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SME: A Print Slovakian Newspaper That Demands Attention. The Mr. Magazine™ Interview with Tomáš Bella, Deputy Editor in Chief

October 1, 2014

samirinbratislava Editor’s Note: Last week I was speaking, interviewing and moderating at different types of conferences and seminars across three European countries. I started with the Czech Republic where I spoke at a Toray’s meeting, then Slovakia where I visited the Student Media Center of the Pan European University in Bratislava, a daily newspaper, a major magazine media house and last but not least, traveled to Cannes, France to speak and moderate the Forum day at the 59th Distripress Congress. In the next few blogs, I will be reporting from all three countries with interviews, views and observations from the global media world.

Today, is my interview with Tomáš Bella, deputy editor in chief of SME daily newspaper in Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. SME is succeeding while others failed and is showing that the future of newspapers, both in print and digital, may be in long-form journalism.

tomasof sme

But, first the sound-bites…

On SME and some of its recent changes: We are almost changing into a magazine. More and more often we are moving toward big topics, such as the one we did on the Ukraine.

On the future of the daily newspaper becoming a weekly on a daily basis: Maybe we will stop publishing daily, but will do six weeklies. What we are sure of is that long-form journalism is where we are clearly heading; sometimes we even have the first eight pages of the paper as one article.

On experimenting with SME’s paywall: We will probably spend all next year restructuring the entire paper around the business of paid content.

On whether he feels journalism is better or worse today because of the Internet: Right now, it seems as though we’re in chaos, but I think we will come out of this as better journalists.

On why most newspapers are still chasing numbers and clicks in the 21st century: I spent four years traveling the world trying to pursue publishers for the switching-to-paid content, but there are a lot of publishers who are set in their ways.

On what keeps him up at night: Well, I came back to journalism because it’s really extremely exciting. And the most interesting thing is we have exhausted all our bad options now; we have tried everything.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Tomáš Bella, Deputy Editor in Chief, SME Newspaper in Slovakia…

Samir Husni: Tell me about SME and some of the changes that are going on…

Tomáš Bella: We are almost changing into a magazine. More and more often we are moving toward big topics, such as the one we did on the Ukraine. Inside, there are eight pages just about the Ukraine, written by someone who is very, very knowledgeable.

Two years ago, our longest article would be one page long. Now we are doing 16-page articles.

Samir Husni: So you think that the future of the daily newspaper is a weekly on a daily basis?

tomas2 Tomáš Bella: That is the strategy of Gazeta Wyborcza, the biggest Polish daily. They are probably the best daily in Eastern Europe, with a long tradition of fighting against communism. And their strategy is clearly building very strong supplements for each day; they have six strong supplements every day.

So maybe we will stop publishing daily, but will do six weeklies. What the Gazeta Wyborcza is definitely doing is building very strong magazines, not on print paper, but on glossy. And they have a lot of magazines for each day and they’re building a strong brand.

What we are sure of is that long-form journalism is where we are clearly heading; sometimes we even have the first eight pages of the paper as one article. And this would have been unimaginable a year ago. This is something we are doing as often as we can because we are depending more and more on the income from our readers,

I was reading this article, it was my colleague’s idea, but I thought who would want to read eight pages about the Ukraine. It’s a hard topic and it’s not something you would expect. And it actually broke our record in sales online recently. For whatever reason, the people were buying to learn about Internet politics in the Ukraine.

Samir Husni: You said they bought it online; which brings up your concept about slowly experimenting with the paywall…

Tomáš Bella: Yes, I was working with this newspaper for ten years and then I left and established Piano Media, the company that bought Press Plus. I worked there for four years and then I came back here. Currently, the income from paid content online has maybe doubled in the last eight months. So we are really heavily investing in paid online content and it’s the only income that’s going up, everything else is going down.

We will probably spend all next year restructuring the entire paper around the business of paid content. Also, we don’t believe that advertising is going to come back and we don’t think online advertising is going to save us, so we will have a year, maybe eighteen months to rethink all the departments, to rethink what we should and should not be doing when the new paradigm is in place and see what people are actually willing to pay for online.

With print, it’s a bit more complicated. The paper with the Ukrainian story costs 80 cents. Normally, the paper costs 55 cents, but when we have a topic like this we raise the price of the paper. So Monday it’s 55 cents, but on Friday it’s 80 cents…etc.

It doesn’t mean that we’ll sell more of the special papers, such as the one with the Ukraine story; it’s hard to sell more on those days, but we will also not sell less and we will make more money.

Samir Husni: Do you think journalism as a whole, forget about the platform, is in better shape today than yesterday or worse and has the Internet helped or hurt journalism?

Tomáš Bella: Right now, it seems as though we’re in chaos, but I think we will come out of this as better journalists. I see it in the paper, a lot of uncertainty, but it’s definitely going to get better. Three years ago when we would do something like send a journalist to the U.S. for two weeks to write a story, the business department would say you’re crazy, you’re just wasting your money.

