Mr. Magazine

The Mr. Magazine™ Interview with Dr. Robert Magee, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech State University

“Ceasing a print publication in favor of an online-only publication might hurt the effectiveness of an organization’s marketing communications, and managers should not make the decision based on cost alone.”

We are living in a digital era. This is a fact. No debate here. The debate that is raging in the magazine media industry is whether digital will replace or should replace print as the preferred method of delivery. The same debate is also taking place on college campuses as to whether universities should keep their printed alumni magazines or replace them with an online version.

Dr. Robert Magee, assistant professor at Virginia Tech State University, opted to take a scientific approach to this debate in an attempt to reach a definitive answer. So before you decide to kill your printed publication watch this Mr. Magazine™ Interview with Dr. Magee, and read the abstract below of his paper entitled: Can a print publication be equally effective online? Testing the effect of medium type on marketing communications that was published in Marketing Letters, a publication of Springer Science + Business Media.

Click below to watch my interview with Dr. Magee…

And read the abstract of his field experiment below:

Faced with budgetary pressures, many marketing communication managers are canceling the print distribution of their flagship magazine in favor of an online version. However, if the online publication is less effective in achieving the organization’s goals, this move may be ill advised. In a field experiment, subscribers of a promotional magazine received either a print version of the magazine or an e-mail invitation that linked to the online version.

The print version had a higher open rate than did the online version. In addition, print readers had higher recall memory and engaged in more browsing. Ironically, although younger readers indicated a preference for receiving an online version, the effect of medium on memory performance was strongest among the younger readers.

Therefore, ceasing a print publication in favor of an online-only publication might hurt the effectiveness of an organization’s marketing communications, and managers should not make the decision based on cost alone.
© Springer Science+Business Media

To read the entire paper click here.

The Mr. Magazine™ First Ever E-Roundtable with 10 Magazine Media CEOs and Presidents

The Ever Changing Reach of Magazine Media: Embracing the “Total Audience?”

What are some of the largest magazine media companies expecting from 2014 in the world of magazine media? What are Active Media Interest, American Media, Inc., Condé Nast, Dennis Publishing, Hearst Magazines, Heinrich Bauer USA, Meredith Corp., Rodale Inc., The Taunton Press and Time Inc. up to in 2014?

Well, for this installment of “The 2014 Great Expectations” the CEOs and presidents of the aforementioned magazine media companies offer their expectations regarding the future of magazine media audiences in 2014.

The CEOs and presidents are, in alphabetical order, Hubert Boehle, CEO, President, Heinrich Bauer USA, LLC, David Carey, President, Hearst Magazines, Steven Kotok, CEO, Dennis Publishing, USA, Steve Lacy, CEO, Meredith Corp., David Pecker, CEO, American Media Inc., Tim Rahr, President, The Taunton Press, Joe Ripp, CEO, Time Inc., Scott Schulman, President, Rodale Inc., Bob Sauerberg, President, Condé Nast, and Efrem (Skip) Zimbalist III, Chairman and CEO, Active Interest Media.

Now for their magazine media audience expectations for 2014:

Hubert Boehle: Concurrent with our new launches we expect our audiences to expand across the age spectrum from young girls (Girls’ World) to Gen X’ers (Closer) to Boomers (Celebrate).

David Carey: Partnerships will also be more important than ever. I have said many times that we’d rather own half of a successful enterprise than all of an unsuccessful one, and in the last year alone, we’ve gone into business with NBCUniversal, Dr. Oz, DreamWorks and William Morris Endeavor. That’s on top of the highly profitable partnerships we enjoy with Scripps and Harpo and so many other companies around the world. We value our reputation for being a good partner, and we will continue to incubate ideas, meet with the companies and personalities that seek us out to build new brands together.

Steven Kotok: Our digital audience is 10x our print audience on the Week and 20x on Mental Floss. Both are growing. Digital audience growing faster than print audience but revenue from print audience growing fastest.

