One of the hardest parts of my job these days is figuring out where magazines are headed. I run a brand that was built on traditional magazine advertising. When I say who I work for, nine times out of ten the response I receive is, “I’ve seen your magazine ads!”
My brand’s addiction to magazine advertising is powerful. There’s heavy sentiment that magazines have built the brand, and not to advertise in them is a crying shame. But then the recession hit us hard, and we were left with an important choice: Advertise in national magazines with a tiny schedule (not so measurable) or reallocate the spend into search engine marketing (measurable). We we pulled out of magazines in 2009, much to the consternation of folks in our company that felt we were hurting the brand. But the results speak for themselves. Thanks to an effective SEM program, combined with a hard working web site, leads from the web are up, and we’re going to beat our projections.
Nonetheless, now that it’s 2010, we’re going back into magazines because history and culture make it a must. Given that more than 560 titles folded this year, the selection of mags that fit our brand is smaller than before. And more expensive. So we get to spend more to reach fewer targets, which is never a great choice. My prediction is that within two years, we just won’t advertise in magazines at all, with the possible exception of regional magazines.
So that makes me wonder where magazines are headed. Not too long ago, I saw that Martha Stewart was using Twitter to survey her followers about whether they would consider using a tablet device to read Martha Stewart Living. I’ve also been a long-time subscriber to VIVMag, a digital mag that I can never, ever get to open on my Mac. There’s also a full digital version of Wired that Conde Nast has been working on, although they say they haven’t been talking with Apple (who’s rumored to be getting the Apple Tablet ready for debut at MacWorld in a couple of weeks).
Then I came across this demo video from Sports Illustrated, which shows off how a tablet-based version of the mag might work. Funny, it looks a lot like the Apple Tablet no one is supposed to know about.
Seems like the future to me. I like the interactivity, with seamless incorporation of video elements and different types of browsing (all very Appley, with page flips, zooms and pinches). As an advertiser, I’ll be interested to see how it all comes together, because when the device integrates content with the Internet, I’ll at last have a measurable platform. As a consumer, I can hardly wait.
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