Customer Publishing

It’s fair to say that the deterioration of the UK economy is having a marked effect on the media industry. Hardly a day goes by without dire predictions for 2009 with ad revenues being reduced and budgets squeezed. Despite all of this, it has never been a better time to be a customer publisher!

Customer publishing is one of the great media success stories of recent times. Over the past few years alone, it has moved from being seen as the poor relation to consumer titles to one of the leading channels for customer retention and engagement.

This success is not solely down to the strength of the channel, but to customer publishers themselves tirelessly innovating and pushing boundaries. For example, customer publishers have, over the years, honed their techniques to ensure that titles are as targeted as possible to match their intended readership. Recent Royal Mail research revealed that almost a quarter of all customer titles are segmented to suit differing reader demographics, meaning that a 24 year old professional might receive the same magazine as his 73 year old grandmother, but the editorial within will have been customised according to their interests and lifestyle. Indeed, customer publishers themselves have predicted that there will be an almost 50% increase in segmented customer titles over the next two years. They are almost unanimous in their belief that the trend for more closely targeted editorialisation of brand will bring new opportunities, particularly in light of the growth of integrated publishing solutions across print and the web.

Budgets are of course under threat and marketing is often one of the first things lined up for the chop. So the first challenge facing the customer publishing industry is this: stay relevant. If content is irrelevant, it is simply not read. Customer publishing has proven itself well up to the challenge of cross-media experimentation, and extending branded content offering across online, hard copy, even SMS and TV channels is proving extremely successful. Just look at the recent APA Award winners ASOS.com, which has built on the core strength of the parent brand to run its titles both in hard copy and online versions, or automotive pioneers Audi and LandRover which operate dedicated branded content TV channels.

In fact, the most recent figures show that 10% of all customer publishing revenue is now attributed to digital activity, including podcasts, RSS feeds, ezines, microsites, hosting and transactional sites. This represents a growth of 114% since 2005, with an estimated increase of 33% for 2008 versus 2007. To reflect this increase, currently one in seven customer publishing employees has specialist digital skills, which the research predicts will rise to one in six by the end of the year. Which leads me on to the second opportunity facing the customer publishing industry: don’t stop innovating. There are incredibly creative minds working in customer publishing, who understand the importance of tapping into an audience to really bring a brand to life. One of the things customer publishing clients value most highly about the medium is its versatility, and ability to pinpoint and communicate effectively with particular stakeholder audiences. And yet it is important to also take stock at each stage and ensure that the innovation works well to complement previously-established print or digital titles.

Digital potential

To my mind, the digital potential available for the customer publishing industry is perhaps the greatest opportunity ahead. Independent research from Contented has revealed that digital agencies themselves have misjudged the threat posed by customer publishers and the growing trend for editorialisation of brand in the digital arena. Customer publishers now deliver digital editorialised content to over a third of their client base (37%). The variety of digital services ranges from basic content adaptation and provision (with 93% of customer publishers having provided these services to clients), through to web hosting (34%). With 72% of customer publishers having designed and built emails, ezines and microsites, this provision is increasingly falling under the customer publishing remit, as is rich media, including podcasts, video and audio (57%). Less well represented, but growing nonetheless, are eCRM (53%), community and User Generated Content activity (43%) and database management (40%).

Most importantly however, brand owners themselves recognise that the very skills which make customer publishing such a valuable medium are easily translated into the digital world. The study found that brand owners agreed that, on the proviso their customer publisher could prove its digital capabilities and understanding of interactive media, they would rather trust it with their digital marketing briefs above other marketing services agencies, because customer publishers have a firmer and more strategic understanding of brand communications.

Customer magazines deliver for brands – this much is understood. APA research alone has found that, on average, customer publishing can stimulate brand loyalty by 32% and boost share of wallet by 8%. Moreover, 44% of readers have been found to interact with a brand as a direct result of reading a customer magazine. These facts should go some way to raise the importance of the medium in the current climate, as they allow brands the opportunity to actually gain voice and create close bonds with consumers just at a time when their rivals are cutting back. Now is not the time to lose focus on the customer, and it is no mere coincidence that those organisations famed for their customer centricity, such as Tesco, Post Office, Virgin Atlantic, John Lewis and Waitrose, all produce customer titles. When budgets are tighter, we must look to invest in the effective marketing solutions which engage consumers the most and customer publishing is leading the way in this field.