Steven Lacy: Our consumer connection is as strong as ever across multiple platforms – magazine readership (115 million); television viewership (strong news ratings); digital platforms (record 60 million monthly unique visitors); brand licensing (doublet-digit revenue growth). The key is continuing to maintain brand relevance to the next generation of consumers. Note that Better Homes and Gardens has a large and passionate social media following including 1.6 million Facebook followers. On Pinterest, BHG’s pins are among the most popular.

David Pecker: The industry will begin to embrace a “total audience” concept that will include digital editions, websites and social media. My company has already developed a prototype for this that we feel will be the new standard of measurement.

Tim Rahr: Our digital audience will continue to see very strong growth in 2014. The second season of Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking airs in September and will provide a nice lift as we head into the holiday season — primetime for Fine Cooking. We are also just beginning to appreciate the leverage our digital editions give us to reach enthusiasts outside of North America and we will invest some time this year in figuring out how that business can scale.

Joe Ripp: Our audiences are communities of engaged consumers centered around common content experiences and interests. Given our access to data and technology, we have a unique opportunity to develop specific audience segments on our sites and across the web through our audience networks.

Scott Schulman: For 2014 we’ve created a new company, Rodale Events, LLC, to design and operate live events at an even higher level. Live events fit so well with our mission to inspire people to improve their lives and the world around them. Rodale hosts over 25 integrated branded events—such as Men’s Health’s Urbanathlon (in its ninth year), Women’s Health’s RUN 10 FEED 10 race, the Runner’s World Half Marathon & Festival and the Bicycling Fall Classic—that draw over 100,000 fans and participants around the world. The level of engagement with these customers is unmatched and it’s a great way for marketers to reach passionate consumers.

Bob Sauerberg: First, measurement is broken. Not unlike the television industry, we need to get credit for the audiences our brands are truly attracting, influencing and entertaining. Using newsstand – or any one slice of the audience – as a metric defining our reach is like judging the film industry’s success or failure by the amount of popcorn sold in theaters. We need to develop and push for a total audience metric.

Skip Zimbalist: In print, we tested the efficacy of significantly increasing our investment in DTP across a range of our titles. We experienced a good degree of success for many titles. In 2014, therefore, we are ramping up investment in DTP and expect audiences to grow in those titles. In print generally, exclusive of digital editions, we expect audiences to be flat to up slightly. Digital audiences will grow in the double digits again, after a very strong 2013. As is true across the industry, mobile is driving the growth while desktop audiences are generally flat. Social media is the largest source of growth, followed by digital editions.

Thank you one and all. Until next year…

The End.

©Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, 2014.

The Mr. Magazine™ First Ever E-Roundtable with 10 Magazine Media CEOs and Presidents

Major Changes Are in Order: “Abandoning Old Orthodoxies and Legacy Practices…”
Out With the Old, In With the New?

What are some of the largest magazine media companies expecting from 2014 in the world of magazine media? What are Active Media Interest, American Media, Inc., Condé Nast, Dennis Publishing, Hearst Magazines, Heinrich Bauer USA, Meredith Corp., Rodale Inc., The Taunton Press and Time Inc. up to in 2014?

Well, for this installment of “The 2014 Great Expectations” the CEOs and presidents of the aforementioned magazine media companies offer their expectations regarding the future of magazine media advertising in 2014.

The CEOs and presidents are, in alphabetical order, Hubert Boehle, CEO, President, Heinrich Bauer USA, LLC, David Carey, President, Hearst Magazines, Steven Kotok, CEO, Dennis Publishing, USA, Steve Lacy, CEO, Meredith Corp., David Pecker, CEO, American Media Inc., Tim Rahr, President, The Taunton Press, Joe Ripp, CEO, Time Inc., Scott Schulman, President, Rodale Inc., Bob Sauerberg, President, Condé Nast, and Efrem (Skip) Zimbalist III, Chairman and CEO, Active Interest Media.

