Leveraging Loyalty to Transform Publishing
CMO Council and InfoPrint | October 05, 2010

THE CHALLENGES FACED BY TODAY’S MAGAZINE INDUSTRY, AND HOW PERSONALIZATION AND RELEVANCE COULD SAVE THE DAY

The publishing world is a mixed bag of news and headlines. In 2009, multi ple reports estimated the closure of up to 95 magazine ti tles. Most notable two consumer mainstays, Conde Nast’s Gourmet, a foodie favorite and the bridal bible, Modern Bride, which alone saw a 33% drop in ad revenues. In the first quarter of 2010, the signs point to yet another rough year. Already, 22 magazines have been shutt ered. And now, Reed Business Information, a major business publisher, has announced it has sold off 21 titles and will be closing another 22 magazines. According to the latest Publishers Information Bureau report, total magazine ratecard-reported ad revenue for Q1 2010 is down by another 3.9%. And according to the CMOCouncil’s own 2010 State of Marketing Report, the marketing outlook for print advertising is grim, as marketers indicate they will continue to cut the print budget in order to invest in digital marketing channels like social media, search and online advertising.

But, there are always two sides to every story. In the eyes of consumers, magazines are booming and people are reading! In fact, magazines are the number one ranked impulse item in the grocery store. Consumers can choose to indulge in short escapes into any subject matter imaginable from
accounting to yoga to exotic travel. If you look at the top 10 publications in Media Week’s Hotlist 2009, circulation is up an average 5.9%. According to Mediamark Research & Insights (MRI), in the time it took Facebook to become ubiquitous, magazines have gained one million new young readers.

Other MRI audience statisti cs indicate that:

  • Magazine readership has risen 4.3% over the past five years
  • During the 12-year life of Google, magazine readership increased 11%

If it is all doom and gloom in the magazine world, why do consumers reach for their favorite titles more often? Why in this economy, are consumers spending an average of $28.01 per subscription and up to $4.70 per individual copy? Has the press around e-readers and online publications drowned out the real call to action being issued by consumers? Or have publishers miss another real opportunity to engage with their consumers? So far, the voice of the publisher and the voice of the marketer have been well chronicled, but what about the voice of the customer, the loyal subscriber?

To get a clear picture of what opportunities might exist for publication transformati on, the CMO Council asked consumers what they wanted from their magazine experience, and what they would be willing to experience from magazine advertisers. The audit revealed that consumers do not want
to give up their cherished print publications, and further their experiences within these preferred pages has shaped and molded their buying decisions. In fact, an astonishing 58 percent of the survey group has been loyal to their magazines for more than five years.

In a world where the internet threatens to change the face of loyalty – offering new and exciting real-time connections – magazines seem to be one constant that consumers are not ready to relinquish. According to our survey:

  • 92 percent plan to stick to print when it comes to their magazine consumption, and when given the choice of print, e-reader or online, 90 percent still opt in for their traditional print delivery.
  • Only 24 percent intend to eventually switch over to some form of e-reader device while 67 percent want to hold their magazines, even though they acknowledge that the e-reader has its place.

The real message consumers want to send to publishers is keep the content relevant, be it editorial, advertorial, or advertising. But, well placed, content rich and even personalized advertising will lead to new opportunities (and even renewed opportunities) for profitable customer engagements.

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