And now when we can measure just how many people buy the article; we are seeing that exactly the same kind of articles that we want to write, ones that aren’t about sex, but about hard issues, are the ones that people are willing to pay for. So if you switch from those terrible 90s where the measurement of your reward was clicks; when you switch from the measurement of your world being clicks to people willing to pay for content, suddenly the interest of journalists and readers seems to be more aligned. They appreciate that content, because here is the guy who wrote the article, he is a Slovak, but he’s one of the few Slovaks who is an expert on the Ukraine.

So when readers see that this is forty years of creative thinking about the topic and that experience has been put into those pages, then they are willing to pay for it when they realize the quality of the work. So I think it’s much better for journalists to be doing a job like that where you know that readers appreciate the work and are willing to pay for it, along with the advertisers. But it will still be a little painful until we get through the transition phase.

Samir Husni: And as you move into this transition phase; why do you think newspapers are still doing the same thing, still chasing clicks and numbers?

tomas3 Tomáš Bella: I spent four years traveling the world trying to pursue publishers for the switching-to-paid content, but there are a lot of publishers who are set in their ways. They are good people and they are producing good papers, but in no way are they prepared for the role they need to play. And for years at the conferences, everyone was telling them how to attract new readers through Facebook and Google and it became very important. But suddenly, it stopped working. Google and Facebook were making money, but not their papers.

So here in Slovakia when we started Piano Media and paid content, most of the publishers joined, but only two or three really understood that in three years they won’t be able to rely on advertising money because they will never win the fight with the Facebooks or the Googles for the price of advertisement; it’s just going to continue going down.

But this paper had a CEO and management that were wise enough to say that even if it is only small money in the beginning, we will keep investing into paid content because we think that it’s really important.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Tomáš Bella: (Laughs) Well, I came back to journalism because it’s really extremely exciting. And the most interesting thing is we have exhausted all our bad options now; we have tried everything. We have tried cutting staff by 10 percent every year and many other things and we know where it leads.

So now it’s time to rethink everything; it’s time to say OK, do we really need a sports department or foreign news. It has gotten so bad that you can only dig yourself out with creative thinking and basically starting completely over from the beginning. And to me this is extremely interesting, so I came back here because I’m really curious how the paper is going to look in two years. I know with certainty it will not look like it looks today. And that’s really exciting.

And I believe this type of model is good for journalism. When people begin to pay for content and we can think about our reader instead of advertisers.

Samir Husni: Thank you.

Posted in Across the Pond, Innovation in print, The Mr. Magazine™ Interview | Leave a Comment »

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Traveling the World One New Magazine at a Time… A Mr. Magazine™ Musing.

July 31, 2014

When many people travel they attempt to learn words and phrases from their host countries in order to communicate and understand the local citizens better – and while that is a most noble and natural cause; when Mr. Magazine™ travels, not only is communication a priority, but also the word “new” is paramount on his list. Whether it’s nouvelle, noveau, jadīd or neu; Mr. Magazine™ revels in the many ways to say the word new.

husniinriga At the newsstands in Riga, Latvia.

Why, you might ask? Because new inserted before the word magazine is an exciting prospect to me and when you put the word stand behind it (OK – plus an extra “s”), the word newsstand is born. And I ask you; what could be more thrilling than new magazines and newsstands in foreign countries?

I can’t think of anything.

While most people when traveling to foreign lands are picking up a guide or a map to the best museums or the best places to visit, such as the National Museum of Beirut, Belem Tower in Lisbon or Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, Mr. Magazine™ is searching for newsstands, asking locals to show him where the best in the city he’s visiting is located and the quickest route to get there.

And visiting I did. In the last five months or so, my travels took me to Cape Town, South Africa…Riga, Latvia…Paris, France…Amsterdam, The Netherlands….Lisbon, Portugal…Helsinki, Finland…Munich, Germany and Beirut, Lebanon to name a few.

I have delivered presentations and seminars ranging from trends in magazines to the need to place the customer or the audience first in these wonderful countries and while the presentations and the meetings went very well, it is that newsstand street education that was the secret ingredient that held all the seminars and presentations together.

A newsstand in Riga No shortage of magazines in Riga, Latvia.

There is a lot to be learned from a visit to a newsstand anywhere in the world, they remain the best reflector of any society and the latest magazines found there are the new blood of any newsstand. And as I traveled the globe this summer, it dawned on me that this revelation must be shared to be appreciated. So typically, I began to buy these new magazines, searching nooks and crannies of cities so beautiful, they took my breath away, to find sometimes quaint, sometimes immense newsstands across the world. And from my determined hunts, I gathered some of the finest and most creative ink on paper products that I have seen in a long time.