Now for their magazine media advertising expectations for 2014:

Hubert Boehle: Bauer Media magazines reach active buyers who shop where the advertised products are sold; with this comes great accountability to our advertisers. We will continue to stress our power at retail and offer custom made solutions to our clients.

David Carey: We will be constantly evaluating our business models to determine what makes sense and is core to success and what is outdated and slowing the industry down. It will mean abandoning old orthodoxies and legacy practices that don’t make sense in the modern media landscape. Some choices may ruffle a few feathers, but there is no room today to hold on to anything that impedes progress and growth.

Steven Kotok: Advertising brands will become savvier about which targets are best reached via print – e.g. Fashion, Thought Leader. While the trend toward multiplatform packages and content integration across multiple media will continue.

Steve Lacy: As a public company, we limit advertising updates to our earnings releases and investor conferences. All of these materials are filed with the SEC, and our next update will be Jan. 29 when we announce second quarter fiscal 2014 earnings.
Anecdotally, we’re very pleased with continuing advertiser interest in the Meredith Sales Guarantee, which uses Nielsen Homescan data to prove that advertising in Meredith magazines increases retail sales for our clients. We currently have 30 brands participating, double the number from last year at this time. They are attracted by the 10 percent sales lift and $8 to $1 ROI experienced by Year 1 participants.

David Pecker: Integrated programs that combine multiple media platforms will continue to be the focus for advertisers. Content integration and native advertising are also key, but only as long as they can be done without subverting the integrity of the brand.

Tim Rahr: We continue to experience strong double-digit growth in digital advertising and expect it to continue through 2014. On the print side we are looking to be flat. Even as they are shifting dollars to digital our clients continue to appreciate the value of print as part of an integrated package.

Joe Ripp: We will continue to shift the focus of our advertising and marketing programs toward consumer and results orientation. In 2014, our opportunity is to leverage new technologies with deep customer data, and content curation expertise. We will provide marketers with tools to deliver brand stories to specific segments of consumers across print and digital touchpoints.
In the appropriate context, branded content combined with an advertiser’s message provides marketers with a rich and engaged audience across print, desktop, mobile, social and video. Combined with advanced targeting capabilities, magazine brands can be more effective than ever before.

Scott Schulman: In 2014, we’ll be building on our digital expansion. Rodale’s, our new e-commerce venture, is gaining traction in the market and is moving into its next phase of growth this year. It’s another great example of how we’ve extended our role as a healthy lifestyle company by providing solutions for improving people’s health, wellness and environment beyond the written word. I like hearing how often we have to restock our best selling items—Rodale’s has already found a passionate audience that we can cultivate and broaden. Beyond e-commerce, our digital business is growing with great new videos and high mobile usage.

Bob Sauerberg: Our advertising partners know that Condé Nast is the only true luxury/premium content company extant. We will continue to work with marketers to connect their brands to our audience of influencers worldwide. We will continue to pioneer premium programmatic and work closely with our editors on native. The growth of our digital platforms has created a number of new opportunities for advertisers and we believe in having our content – and our advertisers’ content – everywhere our consumers are accessing it.

Skip Zimbalist: In our mature magazines, we expect print advertising revenue to be up in low single digits. In our newly launched, redesigned or acquired magazines, ad revenue will be up double digits. Digital advertising revenue will be up sharply, particularly that associated with sponsorship programs, video projects and events.

Stay tuned for the final installment tomorrow when the CEOs and presidents of the top magazine media companies reveal their expectation regarding the status and future of their audiences in 2014.

©Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, 2004.

The Mr. Magazine™ First Ever E-Roundtable with 10 Magazine Media CEOs and Presidents

Circulation and Distribution: Focusing on Traditional Distribution with an Eye on New Ways of Reaching the Magazine Media Audiences.

What are some of the largest magazine media companies expecting from 2014 in the world of magazine media? What are Active Media Interest, American Media, Inc., Condé Nast, Dennis Publishing, Hearst Magazines, Heinrich Bauer USA, Meredith Corp., Rodale Inc., The Taunton Press and Time Inc. up to in 2014?

