Event: Indian Magazine Congress, 2007

The Indian Magazine Congress 2007 was held in Mumbai on October 8-9.

Here are some highlights:

Postal delivery: Industry veteran and publisher of Delhi Press Paresh Nath pointed out that the postal distribution system for magazines was pathetic, with some 30-40 per cent of magazines getting stolen midway.

Distribution System: Magazines were still following a distribution method that was probably right for newspapers, and this was a major concern for the industry. M.Rajagopalan Nair of ‘Malaya Manorama’ raised the problem of the dependence of magazines on newspapers vendors for distribution and the vendors’ reluctance to pick up magazines. This led to a situation where the consumer had to pick up his own copy, which he did at his own convenience.

Cover Prices: R Rajmohan, president and publisher, Images Multimedia says that rising cover prices have been an most important change as people were willing to pay for quality content.

Imbalance in ad revenue: 20 per cent of the total magazine readership lands up with 60 per cent of the total magazine ad revenue.

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Trend: Asia Pacific media spend on magazines increases

Asia Pacific magazines pulled 26 per cent more ad dollars in 2006
Nielsen Asia Pacific Media & Marketing Trends 2007 reviews three years of media ad spend trends and consumption insights across 12 markets, and consumer and marketing insights and statistical information across 16 markets. The markets included are Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, New Zealand, Taiwan and South Korea.
In terms of Asia Pacific figures overall, main media ad spend, which includes terrestrial TV, newspapers and magazines, across the 12 Asia Pacific markets increased by 15 per cent from US$68.3 billion in 2005 to US$78.7 billion in 2006.
"The last 15 years have seen dramatic changes across the Asia Pacific region, driven by significant economic and demographic development,” said Lisa Lee, SVP of international communications for The Nielsen Company said in a statement. “The effect has been equally dramatic on the shopping habits of the region's consumers. Our combined research resources bring together the first regional and market review of changing consumer lifestyles, attitudes and purchasing behaviour, together with insights into advertising, emerging radio audience markets and consumer trends across key markets in the region."

Source: International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP)

Article: Overseas, a Rosier Picture for Magazines

An nytimes.com interview with George Green, the chief executive of Hearst Magazines International gives an interesting insight into the differences in magazine business within US and the outside world (including India).

Some useful observations:
1) The United States is the only place where the postal service gives incentives for mailing magazines. About 90 percent of magazines in the US are sold by subscription, only 10 percent on newsstands. Outside the United States, that’s reversed.
2) Subscribers overseas do not expect a huge discount from the cover price. The US magazine business is driven entirely by ad revenue , but elsewhere it is driven by circulation as well as ads.
3) You hardly ever see newsstands in the United States anymore, but overseas you see them everywhere. Since publishers don’t mail many magazines, heavier paper is used to give a higher-quality look on the newsstand.
4) The concept of a rate base doesn’t exist in other countries. So you don’t have to spend a lot of money on promoting your new magazine to lots of readers. It can take more than three years for a new magazine to break even in the United States. Overseas, you can make money with your second issue.

And here is an interesting bit about Hearst presence in India:
“We’ve been in India for 10 years and still haven’t made much money. That’s a country where advertising rates and cover prices are low for everybody. We won’t leave, though.
If you want to consider yourself a truly international publisher, India is a place you have to be.”

You can read the entire interview here

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Finally a not-so-rosy news:
Business 2.0, which I read off and on since 1998, is coming to a close with its October issue according to MediaPost.

Strategy: Magazines Still a Good Investment

When Joe Mansueto purchased Inc. and Fast Company for $32.5 million in 2005, they were two publications long-neglected by their publisher. "The previous owners (Gruner & Jahr) had disinvested in the magazines,” said Mansueto, delivering the morning keynote at the Folio: Publishing Summit in Chicago. “They had lost the trust of the advertisers.”

Despite online competition, magazines still make good investments, said Mansueto. A long-time reader of Inc. and Fast Company, Mansueto, founder of MorningStar, a publicly traded mutual fund and investment information provider, couldn’t resist putting in a bid for the publications when they were put on the market in May 2005.