So for your viewing pleasure, take a look at the treasures I brought back from a few of the world’s newsstands and…Vive le pouvoir des revues imprimées!

Until my ship sails again…
Mr. Magazine™
© Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, 2014.

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Posted in A Launch Story..., A Mr. Magazine™ Musing, Across the Pond, Innovation in print, New Launches, News and Views | 2 Comments »

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An Experience Spearheaded by Print: Men’s Health South Africa

May 11, 2014

Men’s Health – South Africa – Keeping The “Experience” In The Experience… The Mr. Magazine™ Interview With Editor-In-Chief Jason Brown…

“I think brands that will survive are strong brands that have a multi-faceted approach which offers the user or the reader an experience. It will be spearheaded by a print experience because people appreciate that.”…Jason Brown

JB_headshoulders Men’s Health, South Africa, is the epitome guide for men and what they need to know to have a well-balanced and healthy life. It is a magazine committed to improving each and every area of a man’s life – from diet to relationships; the magazine is there to shed light on any current topic that might interest them.

Jason Brown is the Editor-in-Chief of the South African edition, but has worked globally in his career. Recently I spoke with him on a trip to South Africa. From the States to the UK and now South Africa, Jason talked about the differences, culturally and locally in the markets and about how distinctive they really were.

After helping to launch various versions of Men’s Health magazine, Jason knows what a magazine needs to attract readership and keep them – provide the audience with an experience they’ll never forget.

So sit back and enjoy the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Jason Brown – Editor – Men’s Health, South Africa.

But first the sound bites…

On the differences between global markets: There is definitely a distinctive difference between all the markets, even though we’re all English-speaking and pretty much have the same background. I’d say the biggest difference is the connection to the cultures of the country.

On the biggest stumbling block in taking a title global: Not making it local enough. Not giving it enough local flavor and not giving enough credit to the audience you’re going to be addressing. People think if you have a big international brand it automatically means success.

On his most pleasant surprise when it came to the various launches of the magazine: The response to a guy with muscles on the cover. So whether it was in India, or Brazil, there was some initial skepticism that it was an American magazine.

On his thoughts about the future of magazines, print or digital: I think that it’s a combined experience.

On how he sees the glass when it comes to the magazine marketplace in South Africa – half full or half empty: It changes every month and I think that’s just the nature of where we’re at. I think it’s very easy to become despondent about magazines at a time like this, because we’re in such an age of transition.

On what keeps him up at night: Keeping ahead of my readership and understanding their needs.

And now the lightly edited Mr. Magazine™ conversation with Jason Brown – Editor-in-Chief, Men’s Health, South Africa…

CoverMay14lo-150x200Samir Husni: You’ve worked in the United States for two years as Editorial Director at Rodale International and now you are the Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health in South Africa. You’ve also worked with other magazines here and also in the UK. What’s the first impression you had about the differences in journalism in the States versus South Africa and the UK? Is it all the same or is there distinctiveness about the different markets?

Jason Brown: There is definitely a distinctive difference between all the markets, even though we’re all English-speaking and pretty much have the same background. I’d say the biggest difference is the connection to the cultures of the country.

Working at Men’s Health, we used to say so much is the same, but so much is different. So while many things that have to do with men are the same, men have the same sort of goals and a lot of the same ambitions, culturally how that magazine reflects its society, there is definitely a difference. And I saw it between Men’s Health, UK, the United States and South Africa.

And the biggest thing is the sophistication of the market and the influence of the other things in society. In South Africa we have a lot more of an outdoor society, more closely related to Australia. So the magazine reflects our lifestyle and also the diversity of the audience, 66 % of our audience is black. And that is a big economically growing and I suppose ambitious part of our society.

So the black middle class is growing and it’s reflected in our readership. Perhaps what we think are ideas that have had their time in the UK or the U.S. is still very valid here. Upwardly mobile, young men are looking for things in South Africa that perhaps still have strength and validity, whereas perhaps in the UK or the U.S. they no longer hold that same appeal, or they have to be evolved.

I think we’re probably about two years behind in that sophistication of the marketplace. But it’s caught up very quickly as more international brands have come to South Africa.

Samir Husni: You helped launch several editions of Men’s Health worldwide. What do you think was the biggest stumbling block in taking titles like Men’s Health or Women’s Health or Cosmopolitan and move them across borders?

Jason Brown: Not making it local enough. Not giving it enough local flavor and not giving enough credit to the audience you’re going to be addressing. People think if you have a big international brand it automatically means success.

I think it’s a great advantage because there are a lot of common lessons and a lot of common ground with many men around the world and certain brands are successful because they approach subjects in a universal way. However, not recognizing how much to localize and how important it is to create a local version that has a local flavor is a big mistake.

Samir Husni: And what was the most pleasant surprise with those various launches?

