FOLIO: Section Blogs by emedia and Technology

Report: No Digital Platform Reigns Supreme

Vanessa Voltolina — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:18:09 -0500

It seems like each digital platform has had its moment in the sun as the next new savior of print magazines—Web sites, PDFs, mobile, digital editions and e-readers. But based on a 2009 Forrester Research study released last week, called “Publishers Need Multichannel Subscription Models,” which surveyed 4,711 U.S. consumers during the third quarter (and is part of their “Media Meltdown” series), no one delivery method reigns supreme among consumers.

When asked, “If the publications you read were no longer available in print, how would you prefer to access that content,” responses showed that no single channel dominates. Thirty-seven percent of consumers said they’d prefer to access content on a Web site, while smaller groups said they’d prefer content via mobile phones (14 percent), and laptops and netbooks (11 percent). And despite the e-reader hype, the skeptics may be right: only 3 percent of respondents said they’d read their print content on a device like the Amazon Kindle. Although considered a rudimentary method of delivery, 10 percent of those surveyed say they’d prefer the anachronistic solution of PDF by e-mail. A whopping 44 percent of respondents identified “None of these” as a replacement for print.

Who Will Pay?

The study also confirmed that while the industry may be on board, the majority of consumers (80 percent) won’t pay to access magazine content online. For those few that said they would pay, they prefer subscriptions over single-article micropayments.

There was no clear trend between consumer demographics (like gender and marital status) as factors for who was more willing to pony up for Web content. However, the report found that those more likely to pay are slightly younger—43 years versus 47—and were 24 percent more likely to be technology optimists. Income didn’t play in to consumers’ willingness to pay for magazines online. A majority of consumers—67 percent—feel that magazines and newspapers are “priced about right,” while a small contingent (one in five, or 19 percent) thinks they are getting more value than they’re paying for, especially when it comes to magazines.

I for one think it's important for publishers to take baby steps when it comes to offering content behind a pay wall—particularly with four out of five consumers reporting a blatant refusal to buy into the model. Like the Economist's “experiment” annouced earlier this month, publishers should expect that determining the amount of paid content be a true trial and error process. Move your content from free to everything-behind-a-wall the next day and you may be faced with a slew of angry, embittered readers. This aversion to paying for online content may also stem from the fact that for many consumers—as the report indicates—are still unsure as to what, exactly, is their next platform move beyond print.

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Late to Augmented Reality Party, Esquire Delivers Solid 3-D Package

Jason Fell — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:04:56 -0500

In terms of innovation in the print medium, Hearst’s Esquire magazine has been a pioneer on a number of fronts in recent months. Last year, it partnered with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based E Ink to produce an electronic “paper” display for the magazine’s 75th anniversary October issue. Then in February, Esquire produced a cover “window” that opened to a mini table of contents and featured an advertisement on the back flap. Its May “How to Be a Man” issue featured perforated covers that act like a flip book, allowing readers to make 27 combinations of the facial features of Barack Obama, George Clooney and Justin Timberlake.

Now, the magazine is tapping augmented reality technology to take innovation into the digital realm. Throughout the December issue (which hits newsstands November 17) are coded markers that, when readers/users hold up to their computer’s Webcam, trigger interactive video “experiences” to appear on their screens. Four articles and the cover are equipped with the AR functionality.

For example, when a user holds the cover to their Webcam, cover feature/actor Robert Downey Jr. appears on their screen, talks about the issue, sings and shows a clip of his upcoming film, Sherlock Holmes. Car maker Lexus is the issue’s exclusive advertiser for the AR technology, with an ad that's AR-enabled.

But while Esquire was first (or near first) with its other “innovations,” it’s late in delivering augmented reality in magazines. In June, Bonnier’s Popular Science utilized augmented reality firm Metaio’s Web application software to create an interactive image (provided by General Electric) featuring wind turbines when readers held up the cover of its July issue to their computer cameras. Time Inc.’s InStyle magazine used augmented reality to make some advertisements in its December holiday gift guide issue three dimensional. Last month, publisher Future US also utilized the technology for the December issues of Official Xbox Magazine and Playstation: The Official Magazine featured an advertising campaign that generated an interactive 3-D war scene.

Instead of kicking open the AR door for magazines, Esquire has simply contributed to a “rising trend.” Or has it? To be fair, I haven’t seen the magazine in my hands yet, but it looks like Esquire has in fact delivered a superior AR experience, compared to those we’ve already seen. Check out editor-in-chief David Granger’s video introduction to the issue below.

