Dare We Suggest There’s Yet Some Hope for Print?

Perhaps some InCirculation readers, like many circulators and other executives engaged in print-focused jobs on this side of the pond, have had the uncomfortable feeling of late that they might be the last ones manning a rapidly sinking ship?

In the US, the last two months have seen major publishers fold more print titles, or convert them to online-only.

We’ve also seen Star — egads, a celebrity title! — drop its rate base by nearly 20%.

We’ve read rumours that Time Warner may spin off its publishing business… which, by the way, caused the company’s stock to jump.

We noted the latest in the ongoing stream of announcements of new online and mobile initiatives from what we used to call publishing companies.

And in case any of us failed to grasp the implications of all of this, The Last Magazine, a new book by independent magazine distributor / publishing consultant David Renard, confirmed that "Magazines, as we know them, are dying."

Before you drop this magazine to go apply for a waitstaff job, please note that Renard does give mainstream titles another 20 years or so to go all-digital (via e-readers and e-paper, probably) or go the way of the brontosaurus. He also postulates that high-end, cutting-edge specialty titles - "the stylepress" — will manage to survive in print. Although this somehow conjures up an image of the mutant survivors in The Omega Man, the hope of being able to unearth at least a few cuddly, paper-based relics is certainly heartening to those who prefer not to bring a PDA, or even e-reader, to bed.

But at this stage of the game, such explorations, while interesting, are hardly startling. In fact, we’ve all been so thoroughly indoctrinated about the e-future by our colleagues in the press that talented people working "only" on print magazines sometimes confide that they feel demoralised - as though the parade is passing them by.

Reasons to be cheerful

All of which leads to my point: print ain’t dead yet — and more than a few smart people believe that magazines will continue to play an important, though evolving, role in the media mix for the foreseeable future.

For example, a new study of the North American magazine publishing industry, conducted by PrintCom Consulting Group for the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization (PRIMIR), forecasts that total pages in NA magazines (consumer and B2B) will decline by 9% between 2006 and 2011 as a result of content shift to the web.

But the year-long study, based on analysis of industry databases and 100 interviews with experts, also estimates that there were 1,370 NA magazine launches last year, bringing the total to over 26,000 titles (an all-time high) — and that the number will shoot to over 28,000 by 2011. Most of these have circulations below 250,000, confirming that the shift isn’t just from print to online, it’s from mass to specialty.

The researchers conclude that "without print, it is difficult for a publisher to develop a successful, profitable internet presence." They also note that while the net of course presents competition, it’s also a strategic weapon, at least when publishers focus on a 360-degree approach wherein print drives readers to the web, and distinct (non-duplicated) content on the web drives people back to the magazine.

Again, not startling — but a refreshingly less apocalyptic take on the industry.

Another upbeat outlook also comes from MediaVest senior VP Robin Steinberg, who is equally well-known as a frank critic of magazines and a believer in them. Both at last year’s US ABC annual conference and in a recent Advertising Age article, she declared that she’s "certain that digital is not going to kill publishing"; that in fact, print has "a great future" ahead of it.

She points out that magazines have the critical key to success now and in the future, in the form of strong brand relationships, rooted in "authenticity" and trustworthiness, among other qualities; and that agency studies confirm that consumers engage with ads in magazines more than they do in any other medium.

She also praises magazine publishers for increasingly creating cross-platform extensions that not only make the brand more relevant, but do lead the consumer back to the print product. And she notes that publishers are partnering with agencies as never before to create innovative solutions for marketers.

Steinberg advises publishers to focus on being media-agnostic and building dialogues with consumers. And importantly, most of her advice centers on circulation. US publishers need to (at last) reduce the four- to six-week fulfilment lag on new subscriptions; stop loading up some issues’ circulation with "verified" (non-paid) subscriptions just to make rate bases; and solve the "mystery of the incredible shrinking newsstand," she stressed.

Other prominent media buying executives who were on an industry panel that I recently moderated concurred with those sentiments, and urged circulators to get out and talk to media buyers and planners, and explain the circulation strategy and the value of various sources.

Our lessons for the day: of course lend your expertise to digital initiatives, but also stand up for the value of print. And keep reading InCirculation.