Jason Brown: The response to a guy with muscles on the cover. So whether it was in India, or Brazil, there was some initial skepticism that it was an American magazine. Our country is different is a phrase that we heard very often. But once we had localized, the basic premise of the magazine held true. And I think that was really the surprise, to see how this global concept, once localized well could be so successful and resonate with the audiences.

Samir Husni: Talking about local concepts, I interviewed one of your colleagues who had just launched a magazine about a very specific diet, the Banting Diet, Lose It! Magazine. And I see on the cover of this month’s issue of Men’s Health something like the questioning of this diet. Are we talking about the same market? Or does that diet only work for women or men?

Jason Brown: I don’t think we do it often enough here. Because it shows more than one angle to a story and I’m glad they’re having success with Lose It! but I think that our responsibility is to be slightly different and our angle, slightly more questioning.

When the Banting Diet was released here, we did an in depth report over a year and a half ago. We’ve now followed it up with a bit more of an investigative report and I suppose you could say we’re taking advantage of the trend toward this diet and our compelling newsstand cover line is the counterintuitive one, the one in opposition to what you are seeing on newsstands and what people are finding so popular at the moment.

So I think that there’s more than one angle to the story and we found our news angle in counterpoint to what Lose It! is doing. I think both have validity and that shows the health of magazines, that we can take one subject, investigate it and come up with different conclusions and only the reader benefits.

Samir Husni: What makes Jason tick?

Jason Brown: Great ideas. I love smart ideas. I love original ideas and whether I’m on Twitter or being sent a story idea or I find a magazine story and I say, wow…that is a smart, well-executed idea and I wish I had thought of that. And that is what keeps me in magazines and what keeps me inspired by what’s out there and gives me hope that great experiences and great content will keep on driving audiences to the newsstand.

Samir Husni: What do you think is the future of magazines? Print or digital? Both?

Jason Brown: I think that it’s a combined experience. We spoke about it earlier and one of my beliefs is that no one thing is the solution. I think brands that will survive are strong brands that have a multi-faceted approach which offers the user or the reader an experience. It will be spearheaded by a print experience because people appreciate that. They don’t have to click three times to get to their favorite magazine and they enjoy that lean back, but then you’re also offering them an app that can keep them on the go. Your social media is giving them a daily or hourly experience, but the magazine is giving them the longevity and the belief in the experience over the month, the week or over the year.

Samir Husni: As an insider, how do you see the magazine market in South Africa – is the glass half full or half empty?

Jason Brown: It changes every month and I think that’s just the nature of where we’re at. I think it’s very easy to become despondent about magazines at a time like this, because we’re in such an age of transition. And I think to be extreme or to write one thing off in favor of another is looking at it as a problem rather than an opportunity.

For me it’s about reaching an audience, quality content and a quality experience will always find an audience. And for me it’s an exciting opportunity to create more of a holistic brand. I think the future is in the entire 360. What we’re struggling to find right now is the balance between how each of those will work, and how we will create a revenue opportunity across all of them.

Samir Husni: My typical last question; what keeps you up at night?

Jason Brown: Keeping ahead of my readership and understanding their needs. And I suppose anticipating the next move to always stay relevant.

Samir Husni: Thank you.

© Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, 2014 All Rights Reserved.
Truth in Reporting: Media 24 Magazines in South Africa, is a media company that I consult for. This interview is not related to my consulting role, but rather giving my readers a better understanding of the magazine and magazine media marketplace in South Africa. This is the last of the four interviews.

Posted in Across the Pond, News and Views, The Mr. Magazine™ Interview | Leave a Comment »

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Taking Your Brand Global: Six Tips from the Magazine World

September 28, 2012

So, you are thinking of taking your business globally? Well, proceed with caution. The world is flat may be an exaggeration, because flat it is NOT and differences are plenty. As a magazine professional and educator, I draw a lot of examples from the only world I know: the magazine world (no surprise here)! So, without any further due let’s go global…

An overseas friend of mine once told me that in a gathering for the editors of all international editions of Cosmopolitan the American editor-in-chief of the magazine at that time (and no, it was not Helen Gurley Brown), was reprimanding an editor of one of the international editions, simply because she did not have enough sex lines on the cover. Now, granted, Cosmo is a magazine known for its sexual uninhibitedness, especially on the cover. The international editor replied calmly, “With all due respect, you in America talk a lot about sex, we, on the other hand, just do it.” Had the American editor known her audience, and by that, I mean the specific country’s customers that bought the magazine, she would have known that sex is not that big a deal overseas.

Tip 1: Know your audience.

Do not try to sell sex in a country that has been doing it longer than you have. It just doesn’t work.

That was the first tip that I want to share with you when attempting to establish your product, company or brand as a new entity in the global market. The tantalizing morsels I am dropping here are really just five common sense rules that must be adhered to if you want to maintain or garner success for your business.