Aside from who’s first and who’s not, perhaps the better question is whether utilizing AR is true “innovation” or all gimmick. What’s the real value for print magazines?
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The E-Reader Revolution Isn't Revolutionizing Magazines

Jason Fell — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:21:52 -0500

From Barnes & Noble's promising nook to dark horses such as the EnTourage eDGe, a bevy of e-reader devices are about to take on Amazon.com's groundbreaking Kindle. They won't transform the way most folks read immediately, but they're a major step in the inevitable, ongoing digitization of nearly everything we're used to reading on on dead trees. As a reader of fat hardcover books I can't fit in my briefcase, I'm a Kindle fan who's excited about seeing Amazon get some competition.

The magazine lover in me, however, is far more skeptical about the next round of e-book gadgets. The Kindle isn't a very satisfactory magazine-reading device, and there's no evidence that any of its imminent competitors will be great leaps forward for our industry. Here's why:
The screens simply aren't up to the job. Every e-reader that's on the market or imminent uses a monochrome E-Ink screen. They do a respectable job of displaying plain-text pages but magazines are anything but plain, and most are anything but monochromatic. Take away high-quality color imagery and you rob them of much of their life.

Good formatting isn't a given. A good magazine artfully weaves together words and pictures in a wonderfully inviting, browsable manner. The Kindle-edition magazines I've subscribed to look like dreary raw text files, in part because the standard Kindle's six-inch screen is too small to replicate a standard magazine page with any fidelity. Some upcoming e-readers, such as the Que, have larger screens, but most will struggle with the same layout issues that the Kindle does.

E-readers lack the Web's benefits. Such as links, comments, and fresh daily content to supplement the stuff that comes out on a weekly or monthly schedule. By contrast, the lifeless presentation of magazines on e-readers reminds me of what I used to see on CompServe, circa 1988.
Don't get me wrong—it's possible that at least some of the upcoming devices will be more pleasing containers for magazines than the Kindle is. And it's dead certain that e-readers will get better at doing periodicals over time, especially with publishers such as Hearst getting into the game.

Overall, though, I'm far more intrigued by the possibility of digital magazines showing up on tablet computers—such as the rumored Apple device—than I am by their appearance on dedicated e-readers. Tablets will have high-resolution color screens which should do a far better job than E-Ink of replicating the vibrancy of print design. Their batteries will conk out in hours rather than days, but that's okay—you don't need days to read a magazine.

Show me a portable reading device that renders magazine content more engaging and not less so, and I'll happily give up paper. For now, though, I pack two types of reading material when I hop on a plane: my Kindle and a stack of my favorite magazines.
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TheAtlantic.com to Ring Up 103 Percent Revenue Growth This Year

Jason Fell — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:44:39 -0500

As part of its “Game Changers” package, the editors at the Huffington Post have come up with a list of the 10 biggest innovators in media—people or organizations that are using the Web to change the industry. Some of the more well-known names on the list include CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Katie Couric for launching Web-based interview program @katiecouric, and Tina Brown for transitioning from print to online for launching The Daily Beast.

Visitors can check out the list here, and vote for who they think is the ultimate media game changer.

From the world of magazines, making the list is editor James Bennet and editorial director Bob Cohn from TheAtlantic.com. According to HuffPo, the site is expected to report 103 percent growth in digital revenue in 2009. It said the site—and its writers—is “as prolific as it is impressive.”

Even while most publishers are ramping up (or scrambling) online, The Atlantic’s Web site has added channels including business, politics and food; launched the Atlantic Wire, an opinion news aggregator; and has plans for a forthcoming business site. The site has bolstered its blogging efforts by hiring big names like Jeffrey Goldberg, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Andrew Sullivan, who was named to the 2009 FOLIO: 40.

Did I mention 103 percent digital revenue growth? With gains like that, it’s hard not to include TheAtlantic.com on any online media innovator list.

Who else do you think should have made HuffPo’s list? Let us know. Leave a comment below.
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Magazines: A Reality That Doesn't Particularly Need Augmentation

Jason Fell — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:36:42 -0400

All around us, magazines are undergoing the futuristic process known as augmented reality. It started this past summer, when Popular Science worked with a company called Metaio to create a cover which, when held up to a computer's Webcam, appeared on-screen in a form that was half live video, half 3-D animation, with 3-D animated wind turbines that spun when the reader blew into the computer's microphone. (The whole extravaganza was sponsored by wind turbine maker GE.)

More recently, Real Simple announced that its December issue would use similar technology from Total Immersion to create a 3-D gift box filled with video content from advertisers. And the December issues of gaming titles from Future US will feature augmented-reality ads for a game called Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. Hold the ad in front of your Webcam, and a 3-D animated battle will break out on your display.

