all began as stories in New York Magazine, while Coyote Ugly came from GQ and Dog Day Afternoon from Life. Womens Wear Daily/FIPP

want more electronic newsstands. MPA

76% of people

117

Magazines rank #1 out of 16 media for consumers having a positive and credible impression of advertising and rank second only to video games for consumers enjoying content at the time they saw the advertisement. MPA

86% of US iPad owners would be willing to see an ad in return for free access to content, including articles from magazines. MPA

consumers prefer paper magazines to other formats Deloitte

60% of UK

75% of consumers
feel digital content complements print; only 25% feel it replaces print. MPA

national news trafc now comes from mobile. Neiman Journalism Lab

10-20% of

Magazines and the internet rate highest in reaching social networkers. MPA Magazine Media Factbook

Allure magazine from Conde Nast is one of the 10 best iPad apps from 2011. AdAge Mediworks

Magazines perform best at sending consumers to start a search online. MPA

The average weekly magazine accumulates nearly 80% of its audience within the rst two weeks. MPA Magazine Media Factbook

More than 2/3 of German iPad users read magazines on their device and are willing to pay for good journalism, regardless of the output medium. Print wirkt, VDZ.

14 million people
scanned a QR code in June 2011. ScanLife

Digital ad revenue grew 22% in the third quarter last year. Neiman Journalism Lab

53% of magazine readers took action or had a more favourable opinion about the advertiser because of magazine advertising. MPA Magazine Media Factbook
The average monthly magazine accumulates approximately 50% of its audience within the rst month. MPA Magazine Media Factbook

The iPad is driving more web trafc than the iPhone, accounting for 46.8% of all trafc originating from iOS devices in August 2011, compared to the iPhones 42.6% share. The iOS total share of U.S. mobile web trafc in August was 58.5%. Mashable

118

119

THE DOMINO EFFECT

Innovations in Magazine Media showcases how product loyalty can be built using techniques borrowed from magazine packaging innovation
There are many synergies from valueadded effects developed for packaging that can be transferred to magazine production. The cover of this edition of Innovations in Magazine Media World Report has been produced by the PrintCity Alliance using a combination of Value-Added Magazine Printing (VAMP) techniques to provide a visibly differentiated finish using hybrid coating effects. The PrintCity Alliance has a dedicated project team for Value-Added Printing & Packaging whose members come from printing industry suppliers, specialised printers, and designers to develop and promote value-added printing effects.

120

Covers for this edition of Innovations were printed by Hammesfahr, a German printing company that works Zwith PrintCity to develop Value-Added printing for both packaging and publishing applications
PHOTO. Klaus Valet/Alexander Dort

Inline coating unit on a sheetfed press.

PHOTO PrintCity Optimised UV

The competition to attract point-of-sale attention is intense whether it is a packaged product in a store, a magazine in a news kiosk, or a book on a display shelf. The challenge for all of these products is how to activate in the viewer a perceived differentiation and positioning from the products shape, colour and effects. There are many synergies from packaging effects that can be transferred to magazine and book production, says Alexander Dort, a PrintCity project associate who is a freelance designer and a print effect production specialist. Why VAMP it up? Brand recall, loyalty and the likelihood of actually buying a product increase with hightened sensory perception: therefore tactile packaging - including magazine covers have a big role to play in building sales and circulation. The Brand Sense study shows that on average product loyalty increases from 28 per cent, when only one sense is addressed, to 43 per cent when the brand is promoted to two or three senses, and 58 per cent if it touches four or five. The more senses a brand touches, the more likely a customer will make a purchase. Print is the only medium that offers an endless combination of colours, surface treatments, shapes, substrates, smells and tastes, all of which appeal to our senses to create emotional value to suit a specific audience and purpose.

The original front cover of this edition of Innovations in Magazines Media World Report marked up with the Value-Added effects proposed by Alexander Dort and PrintCity project members Sun Chemical, Sappi and UPM

121

The development of a VAMP product begins with the collaboration of the design team - text and graphic elements - which can then be enhanced by the production team guiding the selection of a corresponding substrate quality, then extended further with the choice of inks, special-effect pigments and coatings, foils and finishing to provide a dynamic, physically and visually stimulating image. Fine quality papers from Sappi and UPM provide the essential high quality base on which to build value-added effects for the covers of Innovations. The production of this book was by the German printing company Hammesfahr, whose services include packaging development, offset printing with inline finishing options such as UV inks, coating and cold foiling, and offline hot foil, embossing and die cutting. Hybrid coating effects The hybrid coating effect gives a high contrast, simultaneous 2-in-1 matt and gloss surface finish. The effect requires a 5-colour press and coater equipped for UV production:

1. The image is printed with 4-colour process colours using hybrid inks 2. The fifth printing unit then uses a standard offset plate to apply a hybrid effect print coating to the image areas that are to have a matt appearance 3.Finally, the coating unit applies a full area high gloss UV flood coating The matt effect is created where the gloss coating sinks into the effect coating (see photo) giving an orange peel matt surface, while the rest of the image is in high gloss (see photo). UV printing and coating also provides the widest range of Value-Added Printing techniques on the widest range of substrates including foils and plastics. Value-Added Magazine Production The PrintCity Alliance has been working with FIPP since 2009 to highlight ValueAdded Magazine Production (VAMP). For the 2009 World Magazine Congress, the Alliance produced an interactive and visually enhanced printed Congress programme with special effects and interactive features. In 2010, FIPPs Magazine World demonstrated with PrintCity the Peel n Taste strip; and for the cover of Innovations in Magazines 2011 the Alliance demonstrated creative cold foiling. PrintCity Alliance members participating in the production of this cover are: Cover paper: UPM Finesse Cover paper: Sappi Magno Plus Hybrid inks and coatings: Sun Chemical SunCure Hy-Bryte Printed by Hammesfahr

Create. Distribute. Monetize. Analyze.

Publish engaging tablet experiences with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, used by leading publishers worldwide.

www.adobe.com/go/publishing

2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe and the Adobe logo are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other counties. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

123

ABOUT INNOVATION

INNOVATION MEDIA:

GOOD JOURNALISM IS GOOD BUSINESS

WHO WE ARE We are a global consultancy rm with a difference. We focus exclusively on the publishing business both editorial and management. And our focus is helping our clients innovate and embrace new digital platforms, and nd bold new strategies as well as new revenue streams.

We invite you to be part of the digital revolution and benet from INNOVATIONs knowledge and hands-on expertise of more than two decades advising some of the bestknown media brands in the world. HOW WE WORK We believe that change is not imposed but is negotiated and agreed upon. We take into consideration all scenarios, opinions - and only after thorough analysis, evaluation, and testing we present our nal recommendations and action plans. One way to visualise our process is to think of it as a three-step eort: audit, diagnostic and implementation. We lead in-house teams to be at the heart of innovation in their rms and deliver on a new product, content or strategy. Although all projects are made-tomeasure, the phases of any change process are always similar.

1st PHASE THE PROBLEM 1 - Audit 2 - Diagnosis 3 - Action Plan

124

2nd PHASE THE SOLUTION 4 - Brainstorming 5 - Market Research 6 - Content Model 7 - Design Model 8 - Business Model 9 - Multimedia Model 10 - Prototypes 11 - Editorial& Graphic Style Books 12 - Newsroom Management Model 13 - Working Space Redesign 14 - Training & Implementation 15 - New Product Launch

EDITORIAL SERVICES Our clients call us when they face pressing issues ranging from editorial re-organisation to a need for re-invention of their products, or the development and execution of new editorial or commercial strategies. They approach us for objective, honest, analytical, smart and experienced advice. MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGY SERVICES We believe that media companies should become new Information Engines, and transform by shifting from readers to audiences and from audiences to communities.

We agree with the saying the best way to predict the future is to invent it. And the only way to invent is to develop a prototype
3rd PHASE THE IMPLEMENTATION 16 - Evaluation 17 - Audience research 18 - Corrections 19 - Training 20 - Results: increased audience, increased advertising

Our clients talk to us when they need to make decisions that will have lasting consequences for their teams, operations, revenues and brands. They approach us when they need fresh global and experienced thinking. MAGAZINES We believe, however, the genre must be re-invented to survive and thrive. We have developed ground-breaking new concepts, and formats with demonstrable success. We re-organise news operations to adapt a matrix based on audiences rather than products.

Juan Antonio Giner, partner and founder, UK giner@innovation-mediaconsulting.com Juan Senor, partner, UK senor@innovation-mediaconsulting.com Marta Torres, partner. headquarters@innovation-mediaconsulting.com www.innovation-mediaconsulting.com

125

ABOUT FIPP

IDENTIFYING TRENDS AND SHARING INNOVATIONS WORLDWIDE

FIPP brings together publishers, ideas and innovations to improve their strategy

The worldwide magazine media association

IPP the worldwide magazine media association represents companies and individuals involved in the creation, publishing, or distribution of quality content, in whatever form, by whatever channel, and in the most appropriate frequency, to dened audiences of interest. FIPP exists so that its members develop better strategies and build better media businesses by identifying and communicating emerging trends, sharing knowledge and innovations, and improving skills worldwide. FIPP has more than 700 member companies, which include 56 national magazine associations, 502 publishing companies with international interests, and 146 suppliers to the industry and associated organisations, in 60 countries, all of whom use FIPP to nd new business partners and gather information on potential markets. FIPP represents more than 6,000 member magazine titles, which include almost all of the worlds leading magazine brands. Specialised networking opportunities organised by FIPP include the annual Digital Innovators Summit taking place in Berlin every March, showcasing digital initiatives

126

and innovation in magazine media, and attended by senior executives and leaders from the industry. This event has also been extended to regional Digital Magazine Media Conferences, taking place in Seoul in 2012. The magazine matchmaking crossborder publishing fair, Worldwide Media Marketplace takes place in London in 2012. And FIPP will hold its biennial must-attend World Magazine Congress in 2013 in Rome.