There is nothing more rewarding for a business than to gain global recognition. For example, I was in Russia a few years ago and went into a book store. I was extremely anxious to pick up a “Russian” magazine. The clerk behind the counter was not exactly fluent in English, so when I asked her for a Russian magazine and she handed me Men’s Health, I thought that she had misunderstood. I repeated my request and she replaced Men’s Health with Cosmopolitan. It was then that I realized brand had crossed barriers, even in Russia. In the clerk’s mind, these two giants of the publishing world were Russian magazines.

Tip 2: Brand does matter.

You have to create your product, and then brand it as sure as any cowboy searing his steer. Until a Russian clerk who barely speaks English hands me your magazine when I ask her for a Russian one, you haven’t marked your entire herd. So, head ‘em up and move ‘em out. Time is wasting.

There was an Arabic edition of Reader’s Digest that was published back in the late seventies. At that time, Reader’s Digest was extremely popular here in the States. But when the magazine hit the Arabic markets, the articles had such an American slant that most of the Arab people couldn’t relate to content such as “How my cat survived the tornado.” For one, there are no tornadoes in the Arab world and secondly cats don’t live luxuriously there as they do in the States. It was as though the magazine was trying to re-culture the Arabic man or woman’s entire lifestyle. It wasn’t their best effort.

Tip 3: Yes, we’re becoming one world, but there are, and always will be, differences.

In order for your product to be appreciated, you must reciprocate. You must value your audience and study the culture of the world you’re trying to conquer. Flying by the seat of one’s pants will result only in a hole in the material that you may not be able to patch. The World Wide Web is a double-edged sword. Some see it as good, opening doors into domains that most of us have never known before. But there are those who believe it’s hurting their culture and way of life.

When you send your business on that global trek, you must remember that it’s not just about “putting something out there.” Your business has to be more than just another foyer that leads the way into a room your customers has visited a thousand times before. You can’t sell fish to a fisherman, but you can sell him worms.

Tip 4: No matter what you do, keep in mind that most products and brands are about experience-making.

In the magazine world I tell my clients, “You must become experience makers and not just content providers.” When you hand that fisherman a dead fish, he’s not all that excited, he has a dozen of his own in the cooler at his feet, but when you hand him squirming, shiny black worms; you have cracked the door for him to have an experience. One he can relish.

And finally, why did Men’s Health work in Russia, but not in Finland? Why do some magazines work in one demographic, but not the other? There has to be rhyme to the reason.

Tip 5: Study the different markets.

In the long run, it will save you many nights of sleeplessness. Prepare to be different. Prepare to be better. There is no such thing as unique anymore. There is only different and better.

Tip 6: When in doubt, repeat steps one through five.

The above article is a slightly edited article from my column published in .bizbuilder Sept/Oct issue. You can access .bizbuilder here.


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Posted in Across the Pond, News and Views | 1 Comment »

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How Do I Love My Magazines? Let Me Count the Ways…

November 18, 2011

From Amsterdam to Baku, from New York City to the Holy City of TSFAT, from London to Northampton and San Francisco seven new magazines and seven new reasons were added to the thousands other reasons that made me fall in love with those ink on paper magazines in the first place. Every time I discover a new magazine, I fall in love again and again. Magazines were, are and will continue to be my first and last love and those seven new ones from across the globe are nothing but yet another testament of my love affair with those ink on paper creatures…

Sharing the love are Vega magazine from The Netherlands, Baku. magazine from Azerbaijan, Sheer from the United Kingdom, Tzakkik magazine from Israel, and Style.com/Print, Auto Cult and Disney Family Fun Kids from the United States of America.

Vega, the magazine of Food, Fair and Future is, as the name suggests, a magazine for all things vegetarian. This new Dutch magazine, launched earlier this month with 148 beautiful and meat-free pages, quotes actress Natalie Portman, “I’m a strict vegetarian… I just really, really love animals and I act on my values. I’m really against cruelty to animals.”

Baku.: Art.Culture.Azerbaijan is a Condé Nast publication that celebrates all the aforementioned “on the edge of the Caspian Sea.” Leyla Aliyeva, Baku.’s editor-in-chief, writes in the premiere issue, which launched on the 20th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s independence, “Welcome to the first issue of Baku.the new international arts and culture magazine. Baku. Azerbaijan, is one of the world great cities – a place that combines the historic and the ultra contemporary, plus so much more.”

Sheer, the magazine that combines Fashion, Photography, Art & Culture, aims to “showcase young and new talent, through high fashion editorial, focusing on photography, art and culture.” Daniel Neale is the magazine editor who launched the magazine online in October 2010. He writes in the debut issue of Sheer, “In our first month the issue had reached over half a million views, and it was from that point, that I started to work on establishing my dream of launching a print version of Sheer.” Well, the dream is now a reality.