In multiple ways, it feels like deja vu all over again. Magazine publishers keep attempting to inject interactivity into their print publications via high-tech features that appears to great fanfare and never seem to go much of anywhere. I'm thinking of everything from the CueCat, the legendarily unsuccessful feline-shaped barcode scanner adopted by Forbes and Wired in 2000, to Esquire's flashing e-ink 75th anniversary cover from last year. Augmented reality is sexier than either the CueCat or e-ink, but in its current form, it produces the same sort of basic cognitive dissonance.

Such "breakthroughs" attract attention, but they usually seem to get in the way of print's virtues rather than to accentuate them. Both the CueCat and augmented reality presume that magazine readers want to sit at a computer, magazine in hand—when effortless portability is one of the key benefits that the printed word retains over the Web. And Esquire tried gamely to deal with the limitations of the still-rudimentary, monochromatic e-ink technology—but the resulting cover was far less compelling than most of the ones it produces with plain old non-electronic ink.

The best magazines have infinite potential to thrive in the digital age, but that the secret to success won't lie in trying to be digital. Letting magazines be magazines is a far smarter strategy: If I were a magazine editor today, I'd be redoubling my efforts to deliver the most useful, imaginative, well-packaged service journalism possible. And if I were a marketer investing print advertising dollars, I'd want my messages to appear in the publications that did the best job of engaging readers through high-quality, ever-evolving editorial content.

I don't mean to entirely dismiss augmented reality. The technology has the potential to develop into something genuinely useful. Imagine, for instance, seeing exactly what you'd look like in a particular pair of eyeglasses by viewing an augmented-reality feature that digitally painted them onto your on-screen image.

And hey, gimmicks can be fun, at least for awhile. Yet another faddish innovation that augmented reality reminds me of is the spate of ads back in the 1980s that played tinny music via embedded sound chips. Anyone want to argue that those changed the magazine industry for the better?
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The Time Inc./Condé Supergroup Conundrum

Jason Fell — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:36:32 -0400

These latest rumblings about a publisher supergroup led by Time Inc. joining together in a dramatic effort to head Apple and Amazon off at digital distribution pass is significant news. You've got the country's biggest publishers—Time Inc., Hearst, Condé Nast, possibly Meredith—in a bid for solidarity to fulfill this statement copped from a leaked PowerPoint: "Whoever defines the interface wins."

That's a reference to a digital storefront that the consortium is to build, whether through a possible expansion of Time Inc.'s Maghound subscription site, which already offers subscription bundles from many of these same publishers and then some (yes, a la Netflix), or through a separate company created from a joint investment.

iTunes and Hulu business models are reportedly in the works, or at least are generating comparisons to what unnamed sources think is in the works. One makes money off of small, per-item payments, the other makes advertising revenue, which, apparently, is too old-school when we're talking about paid digital content.

So far, no one can hazard a guess at how the joint venture content will be formatted that's any different from what you get on a Web site, on an iPhone or in a digital edition. There's been some mention of personalization, but there is major balking at exactly how the consortium will get its content to be universally ported to devices that have proprietary formats.

And let's not forget that so far, Apple's iPhone/Touch tablet is still a rumor, albeit a strong one, and so is its $700-$900 price tag, which is an awful pricey device for reading magazines on.

Presumably (hopefully), Time Inc.'s John Squires and his colleagues have been busy working out the details on content formats, particularly if customers will be allowed to view on the variety of devices out there.

One industry executive I spoke with says this is no easy task. The joint venture is reportedly targeting HP and the Apple tablets for their hardware distribution. But what about the installed base of Kindle and eReaders? Who's going to purchase another device any time soon to read magazine content on?

Also difficult is asking consumers to mix and match and otherwise "personalize" their content—unless Time Inc.'s Mine magazine experiment has revealed something we don't know yet. Imagine the process a customer will have to go through to search and compile content from dozens of magazines? Maybe that's as fun as crafting a mix in iTunes, but songs have longer staying power than most magazine articles.

"We see things a little differently," said the executive I spoke with. "We believe that consumers will sign up for your magazine, but there's no way to know what device they'll be on the day you publish your issue. That's the publisher's problem—not the consumers problem."

Rather, he said, publishers should be thinking about seamless access regardless of device. "It's an important difference between solutions that require active 'management' and solutions that find the consumer," he said.