Well, for this installment of “The 2014 Great Expectations” the CEOs and presidents of the aforementioned magazine media companies offer their expectations regarding the status and future of magazine media circulation and distribution in 2014.

The CEOs and presidents are, in alphabetical order, Hubert Boehle, CEO, President, Heinrich Bauer USA, LLC, David Carey, President, Hearst Magazines, Steven Kotok, CEO, Dennis Publishing, USA, Steve Lacy, CEO, Meredith Corp., David Pecker, CEO, American Media Inc., Tim Rahr, President, The Taunton Press, Joe Ripp, CEO, Time Inc., Scott Schulman, President, Rodale Inc., Bob Sauerberg, President, Condé Nast, and Efrem (Skip) Zimbalist III, Chairman and CEO, Active Interest Media.

Now for the magazine media moguls’ “Great Expectations” regarding circulation and distribution of their magazine media for 2014:

Hubert Boehle: Wholesalers are asking for higher efficiencies and, as long as this is accompanied with better service at retail level, we will support this effort. Since Bauer Media is heavily single copy focused, the increases in postal rates will have a minimal impact on our business.

David Carey: 2013 was an exciting, transformational year for Hearst and for magazine media in general, and 2014 holds incredible promise in so many areas. Digital will continue to grow across the board – at Hearst, our ‘months to moments’ strategy is gaining speed as monthly cadence shifts to daily programming. In 2014, we will continue to make major investments in talent and content and we’re rolling out a new responsive design system that will cascade through our brands over the course of the year. We will build on the double-digit revenue increases of 2013, and the emerging pillars of programmatic and branded content will continue to dominate. Creating scale for marketers is of utmost importance.

Steven Kotok: I think we will see continuing separation between those magazines that have true consumer wantedness and a robust reader revenue stream and those whose circulation is supported as an expense to deliver an ad revenue stream with the former faring better than the latter.

Steve Lacy: We will continue our very successful initiatives to move more consumer subscription generation and transaction activities online. Also, we are in the early stages of a comprehensive project to enhance circulation profitability with particular emphasis on increasing consumer revenue from circulation activities. The emergency postal rate hike is significant and will require all media companies to keep a tight rein on costs to partially offset the impact.

David Pecker: Newsstand sales will continue to be challenged, not only from the pressures of digital, but from wholesaler demands for greater efficiencies. Publishers will have to continue to redefine their content for the tablet reader, extend their brands into other media, and reexamine their retail distribution to optimize it.

Tim Rahr: We expect modest growth in our print subscription business fueled primarily by our new PBS television show Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking. Other factors contributing to the growth include improved renewal rates from our auto-renewal programs and continually refining our online marketing tactics. As for all publishers, the newsstand remains a challenge. We are expecting a modest decline in sales – barring any significant disruption to the distribution system. As an aside, and this isn’t news to anyone reading your blog, we must get the interests of everyone in the supply chain aligned before the whole system collapses.

Joe Ripp: We will continue to invest in digital audiences. We will deepen relationships and broaden the value proposition with consumers by offering new and enhanced subscription packages like those introduced by PEOPLE in 2013.

Scott Schulman: Prevention magazine is poised for a big year in 2014. After reinventing two years ago, the brand has seen four consecutive periods of newsstand growth, and hit a very successful stride with double digit advertising increases in both print and digital. They’ve gained new readers through record online traffic and a revamped social strategy that has increasingly engaged a growing audience. We’re also building out smart extensions that have already captured new readers, from new branded books like “The Sugar Smart Diet” by SVP/Editorial Director Anne Alexander which debuted on the New York Times bestseller list, to the first ever Prevention R3 Summit held in Austin, Texas.

Bob Sauerberg: Condé Nast will continue the successful roll-out of our collaboration with Amazon – Amazon All Access – which offers consumers a convenient one-click method to purchase, renew and manage their subscriptions. Last year, we led the industry in audience growth in both print and digital. We will continue to focus on growing our audience this year and have the benefit of Condé Nast Entertainment’s digital video network, which had over 560 million views from its launch in March through December. This new digital content is introducing our iconic brands to new consumers we’ve never before reached.

