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By Paul DeBraccio
When I read the trades or national media, I wonder what is really going on in our industry. In any given day, I read about a traditional media publication folding or a digital media company folding, or two big companies merging or two splitting up.
Magazines are rethinking their businesses with some form of digital in their future, digital companies are starting TV networks, albeit online, and some digital companies are starting magazines. Many digital companies are launching ad networks and some ad agencies are buying media companies. Some media companies have bought ad agencies and then sold them.
The banner is dead and yet the future of search is a bit cloudy. Some have said that online inventory is becoming a commodity, but haven’t TV impressions been commodities for years to some in the industry?
My company specializes in taking traditional media companies online, and has done so for many recognizable publishers over the past nine years.
However, in the past few years we have seen a trend in which media companies use their core sales team to sell both print and online or TV and online or whatever. Lately, though, we are seeing a retrenchment (or progress) toward specialization, and it seems like profit and losses are guiding these decisions. A few months ago, for instance, Condé Nast announced that the print teams will focus on print and that digital teams will handle the online business.
I am sure you’ve been hearing that the death of print media is a bit exaggerated. It seems that the big, traditional media companies are all rethinking their businesses as a result of the rush toward digital media, but they also seem to be recognizing that there are categories that will be around for a few more years in their current format. Newsweeklies appear to be the first casualties, but the verticals such as fashion, food, travel, home and various other mid- to older-skewing titles may be with us a while longer.
The 12-to-24-year-old audience titles are at most risk. Most of these people have grown up texting and emailing and IMing and are used to short messages and to learning about the world online. They perceive paper and even CDs to be archaic.
However, for the older folks, taking a magazine or book on the bus, train or even to the bathroom is the norm. I guess when we all die off and the 12-to-24-year-olds take over print will be relegated to being a secondary medium courtesy of Facebook, texts, Twitter, etc.
Until that time, traditional media businesses can flourish if they listen very closely to what their audiences are saying and understand that we are in the midst of a major media paradigm shift. They can decide to fight to the death or evolve and embrace digital media as a complement to TV or magazines. Note that I have not touched on newspapers, as their future is cloudy.
Regularly gauging the attitude of audiences and monitoring trends would be an efficient way to stay ahead of the curve. The old adage “adapt or die” really does apply to traditional media in these fast-changing days.
Minsider columnist Paul DeBraccio is CEO of Interevco.
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