I'm all for reaching the customer when and where they are, but is it possible to over-saturate a market with access points, especially ones that require effort to manage?
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'Customer First,' Not 'Web First'

Matt Kinsman — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:02:50 -0400

I've been reading a lot lately about media companies going "Web first." I suppose it signals a recognition of the real-time value of Internet information, plus the invaluable online network of linkable relevant information, both inbound and outbound, plus the multidirectional conversations and communities the Web enables, plus the measurability of online marketing initiatives.
I suppose it means that staff needs to be redeployed to serve online initiatives and businesses, and not be solely focused on print.

I suppose that being "Web first" these days is better than being "print first."

But in a larger sense, what does "Web first" really mean? Does it mean we're bound to evolve into online-only companies? Does it really mean that our print magazines are secondary? We're ready, then, to walk away from the impact and power of the printed page, to consign it to a siding, a dead end, a vestigial appendage?

I don't think so.

And too, I wonder if all this "Web first" talk is just nonsense. When print makes up 50 percent to 75 percent of a typical magazine company's revenue, can it possibly be "Web first in a fundamental way?

The answer is no. No CEO is going to walk away from that kind of revenue in the interest of being Web first.

So what's really meant when companies say they've gone "Web first?" I think they're trying to say they've gone "customer first." I think they mean that the Internet has attributes that are so compelling and powerful that you'd be crazy not to make them the strategic core of your business.

I think they want print to play a role that online-only companies only wish they could do too: To deliver impact, thought-leadership, stature, the final result and the critical ingredient of perspective, none of which are the Web's strongest characteristics.

I think print publishers recognize that in the marketing game, no one really thinks of himself as a lead, and that without the crucial steps early in the buying process of knowledge of a supplier, awareness of its message, trust in its solution and staying power, a lead is worthless.
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On Tweets and Rumors (Big Ones)

Vanessa Voltolina — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:52:44 -0400

Notch this one for the gossip column, but it does raise some interesting Twitter etiquette issues and highlights the confusion over just what kind of role Twitter plays in journalsm.
On Tuesday morning Peter Ha, technology editor for Time magazine, decided to ask his 1,000+ Twitter followers to confirm or deny a rumor that BusinessWeek was shutting down. The magazine has been on the block for a while now, and official bids are reportedly just being submitted. At this point, the last thing McGraw-Hill needs is a shutdown rumor on the loose.
In any case, Ha's tweet got picked up by a couple BusinessWeek employees—Arik Hesseldahl, BW senior tech writer (3,500 followers), Ron Casalotti, BW director of user participation, Business Exchange (1,100 followers) and Steven Weiss, McGraw-Hill's corporate communications director (28 followers), who seemingly signed up to Twitter just for the occasion. Ha promptly had his wrist tweet-slapped for fanning rumor flames. Weiss went as far as urging Ha to "call me promptly."
Former Portfolio contributing editor and freelance writer Gary Weiss weighs in on what he thinks is some irresponsible behavior from Ha—and his post got picked up by Poynter.

It's a sensitive topic, to be sure, and one with significant repercussions either way. And sensitive particularly to those who work at the magazine, or used to, in Gary Weiss's case.

Seems to me, though, with the almost 5,000 followers between Hesseldahl and Casalotti, they might have been better off just ignoring Ha altogether.
Besides, journalists routinely use Twitter as a story-building tool. Ha may have been pursuing a story on the BusinessWeek sale, or he might have simply been curious about the tip—he's since gone dark on the topic—but what's the difference between using Twitter to confirm a rumor versus placing a few calls? Rumors still spread pretty quickly before we had Twitter. And reporters will still track them down.
Here's the exchange pieced together in one string, starting chronologically from the top.
Peter Ha (Time Inc.)
Just caught wind that BusinessWeek is shutting down. Can anyone confirm or deny?
8:10 AM Sep 22nd from TweetDeck
Ron Casalotti (BusinessWeek)
@ThePeterHa Hadn't you heard? BusinessWeek being sold, not to be interpreted as "shutting down" --please convey to all your retweeters
about 24 hours ago from Power Twitter in reply to ThePeterHa

Peter Ha
@roncasalotti I know what's going on w/ BW. I'm simply inquiring about what I heard this morning, which I hope is untrue.
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to roncasalotti
Peter Ha
I never said BizWeek is shutting down. I know they're looking for a buyer, but heard this morning that it was being shut down.
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck
Arik Hesseldahl (BusinessWeek)
@ThePeterHa Caught wind? Would you care to elaborate what you caught wind about?
9:55 AM Sep 22nd from TweetDeck
Peter Ha
@ahess247 I heard that it was being shut down!
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to ahess247
Arik Hesseldahl
@ThePeterHa then why don't you elaborate on what you heard this morning?
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck
Peter Ha
@ahess247 I heard it was being shut down and immediately ran back to my computer to see if something had happened.
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck
Arik Hesseldahl
@ThePeterHa from whom? in what context? someone in a position to know something or the guy who shined your shoes?
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck
Peter Ha
@ahess247 bc my shoe shine guy would be a reliable source.
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to ahess247

Arik Hesseldahl
@ThePeterHa And tweeted it to 1,028 people, some of whom promptly re-tweeted it. Thanks for that.

