Publishers are sure to glean value from a new magazine innovations report from Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP) and UK-based Innovation Media Consulting Group. The Innovations in Magazines 2010 World Report (PDF), published for FIPP, contains over 31 trends from companies around the globe.
The report was released during the opening day of the Digital Innovators' Summit in Berlin—produced by the Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP), Germany's (Verband Deutscher Zeitschriftenverleger (VDZ), and emediasf. The event focused on driving digital profits. So, in honor of this theme, we wanted to present three of the best digital ideas presented in the book
1. In case you haven't noticed, we are on the verge of a tablet explosion. Be prepared, but don't just repurpose your magazine content on these highly personal devices. Tablets are a new medium and “we can't put old wine in new bottles,” said survey results co-editor Juan Señor, UK director of Innovation Media Consulting Group. “The iPad is a game changer,” he said, so have different content for different platforms.
Señor also advised online publishers to look at the hard lessons the music industry learned in losing inventory control to Apple. In an earlier session, Guardian Media Group CEO Carolyn McCall stated that her company's publications were not available on Kindle devices precisely because Amazon will not share user metrics with content providers. Work together and be proactive in leveraging the tablet opportunity so that your content works for both you and your potential mobile platform partners.
2. Condé Nast's Esquire is already dabbling in augmented reality, and if consumer obsession with personalized content on their mobile devices is any indication, this new technology is going to be big. Augmented reality begins with what is essentially a modified 2D tag that users can hold up to their PCs or iPhones to view an interactive experience with content.
Esquire's December 2009 issue featured an augmented reality capability that allows users to view and control a digital version of cover boy Robert Downey Jr. in a variety of situations by rotating the tagged issue in front of a web cam. It may seem gimmicky, but according to Innovation Media Consulting Group senior consultant and survey results co-editor John Wilpers, augmented reality has a “powerful potential to show advertising.” While the technology is cutting-edge and not cheap, like all things digital, it is likely to become mainstream soon enough.
3. There's stiff competition for market share in publishing, and vertical branding is helping Hungarian magazine Story stand out. The pub offers love horoscopes that evolve throughout the day via SMS or online, giving Story's targeted audience (women 18-49) a reason to interact with the magazine's content several times per day. The campaign has helped boost StoryOnline to the number two women's website in Hungary. Consider what content is most timely and useful to your audience—it may be time to eek it out in daily texts or online posts.
By the way, according to Señor and Wilpers, mobile platforms are expected to make $10 billion in 2010, but only 45 percent of B2B and 42 percent of B2C magazines have specific mobile services such as apps and app ads. Do you?
For more information on this report, please visit the FIPP Website.
