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BREAKING NEWS & VIEWS

'Test, Test, Test' Top Theme at min Day Summit
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Steve Smith

Nothing focuses the attention (and the adrenaline) quite like an oncoming truck. While double-digit ad-page declines, flat digital growth and canceled industry events give many people in the industry occasion to wring hands and reach for the Prozac, I was struck by the constructive tone at yesterday’s min Day Digital Summit at New York’s Grand Hyatt. A note of determination, rather than depression, was present throughout the day as the panelists we invited really drilled into some of the strategies that are working for them. Geoff Ramsey, eMarketer’s CEO, ended his opening “Wake-Up Call” advising magazine publishers to “test, test, test,” and that seemed to be the theme in many of the presentations and discussions. Magazine brands now seem eager to explore the new content models and their users’ desires online, and shape editorial accordingly.

For instance, in our panel "Marketing the Always-There Magazine,” Gene Liebel, partner and director of research at HUGE, advised publishers not to be frightened of designing content around search. Look for search terms that are being underserved by quality content in the search results and become the publisher who satisfies that need, he said. Christine Cook, SVP, digital ad sales, at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, said that a feature about cupcakes unwittingly spawned a tsunami of users taking images of their own cupcakes and showing them off online. Showing off pets and kids online—makes sense. Cupcake photos? We didn’t see that one coming. And later in the day, HFMUS SVP, digital media, Todd Anderman, echoed the idea by advising editors to monitor the various buzz indexes online that gauge the hot topics and see where your brand might serve those digital flash mobs of interest. A magazine industry that once defined its product often as “aspirational” and by definition authoritative, clearly is learning to take the readers’ lead.

Paid content was the topic du jour, of course, and just about everyone gave a nod to the idea. Nevertheless, it was heartening to hear the conversation about paid content online move beyond the simplistic “we have to make them pay…somehow” diatribe. In our keynote panel, US News Media Group president Bill Holiber said that the fee-based digital download version of a weekly US News is showing promise, and publishers have to figure in the considerable cost savings of such models. Rodale’s EVP, customer marketing, Gregg Michaelson, said that the typical subscriber to their diet and exercise programs stick with it for about nine months and continue to generate a significant share of the online revenue. He said that free trials of limited-feature programs in these series really help drive people to the full-subscription programs, so don’t be afraid to give something away in order to sell something better. While we didn’t have time to get into it on stage, Lauren Wiener, SVP, Meredith Interactive, amplified Michaelson’s point when we were discussing it before the session. She said that her customers who pay for digital content prove to be remarkably productive in piling up time spent and page views with the brand. If you do get someone to buy in, then you have an exceptionally dedicated customer.

And while learning to listen to user voices was a persistent theme across many sessions, the special authority of the magazine editor and personality still has resonance. We gave ELLE one of our Most Engaged Media Brands Awards yesterday in part because its editors and brand have become familiar faces to readers off the page, especially in reality TV programming. In our marketing session, Politico VP, business development and marketing, Roy Schwartz discussed how his nascent brand dedicates a staffer just to placing editors on TV talk shows. You should be syndicating your personalities as rigorously as you do your content, he advised. On the back end, Rodale’s Michaelson said that the Web site should leverage those appearances for all they are worth. When his editors make media appearances, the respective Web sites tout them in highly visible ways and even package content and offerings around the appearance.

So what I saw yesterday was an industry in genuine evolution where digital is not just a “brand extension” but truly a transformative platform that demands rethinking of a magazine's mission. Personally, as a former media studies egghead, I have always maintained that the fundamental shift to digital media flattens the top-down power structure that informed a century and a half of mass media. Readers speak directly to editors and reporters, even as they shape stories. Everyone can become a publisher, and the needs and wants of the reader are now visible in a real-time fashion that changes everything. And yet the same readers who now demand a greater say in the media still want guidance, some kind of authority. The modern magazine brand must navigate those mixed messages with novel editorial and ad formats that somehow hit a moving target—evolving media habits and power structures that themselves have yet to be set.

If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com

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