Peter Ha
@ahess247 It would be one thing if I stated that BW was shutting down, which I didn't. I was merely looking for a point of clarification.
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to ahess247

Arik Hesseldahl
@ThePeterHa We'll soon see how good was the source of that breaking wind that you caught.
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck
Peter Ha
@ahess247 Is it because you're a Duck and I'm a Beaver?
about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to ahess247
Steven Weiss (Corp Comm. McGraw-Hill)
@ThePeterHa Want to discuss your irresponsible posts about BusinessWeek but you are not in Time directory - please give me ur contact info
about 22 hours ago from web

Peter Ha
@SHWeiss01 and you are?
about 21 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to SHWeiss01
Steven Weiss
@ThePeterHa I run communications for McGraw-Hill which owns BusinessWeek.
about 21 hours ago from web
Steven Weiss
@ThePeterHa You now know my name and employer. If you are a responsible journalist intent on factual reporting you will call me promptly.
about 21 hours ago from web

Peter Ha
For the record: BizWeek is not shutting down. I never said it was shutting down. It was something I overheard this morning.
about 21 hours ago from TweetDeck
Peter Ha
And that's all I'm going to say about it
about 21 hours ago from TweetDeck
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What DAM Statistics Can Tell You

Jason Fell — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:19:58 -0400

We probably have baseball and The Sporting News to thank for the proliferation of statistics in all sports. Yet, Mark Twain once said there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Of course, he was speaking about to the persuasive power of numbers and about how people will either promote or ignore statistics based entirely on whether or not they support a position. This “truth” is the reason many baseball arguments have never been settled.

Statistics are not going away. An entire industry of sports fantasy leagues is now flourishing because somebody found a way to get people to compete using statistics. It is human nature. You compare your stats to everyone else’s to find out where you stand.

Marketers and creative folks are no different. They want to know how they compare to others, including their use of digital asset management (DAM). We are well down the path of being able to begin providing this kind of information and have it be meaningful.

As a SaaS provider, we are in the unique position of having access to an aggregation of all of our customer’s data. We know we have more than 50,000 users from 120 different countries. We see the amount of downloads taking place for digital content. We see what content is being used and repurposed. We see how much data is being consumed. We are literally sitting on a goldmine of data. It should be no surprise that marketing or brand managers would be interested in knowing what that data says. It behooves us to be constantly looking at it and to create ways to show our clients what they and others are doing while maintaining customer privacy within our strict security.

Important Ratios

The majority of organizations invest in digital asset management solutions to improve interaction with their branded materials to maximize the investments made in the creation of images, videos, audio, creative files and other marketing materials. While each customer will use DAM and judge its overall effectiveness differently, enough common threads exist which can be standardized and measured in ratios, similar to financial statements.

We picked the following four ratios that we feel are most important to digital asset management.
Digital Asset Activity Ratio: A comparison between the quantity of files that have been ordered and the amount of files stored in the application. This ratio provides insight into the relationship between download activity and all the digital assets stored in the application. For example, a low number for this ratio could mean that a marketing department may need to look at assets with high activity, compared to low activity. For instance, lifestyle images may have higher activity than static product shots. If so, marketing can shift their spending on creating assets.

Repurposing Ratio: A comparison between the active digital assets and the quantity of files ordered. This provides insight into the amount of content repurposing that is taking place over a period of time. Repurposing continues to be a key component of digital asset management value.

A high number indicates that the same digital assets are being ordered by various users over a specific time period. A low number may point to a small set of users rarely ordering the same files over a given time period. Either way, this ratio speaks to activity that may call for an adjustment on spending priorities. A change in the number over time also gives you instant feedback whether adjustments you make are working.

User Activity Ratio: A comparison between the total number of logins and the quantity of users that have logged in provides information about visitation frequency. This metric also provides insight into how frequently users visit to browse or check back on new branded materials.
These ratios provide confirmation of whether DAM is working in the specific areas of relieving a resources drain by internal staff and increasing brand reach. If the number is low, action should be taken to promote the system’s use internally. It may involve a decision to include more training, focus on other types of digital assets, or change the way a client’s users are interacting with the system.