Tzaddik, the Healthy Jewish Living For Body and Soul, offers “Streamlined Kabbalah from the Holy City of TSFAT” and as its editor in chief Sharon Marson writes, “The magazine’s cornerstone message communicates, that we “reach for righteousness.” She adds, “Welcome to the release of the first issue. Welcome to what is possible. Welcome to the dream.”

Style.com/Print magazine is the latest website finding its way to print. The twice annual publication’s first issue comes in a luxurious over-sized 216 pages and is lead by editor in chief Dirk Standen’s report from New York, London, Milan and Paris. “Style.com and now Style.com/Print,” writes Standen in the premiere Spring 2012 issue, “live to celebrate fashion.” The magazine promises to deliver “two semi-annual issues of Style.com/Print right off the Fashion Week runways…” Another pixels on a screen discovering the power of ink on paper. Welcome aboard.

Autocult, the occidental lodge of underground motoring, arrives with a hefty priced premiere issue of $12.00. The magazine “pretty much embodies the cult of the automobile.” The editor’s mantra regarding magazine publishing should be a mantra to everyone thinking of launching a new magazine in this day and age. Dan Stoner writes, “If your magazine can be replaced with a website, it should be. And what kind of lessons can be learned from that? Well, it all boils down to making something that provides a memorable experience and moves the quality-of-life needle a skosh toward the ‘+’ end.” The editor continues, “If I make a magazine that you like to hold in your hands, that has a little weight to it, that you want to collect and couldn’t imagine just throwing out after a week, shows you things you never knew about before and does it in a way that inspires you to start a new project of your own, well, then I think that’s the kind of magazine that’ll stand the test of time. And the test of ever-changing new media that likes to feed on the weaker magazines.” All what I can add to his words is AMEN!

Disney Family Fun Kids, fun things to make and do. The new magazine from the folks at Disney’s Family Fun have packed every page of the new bimonthly “with fun stuff to do, like cutting out funny mustaches… making our own paper beads… and building can robots…” Jon Adolph and Moria Greto, the magazine’s editor and art director respectively write in the first issue, “We want this magazine to inspire kids to make and do things on their own. Still, some projects may require a little help from a grown-up.” Can’t be more interactive than that!

Every new day brings a new love or two or three. So, what are you waiting for? Sitting in front of your computer or tablet will never put a magazine in your hands and help you fall in love. Digital is fantastic and great, but a magazine IT IS NOT. So, get up, get out, visit a newsstand and buy a magazine or two and start falling in love. Don’t take my word for it… try it yourself, you will love it. Guaranteed.

Posted in Across the Pond, New Launches, News and Views | 6 Comments »

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From New Zealand with “Magazine” Love…

November 14, 2011

Just returned from a speaking engagement trip in New Zealand where I gave a talk on “Generation Next: Publishing Trends that Shape the Future of Editorial” at the Society of American Travel Writers‘ 56th Annual Convention in the capital city Wellington. On my last day in the city I discovered this magazine newsstand and I thought “what else can sum up my visit and my views about the future of print in a digital age more than those two pictures?” Seeing is believing! Add a cup of java, and yours truly is on cloud nine, or in this case cloud 9,000. Thank you SATW for the invite!

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Media Adventures in Foreign Lands: My Two Students’ Magazine

July 20, 2011

Two Students & A Prof. is the name of the magazine that two of my students created based on our trip overseas to Austria and Slovakia. The magazine is printed, sold and distributed via MagCloud. <a href="

First Issue, Summer 2011

Two Students & A Prof. Issue 1: First Issue, Summer 2011

Find out more on MagCloud

“>You can access it here.

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The Strong, Smart and Sexy Dutch Cosmo Women!

February 17, 2011

Technology is making it easier for print to offer split covers of the same magazine. This trend of split-covers is neither new nor is limited to the United States. However, while most magazines print split covers to test an image, a cover line, a price, etc., the Dutch edition of Cosmopolitan used the three-way split cover to enhance the editorial message about the Cosmo Dutch women who are Smart, Strong and Sexy.

The February edition of the Dutch Cosmo sports a split run with three covers of the fabulous Dutch Sylvie van der Vaart. Why three you may ask? Dutch Cosmo’s publishing director Sanne Visser is quick to answer: “because Cosmo-women are (Sterk) that is Strong in English, (Slim) that is Smart in English and Sexy. So we had a Strong, a Smart and a Sexy cover.”

Take a look at the “Sterk,” “Slim” and “Sexy” covers and judge for yourself. Enjoy.

