Magazines Grapple With Newer Media

Can magazines hold onto their identities as they feverishly try to adapt to the surge of the likes of iPhones, iPads, smartphones and tablets?

And can they keep marketing themselves through the seemingly old-fashioned direct mail?

That was part of the message that came out of the Direct Marketing Association’s Circulation Day conference at the Time Life Building in New York City Thurs. March 8.

One thing seems for sure: magazines want to keep their brands intact, regardless of how they deliver their content.

For some publications this may be fairly easy.

Take the Nation magazine, which has what circulation fulfillment manager Katelyn Belyus described as a “rabid” subscriber base.  Even so, she realized the magazine has to reach out to them in different ways.

So the venerable publication came up with its 50 ways to read the nation campaign www.theNation.com/50ways . This let them know they can get the magazine through the web, online, iPhone and Android apps and even through e-readers and tablets.

“Branding is hugely instrumental because we have a radical readership and our branding goes hand-in-hand with our editorial efforts,” she said.

But even publications with a completely different type of message feel they gotta build up their brands to survive.

“We raised the level of its importance- it is absolutely critical,” said Greg Deily, vice president of marketing at Annie's, formerly DRG Publishing. “We don’t make investments that are purely branding but branding is part of every direct marketing campaign. We consider the impact of how this will advance the awareness and the perception of our brand. It’s incorporated in everything else.”

For marketing themselves, direct mail still predominates but even that’s changing as more publications are working on ways to make digital subscriptions work better.

“While the emergence of digital platforms and their rapid adoption in the past year certainly impacting the [marketing tools] available to circulation marketers direct mail remains a critical channel,” said direct marketing consultant Paul Masse on a panel devoted to “Honing The Subscription Offer in a Digital Media World.”

Panelists from American Express Publishing, Bonnier Corp. and Time Inc. shared experiences surrounding lower price offers, bundling and whether to charge for digital editions.

While most of their experiences were different, one commonality seemed to be a move away from soft offers and sweepstakes.