Enhanced Technology
After winning the auction, Mansueto's strategy was to create an independent publishing company and to invest in technology and online. “Inc., for me, has always been a very powerful magazine,” he said. “I’m a firm believer in the power of capitalism, a free market and entrepreneurship. And Inc. is at the center of this movement.”

Better Paper and Editorial
To strengthen, the Inc. brand, Mansueto invested in better-quality paper stock and increased edit pages 20 percent. He also increased the editorial staff, hiring away Real Simple editor Jane Beretson.

Exciting Design
At Fast Company, Mansueto implemented a more “visually exciting” design featuring a prominent person on every cover. He also transformed the print-heavy brand into a multi-platformed brand focusing on online, events, as well as franchise print issues.

The efforts have paid off. Inc. is the number one business publication and newsstand sales are up 47 percent and Fast Company is the number three business publication with newsstand sales are up 37 percent. Combined Web traffic for the magazines grew 50 percent last year and is expected to grow at least 20 percent this year, Mansueto said. Unique visitors for the sites are up 159 percent.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE SOURCE: Folio: Summit Keynote: Despite Online Competition, Magazines Still a Good Investment

Publishing: 5 Steps to Publishing Nirvana

Robert Sacks, a consultant to the printing/publishing industry and president of The Precision Media Group has a word of encouragement for publishers in his article: 5 Steps to Publishing Nirvana:

"Have no fear about your chosen profession. The process of information distribution is not going to go away. Indeed, it is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. What you need to consider is the true value of your information to the general public and the process by which you distribute this knowledge.

Five easy steps to publishing nirvana:
1 Who is my target audience?
2 Where is my targeted audience?
3 What is the real value of my edit (information) to that audience?
4 What is the most efficient method to reach the maximum targeted audience?
5 How do I keep my information valuable and fresh for my targeted audience?

These may seem like simple concepts on the surface, but they are not. On the atomic level, it can all be distilled down to the simple equation of RV = RP or, for the laymen, real value equals real profit. In this era of abundant information, is your edit of any real value? If so, how valuable is it? If it is valuable, to whom is it valuable? This is where the concept of niche comes into play. ...

Read the entire article on pubexec.com

Publishing: 5 Printing Technologies to Watch

The July issue of Media Business is available for download at b2bonline.com. The latest issue carries a list of five printing solutions that promise to boost efficiency and cuts publishing costs. They are:
1.JDF: Job definition format (JDF) provides a common, dedicated language for use throughout the lifecycle of the print job and a method for automated work flows in print production. Changing to JDF will eliminate the need for publishers to send heavily marked-up proofs to printers since everything will be noted digitally.
2. Softproofing: Softproofing, or viewing pages on a computer rather than as a hard copy, is another technology that promises to help automate work flows. But while many printers and publishers already do this, there isn’t yet a fully standardized set of color numbers for the industry to follow. Softproofing is expected to eliminate problems and costs associated with hardproofing and cut down on time dealing with printers and ad agencies.
3. Co-mailing: Several printing companies have recently opened sophisticated co-mailing facilities. Quebecor is working to add polybagging to its co-mailing services, having already solved the puzzle of how to co-mail titles with advertising belly bands. RR Donnelley is focused on its co-mailing tracking and tracing capabilities, which allow publishers to see delivery confirmation by postal destination, the total number of pieces in a shipment and the date.
4. Digital Editions: Publishers Press, magazine printing specialist, is one of many printers getting into the digital-editions business. Fry Communications is cranking out 30,000 pages of electronic editions each month and has focused on getting content quickly up onto publisher Web sites with multimedia attached.
5. Personalization: As more information about readers gets digitized, personalization is becoming easier for publishers. Fry Communications recently installed a perfect binder that can selectively polybag titles with up to five outserts. It can also print a personalized message on the outside of the polybag.

Download the entire issue of Media Business or read the article here.