Digital Asset Consumption Ratio: Comparing the quantity of files ordered to the users that logged into the system provides information on the amount of data being consumed by each user over a specific time period.

This ratio speaks to the original reason for DAM implementation. As mentioned earlier, the reasons vary from company to company. If a company wants to use DAM as a mass distribution tool, they will want to watch this ratio to make sure it is being used properly. If the numbers are low, the DAM application is being treated more as an archive than a “heavy use” application and could be addressed with more internal promotion of DAM.
Interpreting the Data

Additional interpretations of all of these DAM ratios will continue to be developed. But right now, the numbers can be compared (versus the average and medians) against historical activity within the same system or against historical activity across the entire customer base of the SaaS provider or even against the use of DAM by the provider itself. A SaaS provider should easily be able to supply its natural expertise on how to read and what to do with these ratios. For example, a user may be interacting with the system five times a month and in that month, he or she downloaded approximately ten files and of those ten files, half are being repurposed a hundred times. There is significant value in knowing this and what it means.

Regularly sharing and discussing information like this, in and of itself, should be a SaaS best practice. The ability to do so is a wonderful example of the most important “S” in SaaS – the service “S”. It is a major distinction between SaaS and installed DAM software. Installed providers don’t have the same kind of control over as much data because systems are deployed at individual sites. An installed provider doesn’t automatically set things up to retrieve all of this data from their deployment sites and pull it back in so it can be analyzed. Why? Because doing so can be a pretty significant and costly project.

It is a lot of rigmarole that, in many cases gets skipped. Not so with SaaS.
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Men’s Health Guides Readers to the Next Tasty Pint

Jason Fell — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:15:04 -0400

A thirsty beer lover + a GPS bar locator = a wonderful idea.

Rodale’s Men’s Health has taken its regular “Jimmy the Bartender” column in the magazine and created an application for it for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The application uses GPS technology to guide imbibing users to the next watering hole, all in proximity to the user’s location.

Additionally, the application features hundreds of “Ask Jimmy” Q+As, drink recipes and allows users to submit their own reviews and photos to the application database. It even offers advice on tipping and on flagging down the bartender.

"We're not just turning over the keys to a developer, or re-purposing content from the publication—we’re creating exciting new ways for the user to interact with our brand,” Rodale senior vice president and Men's Health editor-in-chief David Zinczenko said in a statement. “Simply put, this is one of the most sophisticated applications to be developed by a magazine brand to date.”

Sophisticated? Maybe. But what really matters is that users not drop their iPhones in their umpteenth pint while trying to locate the next tap on the crawl.
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The Reverse Transition from Digital to Print

Jason Fell — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:47:03 -0400

[EDITOR’S NOTE: You can read the complete version of this post on Blanks’s blog here.]

While many bemoan the changes that are occurring as our culture moves from print to digital media creation and consumption, I wanted to consider the value of digital media if we were experiencing the opposite transition:

“What if we were moving from a digital media world to a print media world?”

What if digital media was invented first, back in the 1400’s , and then in the 1990’s, print burst onto the scene? What if thousands of startups began developing print-centric business models, and businesses started converting their processes from digital to print? What if teenagers stopped texting, and started passing notes in class? What if letter writing took hold, replacing email? What if blogs found their business models in shreds as print advertising grabbed all the dollars?

In our bizarro scenario, perhaps these are the reasons that people rejected the web, finding more value in print:
■ An Appreciation for Slowness
Fewer information channels—less overwhelming.

■ A Personal Connection With Media
New rituals being created—picking up a newspaper with your coffee in the morning, holding a book as you cozy up in bed at night, appreciating the hand written notes from an old friend.

■ Well-Filtered
Appreciating media that makes choices as to what is worth reading. Instead of a nation of freelancers all vying for attention to their Web sites and blogs, professionals band together to create magazines and newspapers—groups of the most talented people, coordinating to produce only the very best content.

■ Beautiful Packages
Designers rejoice at the beauty of print media and the ability to create beautiful products that will sit in the center of people’s homes and desks. And of course, people quickly understand that a well designed and edited magazine is a joy to read—something to look forward to in the mailbox each week.

■ Businesses Find Value in Paper Records
Tired of the data farms of information that are expensive to maintain in massive computer systems, businesses begin transitional digital files to paper—storing them in cabinets that are within an arms reach of employees. They feel more secure that proprietary data cannot be stolen by hackers or exposed by a mistake from an employee. The need to memorize dozens of passwords is now a thing of the past - you either have the key to the file cabinet or you don’t.

