What will the near-term future impact be on print if school textbooks become obsolete? Imagine a generation of young people no longer learning from textbooks but from digital textbooks and lesson plans presented on their classroom PC's. Will these young people turn to newspapers, magazines and books? If you doubt this is happening, read on.
"Textbooks have not gone the way of the scroll yet, but many educators say that it will not be long before they are replaced by digital versions," The New York Times reported on August 9. "A Beyond Textbooks initiative encourages teachers to create - and share - lessons that incorporate their own PowerPoint presentations, along with videos and research materials they find by sifting through reliable Internet sites." Sheryl Abshire of the Parish School system in Lake Charles, Louisiana, adds," They are digitally nimble and think of knowledge as infinite. They don't engage with textbooks that are finite, linear and rote." Perhaps the Magazine Publishers Association and others ought to start a "SAVE PRINT" initiative. Otherwise we will become a nation dependent upon spell check and nimble fingers, and no one will be able to write their own name!
ESPN already has a virtual Google-like monopoly on sports. It has the athletes it covers running promo spots for ESPN. And now ESPN is getting ready to outbid NBC for the rights to telecast the next Olympics. Whatever it costs, ESPN intends to prevail.
Is there anyone out there that can explain the actual implications of healthcare reform to me? I know it is needed but so far I am totally in the dark as to how this will be accomplished. And can a government that didn't save Lehman Brothers and was unable to project the demand of "Cash for Clunkers" be able to predict what will happen if major changes are quickly made to our existing health care system? Why can't we take our time and do it right?
Regardlessof what happened to Portfolio, Domino, Cosmo Girl, House & Gardenand others, new major magazine launches will continue to occur when the new publication is launched from a successful TV show. Note the success pattern with O the Oprah Magazine, Everyday Food From Rachel Rayand The Food Network magazines. TV content can become print content the same way a magazine's video content can become a TV show. Rather than looking at content as being one dimensional, content needs to be developed from existing media platforms that have strong consumer brand appeal and can extend to other platforms.
Howcome Meredith's Publishing group is always ahead of the other major publishers? Jack Griffin's new marketing initiative links Meredith's fourteen major magazine brands and 175 special interest publications to all its other media and marketing assets to form National Media Brands. Its concise marketing message is extremely impactful: "To engage 75 million women at every touch point in their life." Thanks to Griffin's innovative leadership Meredith's major titles such as Better Homes & Gardenand Family Circleare having a banner year.
Thenew Veronis Suhler Communications Industry forecast holds no surprises. Internet ad spending continues to grow, up 9.2% to $23.8 billion, and mobile is up 18.1% up to $1.3 billion. The big losers are the usual suspects: newspapers down 18.7% to $35.5 billion and consumer magazines down 14.8% to $11 billion. Given the ongoing collapse of newspaper ad spending the $35.5 billion that still remains should fuel future Internet and mobile growth.
Woman's Daymagazine continues to be a major brand because of SVP Chief Brand Officer & Publisher Carlos LaMadrid's ability to create multi-media platforms that offer real benefits for consumers and advertisers. The tag line, "Live Well Every Day" and the recent editorial focus on differentiating Woman's Dayfrom the more traditional woman's service publications has successfully moved the publication more towards becoming a lifestyle magazine. Regardless of what Hachette U.S. plans to do with its magazines Carlos LaMadrid has a winning formula for continued success.
Marketingparalysis by over-analysis! Geomentum, a new unit of Mediabrands, an ad planning division of the Interpublic Group, will attempt to figure out how to divide ad dollars amongst almost 40,000 ZIP codes in the United States. It will sometimes zero in on just a city block. The data will come from customer loyalty cards from retail chains such as CVS. Since all advertising and promotion works together, not in isolation, might not the time and money be better spent in testing new creative approaches ranging from packaging, coupons and print ads to all other forms of promotion and media? How people shop is a result of the quality of the product and the effectiveness of the marketing.
IfEllemagazine had all the marketing, staffing and promotional support that Voguehas, imagine what its business potential could really be. Elle'sAugust issue carried 130 pages, down 9.5%; while the heavily endowed Voguecarried just 92.8 pages and was down 31.1%. Too bad the French won't give ElleSVP Chief Brand Officer and Publisher Carol Smith more support. Alain Lemarchand, US Hachette President, totally ignores Smith's accomplishments and continues to make draconian cuts.
IsAd Agecorrect? Its new survey predicts no ad recovery for the second half of the year. That's bad news for all media. The TV Upfront, which has up until now been immune, just closed down 10-15% with lower rates at around $8 billion. Even as the economy finally recovers, ad spending will never be the same. Advertisers are getting used to using non-traditional media and putting even greater emphasis online.
House Beautiful'snew pouch cover, which carries an ad for Glidden paint, is highly effective and a real consumer service. The ad consists of a chart that provides paint advice with an ad on the back. Hearst has been fairly creative in developing cover marketing opportunities for advertisers. These are not one-shot programs but tied to major schedules. To use a cover promotion to sell a schedule creates 12 new marketing opportunities for any publisher.
Mediamark's (MRI) new ad measure study for magazines, which calculates how many readers saw or took action after seeing a specific ad in a specific magazine, deserves industry support. Under Kathi Love's leadership MRI has provided new metrics to help magazines. The ad measure study can finally put print on a more level selling field with TV and the Internet. It certainly provides accountability, which is what all advertisers now demand.
Steve's new book You Can't Fall Off The Floor - The Insiders' Guide to Re-Inventing Yourself and Your Career chronicles his 50 year career working for over 25 different companies with 189 lessons learned and insider tips from Gayle King, Cathie Black, Chuck Townsend and 28 others; Blacker is still going strong today as a partner in Frankfurt & Blacker Solutions, LLC. His web site is blacker-reinventions.com and e-mail address is blackersolutions@aol.com
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