Skip Zimbalist: We expect our total paid circulation, print and digital, to increase low single digits in 2014. Print will be flat, and digital will continue double digit growth. The recent rate increases by the post office will cause us to shift more distribution out of the mail. We expect newsstand to decline and specialty distribution to compatible retail.

Stay tuned for the next installment tomorrow when the CEOs and presidents of the top magazine media companies reveal their expectations regarding the status and future of advertising in magazine media in 2014.

©Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, 2014

The Mr. Magazine™ First Ever E-Roundtable with 10 Magazine Media CEOs and Presidents

What are some of the largest magazine media companies expecting from 2014 in the world of magazine media? What are Active Media Interest, American Media, Inc., Condé Nast, Dennis Publishing, Hearst Magazines, Heinrich Bauer USA, Meredith Corp., Rodale Inc., The Taunton Press and Time Inc. up to in 2014?

In my Mr. Magazine™ Manifesto for 2014 I unveiled my expectations for the upcoming year, but I’m on the outside looking in. What, I wondered, were the expectations of those people who are on the inside; the ones in the trenches who have to make the wonderful magazine experiences happen each and every day?

Just as Charles Dickens, one of the Masters of Literature, penned his “Great Expectations” I asked a few Masters from the magazine media world to do the same…to share with me their “Great Expectations” for this brand new year, 2014. I focused my questions on four areas of concern: new magazine media launches, circulation and distribution, advertising, and the audience of magazine media in 2014.

And just as Pip filed away Abel Magwitch’s shackles in the original masterpiece; I wanted to grind down and collect a few shavings of gray matter from some of the most in-the-know CEOs and presidents in today’s magazine media world. Not their predictions for this year, but rather their goals and expectations to what they want to accomplish in 2014.

The CEOs and presidents are, in alphabetical order:

Hubert Boehle, CEO, President, Heinrich Bauer USA, LLC,
Publisher of magazines such as Woman’s World, In Touch, Closer…

David Carey, President, Hearst Magazines,
Publisher of magazines such as Good Housekeeping, Esquire, House Beautiful…

Steven Kotok, CEO, Dennis Publishing, USA,
Publisher of magazines such as The Week, Mental Floss…

Steve Lacy, CEO, Meredith Corp.,
Publisher of magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Parents…

David Pecker, Chairman, President and CEO, American Media Inc.,
Publisher of magazines such as Star, National Enquirer, Men’s Fitness…

Tim Rahr, President, The Taunton Press,
Publisher of magazines such as Fine Cooking, Fine Home Building, Fine Woodworking…

Joe Ripp, CEO, Time Inc.,
Publisher of magazines such as People, TIME, Fortune…

Scott Schulman, President, Rodale Inc.,
Publisher of magazines such as Prevention, Men’s Health, Women’s Health…

Bob Sauerberg, President, Condé Nast,
Publisher of magazines such as Vogue, The New Yorker, Wired…

Efrem (Skip) Zimbalist III, Chairman and CEO, Active Interest Media.
Publisher of magazines such as Backpacker, American Cowboy, Amazing Wellness…

So starting tomorrow you will be able to sit back and enjoy another masterpiece: “The Great Expectations” of 2014 for the magazine media industry from the people who know it up-close and personally. Their “expectations” will be divided into four categories: New Launches, Circulation and Distribution, Advertising, and Audience.

You will find out their answers on a daily basis, starting tomorrow:

•Tuesday – New Launches
•Wednesday – Circulation & Distribution
•Thursday – Advertising
•Friday – Audience

I hope Mr. Magazine’s™ deep dive into “The Great Expectations…” according to the top moguls in the magazine media world, will provide all media observers with the true road-map for the status and future of the magazine media industry in 2014.

Stay tuned for a daily dose of “Great Expectations”!

©Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, 2014