■ Privacy Advocates Rejoice
Tired of story after story of confidential information leaking to the Web, privacy advocates embrace print as a means to better protect and control information. The benefits to businesses, government and individuals means less scandal, and less fear of hitting the wrong keystroke on the computer.

■ Communities Become More Local
Quickly, each town sets up their very own newspaper—reporting only on news relevant to their region, and serving business needs of local owners. A sense of identity and shared purpose abounds, at mere pennies a day. The local classifieds become the source for anything you need in town, connecting you directly with neighbors. Local communities no longer need to compete on a global stage with larger brand that are managed by those who don’t understand the values, needs and customs of their specific town. The world is no longer flat.

■ Environmentalists Cheer the Move from Silcon Chips to Recyclable Paper
Tired of gadgets and technology that are obsolete every few years, environmentalists cheer the use of paper as a renewable resource that can also be recycled.

■ The Rise of Print Gurus
Like any big transition, executives and print media gurus are created nearly by the minute. New theories and books are published that explore the changes and how they will shape our culture. It becomes an industry in and of itself, creating thousands of new jobs.

■ More Meaningful Targeting
Google is too big of a pool to swim in for niche markets who want to be close and feel the personal connections that can’t be intruded upon by other industries. Finally, the local shoe store can afford to advertise to their target audience without being edged out by Zappos in Google Adwords.

■ Tighter Circles of Friends
Instead of huge online social networks with hundreds or thousands of connections, people choose to have fewer "friends," focusing only on in-person connections. They are tired of the obtrusiveness of the Web and the voyeurism it encourages. Weak ties are shunned for deep connections.

■ Communities Create Libraries
Tired of being left to their own devices to find and understand information, students flee from Google, and instead flock to new institutions called libraries. Here, they are given one-on-one help by an information expert, and are less overwhelmed by a tidal wave of information, instead given topic specific books.
But we should also consider what our society would lose in such a transition from digital to print. Journalism. Distribution. Creativity. The end of a business model. (Just to name a few.)

Click here to read the rest of Blank's post.
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‘Informing Reader Skepticism’ One Tweet at a Time

Jason Fell — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:54:37 -0400

As if we needed a reminder about how bad the economy is right now.

To mark the 12-month anniversary later this year of the start of the economic recession, SmartMoney magazine has launched a social media project called Countdown to the Crash. The magazine is tweeting daily stories from the previous year, chronicling what life was like, day-by-day, before and during the brutal economic decline.

The tweets began this month and will continue through December.

Sure, Countdown to the Crash is an interesting use of social media, but as the economy continues to struggle, and unemployment claims continue to soar over this time last year, how many people want to read about the fall of Lehman Brothers or the AIG bailout—AGAIN. (As of this afternoon, its Twitter feed had 65 followers.)

According to SmartMoney Web editor Tom Weber, however, there are several reasons it is helpful to readers. One, he said, is the sense of perspective it gives about current conditions.

“One of the reactions I’ve heard repeatedly from people reading the tweets,” Weber said, “is how they remember that things seemed bad this time last year, but when they see the hard facts, such as the jobless rate at under 6 percent a year ago, they have a better understanding of just how much the economy unraveled since then.”

Weber said Countdown to the Crash also offers a reminder of “how much people were in denial.”

“General Motors standing behind [former chairman and CEO Rick] Wagoner in August 2008? The market shooting up 3 percent because of low oil prices? With hindsight you ask yourself, What were people thinking?” he said. “And I think that’s actually a great question for readers to ponder. It will help inform their future skepticism.”

If you still have some dollars to invest then maybe you should check it out.
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Are We In A Social Media Advertising Bubble?

Matt Kinsman — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:56:55 -0400

A recent issue of Media Life laid out a compelling case making the current enthusiasm for social media sound a lot like the "irrational exuberance" leading up to the dot com bubble crash of 2001.

Consider:

"The fact is, it's a good bet these social networking sites will never figure out
a workable business model because there may not be one. On the
internet, it's accepted faith that if you build traffic, revenue will
follow, typically from advertising.

But it simply may not apply to social networking sites such as MySpace, Twitter and Facebook.

That's for a reason that makes perfect sense on the face of it. Social networking
sites are about people communicating with one another and sharing
information. It's not a format that's suited for ad messages. In that
environment, advertising becomes social interference, in some ways akin
to eavesdropping, and it has the potential to backfire.