Posted in Across the Pond, Innovation in print, News and Views | 2 Comments »

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55 Lessons from the 55th Distripress Congress in Hamburg, Germany: The Three Musketeers Needed to Save the Publishing Industry: Vision, Leadership and Courage

October 4, 2010

The future was front and center at the 55th Annual Distripress Congress in Hamburg, Germany. More than 1050 attendees gathered, engaged and interacted (try to do that Mr. iPad) with each other at the Distripress annual meeting of the association that bills itself as the “Platform for World Wide Press Distribution.” The wide range of topics focused on providing solutions for publishers and distributors of magazines and newspapers worldwide. Problems were identified and solutions were offered. There was no escape forward attitude and no blame game for the problems facing our industry. The lack of vision, leadership and courage were cited by Tyler Brulé of Monocle as a major source for the ills of the industry.

That was but once lesson from the 55 great lessons that I have learned from the Forum during the 55th Distripress Congress. Here are all the lessons:

1. The role of magazine and newspaper publishers is changing. It is about protecting the heart of journalism and about responsibility. It is the duty of any publisher all over the world to ensure the diversity of opinion and to control competing powers in a democracy.

2. To protect the heart of journalism and to meet our responsibilities we need to be aware of three fundamental aspects:
a. There will be no relevant information without journalistic quality.
b. There will be no journalistic quality without journalistic independence.
c. There will be no journalistic independence without economic independence – which means profitability.

3. The Internet has given us a lot of freedom and journalistic opportunities. But it is not acceptable that third parties use our expensively produced content for their business without any compensation. The economic loss to the publishers is not only massive – it is a threat to press diversity. Therefore it is important to improve the copyright protection and to establish copyright laws for publishers.

4. The greatest challenge of our time is to set up an economic base that allows publishers to run quality journalism as a profitable business.

5. Any strategy for the future of publishing must follow a three- legged model objective: Re-inventing the core, expanding the core and building a new core in the professional publishing segment.

6. Print can and is still a highly profitable and successful business – today and in the future.

7. Technical innovations like the iPad will make an important contribution to the world of media products, and they will help us to win younger audiences.

8. Any newly developed media channel is worthless, if we do not succeed in making a profit from it in the long term!

9. The digital revolution is forcing a complete reinvention of the publishing industry while targeting customer profiles that diverge more and more (in ten years core customer targets will all be internet-native…)

10. The publishing industry as a whole has to reinvent itself. Publishers and distributors have to make their own (R)evolutions.

11. There are three reasons for hope: A growing need for entertainment and media; Reading remains a pleasure and a noble hobby among the population; and reading newspapers and magazines represent an aspirational trend and a new lifestyle among the middle-class population in new countries.

12. Paper remains the easiest way to read newspapers and magazines.

13. A Publication on paper:
a. Is the cheapest device
b. Has the highest definition
c. Is suitable for long reading hours
d. Is mobile, easy to pocket and carry anywhere
e. Allows immediate access, no need to connect and reload
f. Is quick to browse, with immediate response time
g. Has an excellent touch and feel
h. With a special smell
k. Is 100% recyclable

14. Our challenge is to address the “ready-to-move-to-the-web” and increasingly mobile population in a more individualized & differentiated way per age, habits

15. We must venture into mixed offers paper / digital:
a. premium content on portable devices on top of existing paper press with differentiated contents.
b. 3D in printed press both newspapers and magazines (see the Sunday German Bild newspaper example below)

16. Publishers must have a solid commitment to the issue of copyright. They must learn from the mistakes of the music industry and adapt.

17. Inability of publishers to stand united and firm will lead to disastrous results.

18. Unlike music, magazines and newspapers, are not a background medium… they are front and center for the consumer.

19. Customers must come first.

20. Do what you do best and than link to the rest.

21. Endless customers choices is leading to unlimited demand.

22. Consider a business strategy like this one:
a. Determine your customer‘s needs.
b. Focus on the value added you provide best.
c. Make use of technology and platforms.
d. Collect and organize data.
e. Engage your customers – your community.
f. Act authentic.
g. Listen to digital natives and engage them.

23. In the midst of this digital age, we believe in print and we have the story of Grazia in Germany to put our money where our mouth is
.
24. Anti-cyclical acting will be rewarded and sometimes luck is with the bold and active ones.

25. Launching in economically difficult times can possibly create positive expectations and as a consequence strong support from your market and business.

26. Medium sized companies may not be at any kind of disadvantage in difficult times as
reaction time and therefore time to market is possibly faster.

27. Successful international concepts and licensed models can succeed, even
in saturated markets.

28. Stay with your strategy: Our strategy is: Print FIRST.

29.There is a children’s daily newspaper in France called “Le Petit Quotidien” and published in three different editions to reach different age groups from 6 to 14.

30. The daily paper feels and reads like a magazine with relevant focus to the relevant age group. The paper grows with its readers and has a total paid circulation of 150,000.

31. The web and the internet are not to be blamed for our troubles and problems in print.

32. The publishing industry needs to fight back with the tactile nature of its product.

33. Our problems can be summed by: a lack of vision, a lack of leadership and a lack of courage.

34. Every industry, every sector had to rethink the ways they are doing business in the last decade, except for the newsstands business.

