Two big-name magazine groups are translating their online product to bound pages. Hearst is introducing a bookazine, as it’s called on MediaWeek, based on content from Light & Delish, a food site launched with MSN in 2008. The consumer-driven, $9.99 Light & Delish publishes tomorrow (Feb. 2), with just three paid ads from Kraft, a launch sponsor. One of Hearst’s special projects editors, Susan Schulz, said to MediaWeek, “It’s a way to repackage content in a way that’s meaningful to the reader.” Meredith is also getting in on the act, publishing a magazine that was tested last year based on Mixing Bowl, an online social network built around food. MediaWeek reports Meredith recently published a second issue of Mixing Bowl and is planning a third for later this year.
New launches delish, food, launch, light, online, website
The media world has been buzzing about this for months. Now, finally, the plans for a large digital newsstand (from a consortium of magazine and newspaper publishers) are expected to be announced early next week. According to reports in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times: News Corp., Conde Nast, Meredith, Hearst, and Time Inc. are all investing in the “iTunes for print” company. The new venture doesn’t have a name yet, but, in theory, will sell content from magazines and newspapers from a single website while leaving the hardware (or reading devices) to others. The alliance would develop standards for magazine viewing on mobile phones, e-book readers, and other platforms. Time Inc. vet John Squires will be the managing director while the company looks for a CEO. Read the New York Times story here or The Guardian’s story here.
Industry buzz Conde Nast, digital, Hearst, magazine, Meredith, News Corp., online, Time Inc.
eBay just announced the launch of a digital magazine for shoppers called The Insides Source. It will feature articles, analysis and opinions from journalists and eBay community contributors, and will cover lifestyle topics from fashion and technology to pop culture and automotive issues. It will also provide a snapshot of real time eBay Marketplace activity, including most-watched merchandise and most searched terms. The content will be directed and managed by Meredith Barnett, who jumped to the new digital pub from Lifetime Digital.
New launches eBay, launch, magazine, marketplace, online
On Friday, Google announced the launch of a new marketplace for online display ads—the DoubleClick Ad Exchange. The new service will allow companies to bid for ad space from different websites in real time, establishing a stock exchange of sorts for online advertising. Google believes that by taking an auction/stock-exchange approach to display ads, publishers will earn more revenue and advertisers will buy more space because its being aggregated across more web pages. Google will take some cut of the ads brokered through the service, but yet haven’t announced how much. Keep an eye out for this service. There are other online ad exchanges out there, but with Google’s AdWords and AdSense interfaces being brought in to the mix, the stakes are higher here. A PDF of Google’s explanation of the Ad Exchange can be read here.
Industry buzz ad exchange, Adsense, advertising, Adwords, Google, online
I sighed, you sighed, we all sighed when beloved design magazine Domino closed its doors in January. The struggling pub gave us decorating inspiration with a funky, low-cost edge, and its closure at Conde Nast left a gaping hole on the coffee tables of 20-somethings across the country. Now, a couple of Ex-Domino staffers might be filling that gap – but online this time. Michelle Adams, who served as market editor at Domino, and Patrick Cline, a photographer, are launching a design pub called Lonny Magazine. With a mission to “reopen the doors of accessible design,” the pub is embracing an online platform to provide design inspiration, but keeping the layout of a regular magazine. The bimonthly title will be published on its web site, with the first issue set to launch in October.
New launches Conde Nast, design, Domino, launch, Lonny, magazine, online
Check out Tablet, a new online magazine that began publishing this week. It tags itself as “a new read on Jewish life” and reports on Jewish news, ideas, and culture.
Just one week into business, Tablet has already compiling an impressive list of editors and contributors, according to The New York Times, including editors Alana Newhouse, Jesse Oxfeld, and Victor Navasky.
It’s run by the nonprofit Nextbook Inc., the sister organization of Nextbook Press, which publishes a line of Jewish-themed books.
New launches culture, Jewish, magazine, Nextbook, online
Behind the Chair, a website for stylists and the salon trade, is bringing its online brand to print with the launch of a quarterly magazine, Behind the Chair On Paper. According to FOLIO, 75,000 copies of the 172-page first issue will be printed and distributed in July and mailed along with an educational DVD. Three more issues will come out this year.
“We’ve created a magazine that is so radically different than anything else in the market that we’re being rewarded for it,” Mary Rector-Gable, founder of Illinois-based Behindthechair.com, told FOLIO. “The content mix, feel of the design and vibe of the attitude of our magazine is not by accident—it’s based on nine years of watching how our members consume content.”
New launches launch, magazine, niche, online, print, salon, stylists, trade
Ever heard of QR codes? If you’re in publishing, you might be familiar with them very soon. It’s a new technology that’s being used in Japanese and European publications and is making its way to the U.S. How does it work? Get ready for this: a two-dimensional barcode-like image (like the one seen here) is printed on a magazine or newspaper page, and can be read by cell phone cameras, instantly linking a reader to a website through a mobile browser. It lets the publication track what’s important to readers and when, and it allows the readers to access additional (and sometimes exclusive) content. Advertisers can use it too, linking readers to buying information or special offers, and giving businesses a better way to track print response rates. Read the MediaShift blog about QR codes here.
Industry buzz barcode, linking, mobile, online, phones, print, QR codes
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 seen. After perusing all the mediums, the study’s respondents had to fill out a survey asking which ads they recalled seeing and the medium they saw them in. The results? Within half an hour, magazines effectively delivered more than twice the number of ad impressions as TV and more than 6 times those delivered online. Take a look at the other findings here.
Industry buzz advertising, magazines, online, studies, TV
A fashion blogger is taking her online posts to the next level with the launch of a digital magazine called Style Sample Magazine, scheduled to be released next Monday. It’s the first magazine specifically for and about fashion bloggers—meaning all the content is about, and contributed by, fashion bloggers and online fashion entrepreneurs. Its goal? “To recognize and promote independent fashion bloggers and reinforce the legitimacy of the medium.” Publisher and editor in chief Tamia Stinson, who writes the fashion blog The Style Sample, says, “I started to see the need for the magazine when I realized how many fashion blogs are out there and how quickly the community is growing.” Check it out.
New launches blog, bloggers, fashion, launches, magazine, online