Why should we know this already? Because of the telephone.

Telephones have been around for more than 100 years, and yet despite numerous
attempts, Americans have resisted attempts to put advertising on
phones, even when the phone service was offered for free. Note too the
rising public protest over telephone marketing, which eventually led to
the federal do-not-call program several years ago.

One might argue that over time internet users will give in and accept advertising
on their social networking sites. One might also reason that over time
hell will indeed freeze over and Canada will indeed run dry. But it is
the sort of bet anyone in their right mind would place billions on? No.

There are several lessons to be drawn from this.

One is that where big money in involved--call it greed--our inability to remember lessons of the past can be mind-numbing.

Another is that after all these years, we still don't fully appreciate how
different and unique a medium the internet really is. We assume that
because advertising works in some environments, it works in all. And it
doesn't."

Agree or not, economic bubbles happen. One will happen again.
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SI Swimsuit iPhone App Tops Lifestyle Category

Jason Fell — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:38:53 -0400

Time Inc., which publishes Sports Illustrated, home of the famed Swimsuit Issue juggernaut, announced today that one day after launch its "SI Swimsuit 2009" iPhone app is the number-one paid lifestyle application in Apple's App Store.

The app, developed by Acton, Massachusetts-based Azuki Systems, retails at $2.99 and is the first one by Sports Illustrated. It offers photos and video of 20 models, as well as a calendar feature that allows users to apply photos for each month and track schedules and scores for six sports teams.

Funnily enough, the top three apps in the paid Lifestyle category, for now at least, are SI's Swimsuit app, Ajnag's "Cannibis" app (which helps you locate medicinal marijuana collectives), and Digital Outcrop's "Mixologist - 7900 Drink & Cocktail Recipes." I guess this says a lot about who's currently cruising the Lifestyle category for iPhone entertainment.

But the Swimsuit app has enjoyed a swift ascent to the top rung—a Time Inc. spokesperson said the app shot to number six within hours, then went to number two, then hit number one by its first full day in the app store.
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Publishers Need to ‘Slice, Dice’ Online Content for Easy Consumption

Jason Fell — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:00:43 -0400

Let’s look at the recent evolution of television to see how the Internet has changed the shape of that business, as well as magazine publishing.

For decades, there were three major TV networks that tried to be all things to all people. A few new networks appeared in the ‘80s. FOX, for instance, focused on terrestrial broadcasting while most—including CNN and MTV— were part of the cable TV revolution. In the ‘90s, as cable became more available and increased the number of available channels, many more appeared and were focused on specific topics.

The emergence of the Internet—the ultimate low-cost distribution mechanism—accelerated the pace of new channel creation. New networks sprang up almost overnight. Going direct to the consumer became a concrete possibility for content producers. As consumers, we reap the benefit on a daily basis: endless choice and lower prices.

But there is a darker side to this equation. Traditional media companies—broadcasters and print publishers—have to adapt to this new environment. As we know, many print publishers are finding it particularly challenging.

Simply moving online may or may not ensure survival, let alone profitability. The key is to re-invent the business such that the advantages once enjoyed become advantages that can once again be exploited. Every large publisher or broadcaster has two key advantages: quality and breadth. Bringing these to bear against many small competitors can be hard. The cost of creating new channels—cable, terrestrial or online—remains relatively high for most large organizations.

Building a Network of Content

In the early use of the Internet, individual publications and TV networks took baby steps, creating Web sites that complemented or supplemented their traditional model. Each was built separately, probably using different technologies. How does a broadcaster with 500 shows end up with 50 Web sites? It’s simple: the most popular programs build their own Web sites.

Beyond the basic "onlining" of existing channels comes the creation of wholly new ones. How will a traditional publisher, with limited ability to create new channels at low cost, bring its breadth and quality to bear on a major celebrity crisis? How will traditional publishers compete with fully personalized models—like iGoogle and MyYahoo!—where each customer effectively creates their own “channel”?

The answer is that many of them won't. Smaller, more agile players will provide the content, or the lens through which to view it, and profit handsomely.

Traditional publishers need to set themselves up so that all of their content can be sliced, diced and delivered in any way imaginable—with minimal effort and at low cost. They need to build what we call an Agile Content Network (ACN) that enables publishers to bring their quality and breadth of content to bear through this implementation. An ACN includes content management system that’s integrated with a logical index of all content as well as certain back-end capabilities (such as ad-serving, authentication, personalization, recommendations, and threaded discussions).

The competition is not going away; it is only going to get worse. Publishers that implement ACNs will adapt and survive ... and survival is indeed the question.
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