35. It is time for a complete overhaul: selling me a candy bar with my newspaper is not the answer nor print on demand is the answer.

36. Look for Japan and South Korea: two places where they are creating rich, true diverse markets and experience… both in print and digital

37. Do not give away your publication. Monocle charges more for a subscription than buying it from the newsstands.

38. Make your subscribers feel like they are club members. Give them some evidence of that membership to showoff and identify with other members.

39. Subscribers will become patriots of the brand.

40. Deliver one story across the globe. Monocle aims to give the newsstands “love.”

41. Do in print what National Public Radio in the United States did to radio.

42. Print has become a more premium medium.

43. Monocle is creating newspapers, stores, products, events using intense branding and partnerships.

44. Soon the Monocle hotels may start appearing and the first one maybe in Beirut, Lebanon. See why in my two minutes interview with Tyler Brule, Monocle’s founder and editor in chief. (See video below)

45. Tyler Brulé and his magazine are a rare breed, but it is not too late to follow his lead.

46. Print will be with us for a long long time.

47. The magic of using four different kinds of paper in the same issue of your magazine works magic and create a wow factor that is missing from a lot of magazines on the market place.

48. When launching a new magazine, go to the source: the customers. Ask them what they want, when they wanted and how they wanted.

49. Think different: feeling good does not necessary means losing weight or looking beautiful.

50. Print is still the best platform for Time for ME. (See Flow magazine cover below)

51. We live in a digital age, but Print is still a very profitable business.

52. Newspapers and magazines are not dying, however some are committing suicide.

53. We can’t afford to be just content providers anymore, we have to become experience makers. In the midst of everything digital we need to focus on the humans.

54. Publishers must sell their products at a premium and must use from digital and technology what enhances their print product and not destroy it.

55. We are in the business of making money, any model invented, being invented or is soon to be invented, if it does not provide the publisher with sources of revenues it will not work.

The aforementioned lessons my friends, are just but a few pearls of wisdom that I’ve learned from the 55th Distripress Congress in Hamburg, Germany. There is much much more to be learned, but since that was the 55th Congress, I will stop at 55 lessons. I can’t wait to learn some more next year in Barcelona. I will have the chance to learn 56 lessons. Enjoy!

Giving credit where credit is due, lessons 1 to 8 came from Dr. Bernd Buchholz, Chairman of the Executive Board, Gruner + Jahr AG, Germany; lessons 9 to 15 from Dag Inge Rasmussen, President and COO, Lagardére Services, France; lessons 16 to 18 from Bhaskar Menon, Director, NDTV, India and Chairman & CEO of International Media Investments, USA; lessons 19 to 22 from Ewald Wessling, Media Consultant, Germany; lessons 23 to 28 from Lars Joachim Rose, President and CEO of Klambt Verlag, Germany; lessons 29 to 30 from Francois Dufour, Editor in Chief at Play Bac Presse, France; lessons 31 to 46 from Tyler Brulé , Chairman and Editor in Chief of Monocle, United Kingdom; lessons 47 to 50 from Anita Mooiweer, Head of Business Development, Sanoma Uitgevers, The Netherlands; and lessons 51 to 55 from yours truly. Thanks to all.

Posted in Across the Pond, Innovation in print, News and Views | 5 Comments »

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Magazine Innovation Center’s ACT Experience: Planning for the future at a minimal cost

August 30, 2010


Are you thinking of launching a new magazine? Are you interested in learning what is going on in the largest South American marketplace? How about successful magazines in The Netherlands? Is there a future for digital or is it the future? Can the advertising driven magazine publishing model survive? What role will design, marketing, branding, distribution play in the future of magazines?

These questions and many other will be answered at the “Re-imagining our future while we still have time” the first Magazine Innovation Center’s ACT Experience taking place in Oxford, Mississippi on Oct. 20, 21 and 22 this year. The experience, which will be conducted by some very high-powered media folks, will be intimate in nature and limited to no more than 100 participants.

Discussions at the ACT Experience will include, but not limited to, our print magazine future, the digital world, marketing and distribution, launching new products, advertising and promotions and a road map for our future.

In addition to the learning aspect of the Experience, the three days will include a trip to the Mississippi Delta, birthplace of the Blues music and a visit to William Faulkner’s House, the Nobel Prize winning author.

Billed as three days of Magazines, Music and Mississippi, the Experience promises to be unlike any other meeting or convention you’ve ever attended. Guaranteed! Click here to register “while we still have time!”

Questions about the ACT Experience, feel free to drop me an e mail at samir.husni@gmail.com and I will be more than glad to answer all of your questions. Looking forward to seeing you in October. It will be an experience of a lifetime.

Posted in Across the Pond, Innovation in print, News and Views | 1 Comment »

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