Annual Digital Innovators Summit taking place in Berlin every March

127

ABOUT FIPP

New publications in 2012 include Proof of Performance and The Digital Factbook

The FIPP information centre offers strategic data, essential networking contacts and reference sources with the quarterly Magazine World in print and digital edition, the bi-weekly email newsletter Magazine World Update and the annual World Magazine Trends. New publications in 2012 include Proof of Performance which states the case for magazine media using research results from around the world and The Digital Factbook which puts magazines into the context of the media mix in a compilation of 65+ studies from leading digital media sources including ComScore, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Forrester, IAB etc.

128

WORLD MAGAZINE TRENDS 11 12

The 17th edition of FIPP World Magazine Trends provides readers with the most comprehensive information available on leading magazine markets. The book has been compiled by FIPP through the contribution of industry experts, advertising agencies, research agencies, magazine publishers and national magazine associations. >> NEW apps trends data >> Key industry data on consumer and B2B titles in 53 countries >> Magazine adspend gures and forecasts >> International and regional summaries >> Listings by circulation / readership per country >> Top magazine publishers per country
WORLD MAGAZINE TRENDS 2011/2012

ORDER FORM
DIGITAL EDITION
* Purchase includes digital edition

(fax to +44 20 7404 4170) or order online at: www. pp.com/publications

Member: 225 / Non-member: 299 Member 260 / Non-member 334

PRINT ON DEMAND EDITION* EXCEL DATA EDITION*

POSTAGE & PACKING (print). UK & Rest of Europe (9.50 per copy). Rest of the world (17.50 per copy)
* Purchase includes digital edition

Member 299 / Non-member 390

SPECIAL OFFER

2010/2011 print edition only 30 (plus p&p) when you order the 2011/2012 edition

TOTAL:
Method of payment
I enclose a cheque made payable to FIPP (cheques must be in UK Sterling and drawn on a UK bank) Charge my credit card M/Card Visa Amex
(Amex)

Card number Name on card Date:

Please give name and billing address of card holder if di erent to the delivery address:

Expiry date Signature Order Ref (if applicable)

Security code

Name Address Post/zip code Country

Delivery address
Name (Mr/Mrs/Ms/other) Job title Address Postcode Direct telephone Email Country Mobile
IMWR_2012

Company

Queens House, 55-56 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LJ. UK. Tel: +44 20 7404 4169 Email: natalie@ pp.com

www.pp.com/publications

ABOUT FIPP

FIPP

Queens House 55-56 Lincolns Inn Fields London WC2A 3LJ UK Tel: +44 20 7404 4169 Fax: +44 20 7404 4170 info@pp.com pp.com
FIPP also provides professional development opportunities for tomorrows senior magazine professionals with the Magazine Brand Management Certificate. This is an intense, high level experiencebased modular programme involving 18 days training spread over 12 months in London and led by leading magazine publishing executives from around the world. Additional special-focus courses and events include the Digital Publishing Course and the Research Forum and Awards. For more information about FIPP membership, services, events and activities, visit pp.com.

DIARY OF EVENTS
29-30 May 2012 London, UK www.wmm.net Contact: Claire@pp.com

Worldwide Media Marketplace (WMM)

FIPP Research Forum and Awards 29-30 May 2012 London, UK www.ppresearchforum.com Contact: Claire@pp.com 3rd FIPP Asia Pacic Digital Magazine Media Conference 19-21 September 2012 Seoul, Korea Contact: Claire@pp.com 4th Ibero-American Magazine Media Conference 30-31 October 2012 San Jos, Costa Rica Contact: Claire@pp.com 39th FIPP World Magazine Congress 23-25 September 2013 Rome, Italy Contact: Claire@pp.com

AT YOUR SERVICE together better than ever.

UPM has joined forces with Myllykoski. Your needs will now be catered for by our combined expertise in publication papers under the UPM brand. A warm welcome to customers existing and new lets build a successful future together! This is our investment in the future of paper and print. At your service is a reliable local partner with comprehensive product range and world class services. Dedicated to listen and learn how can we serve you even better?

www.upmpaper.com