April 2009

Magazines Work & Readers Take Action

Since this blog was my idea, I’ll start it with a magazine ROI story that I just heard from one of our clients. Recently this client was told by higher ups that they should kill their hospital magazine because – for no other reason than  – well, isn’t print dying? The hospital research department then [...]

Give Print a Chance

I love digital. I love videos. So much that we are changing our name from The Magazine Group to TMG. We’re performing all sorts of non-traditional media services for our clients. But I am sick of hearing that magazines are dead. The hype is what’s killing magazines, not the reality—particularly when it comes to highly [...]

Will iTunes Be The New Virtual Newsstand?

Apps aside, will the iPhone become the new digital medium for magazine content? Perhaps iTunes will become a virtual newsstand for magazines, bringing the newest issues straight through to your iPhone. In a recent article in AdAge, publishers say the idea isn’t so far-fetched. “iTunes is a great marketplace for entertainment, movies, music, TV, even [...]

Launch: Politics Daily

AOL just launched an online news magazine called Politics Daily, said to offer “the latest political buzz from bloggers on both sides of the aisle.” It’s not a site for breaking news, nor is it an aggregation of stories (a la Huffington Post). Instead, Politics Daily will publish in-depth political commentary from paid, professional writers. [...]

Launch: Blurt

In an age when both the music and magazine industries are struggling, Scott Crawford has managed to do what the naysayers believe is the impossible. Last month, Crawford launched a glossy national magazine about niche music interests called Blurt. The publication evolved from blurt-online.com, which has been going strong online for almost ten months. The [...]

Magazine Launches Are Up!

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Ad pages might be down, but magazine launches are up. Take it from Mr. Magazine—Samir Husni, the University of Mississippi journalism chair who tracks all the magazine launches in the U.S. He reported that 167 new magazines appeared for the first time on the nation’s newsstands in the first quarter of 2009—14 more than Q1 [...]

Tweet, Tweet!

Is your business or association on Twitter yet? It should be. Especially if you are publishing a magazine or content-rich website. Twitter has already become one of the fastest ways to reach your customers, readers or members directly. You can post news, links to new articles, and answer questions from people who are following you. [...]

Daily Candy Launches Online Video

Uber popular and successful email newsletter Daily Candy recently started including online video to their emails. This is the first major change that Daily Candy has made to its format, which was aquired by Comcast in August for $125 million. The production quality could use an upgrade, but they already have pre-roll ads. You can [...]

Newspaper Video Uploads are Way Up

Amid all of the doom and gloom news about the newspaper industry, Brightcove, which provides a popular platform for media companies looking to put video on the web, says that on average its newspaper customers in the U.S. uploaded 638 videos a month last year, up from 186 videos a month in 2007. Brightcove says [...]

Enthusiasm is Increasing for Custom Magazines

A new poll by Roper Public Affairs shows enthusiasm has increased for custom media and magazines since 2005. According to the Custom Publishing Council, 93% of the poll’s respondents were familiar with at least one type of custom publication, and more than two-thirds of the respondents said that when companies provide information about their products [...]

Blurring the Ad-Edit Line

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It’s a tough economy. So magazines are coming up with creative ways to bring in advertising revenue. But lately these solutions seem to be blurring the line between advertising and editorial content—which might not be the best tactic. Note Parent & Child’s recent issue, which features an ad on the bottom right corner of the [...]

Launch: Weddings by The Ritz-Carlton

Ritz-Carlton hotels are launching a biannual magazine this June, called Weddings by The Ritz-Carlton. It will be distributed in guest rooms of the 70-plus Ritz-Carlton properties worldwide and to all brides- and grooms-to-be who inquire about wedding and honeymoon packages at Ritz-Carlton hotels. “Luxury weddings at The Ritz-Carlton set the standard for once-in-a-lifetime occasions, and [...]

Launch: ForbesWoman

Forbes Media struck a cord with female executives when it launched its ForbesLife Executive Woman in 2007. Now, the media company is “retooling” the women’s brand with the launch of ForbesWoman. According to FOLIO, the quarterly magazine, website and social network will reach Forbes’ 125,000 female subscribers, starting with the May issue. “It’s serving the [...]

Launch: The Hair Book

Regis Salons is launching The Hair Book, a quarterly print magazine and website devoted to hair care and styling—“because when your hair looks great, you’re ready for anything,” boasts the website. According to FOLIO, 400,000 copies of The Hair Book will be distributed at 1,100 Regis Salons. Polly Blitzer, former InStyle beauty editor and the [...]

Magazines Deliver Twice the Number of Ad Impressions

A new study was released today that claims TV and magazine ads are more effective than Internet ads. The study, from McPheters & Company, in co-operation with Conde Nast and CBS Vision, compared 30-second TV ads; full-page, 4-color magazine ads; and internet banner ads and used eye-tracking software to determine if the ads were actually [...]

People Pay More Attention to Magazine Ads

The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) just wrapped up its 55th annual Re:Think Convention and Expo in New York yesterday, where corporate leaders and marketing execs gathered to discuss media research and marketing innovation. According to Advertising Age, executives from Avon made a compelling case for not abandoning magazine advertising, especially for youth brands. Avon discussed its marketing strategy for its youth-focused Mark makeup brand [...]

Study: People Pay More Attention to Magazine Ads

The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) just wrapped up its 55th annual Re:Think Convention and Expo in New York yesterday, where corporate leaders and marketing execs gathered to discuss media research and marketing innovation. According to Advertising Age, executives from Avon made a compelling case for not abandoning magazine advertising, especially for youth brands. Avon discussed [...]

Study: Magazines Deliver Twice the Number of Ad Impressions

A new study was released today that claims TV and magazine ads are more effective than Internet ads. The study, from McPheters & Company, in co-operation with Conde Nast and CBS Vision, compared 30-second TV ads; full-page, 4-color magazine ads; and internet banner ads and used eye-tracking software to determine if the ads were actually [...]

A Magazine E-Reader?

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Everyone’s buzzing about the Silicon Valley start-up that’s supposedly developing the next big thing for the newspaper and magazine industry—a 8.5-by-11-inch Kindle-type touchscreen e-reader that will allow you to view and read newspapers and magazines from anywhere (through a wireless network). Made entirely of plastic—and appropriately named Plastic Logic—the first models aren’t expected to reach [...]