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IMM07: So what was the Case Study this year?

I have heard a lot about the death of print these last twelve months. Also been working with various media brands to help them in their transition into digital spaces (structurally and emotionally).

I have also seen media brands struggle, like many other companies, in dealing with their customers wanting to get involved more.

I therefore chose to create a Case Study with a troubled print brand at the heart of it. The Phoenix, was a weekly magazine that aimed to provide an intelligent read that was accessible, whilst covering politics, economics, business and cultural trends. After some disastrous moves over the last ten years, circulation had plummeted. Added to that, a failed move online has hit the confidence of the magazine. A fresh start was planned for end of 2007. The challenge for the groups was to develop a 3 year communications strategy, an approach to the re-launch, and work out whether and how digital should play a role in the future fortunes of this magazine.

So a print title that cries out for a digital component? A print title that has asked for a digital strategy? How can the groups NOT focus on this element? Well, that is what many of the groups did. We heard many thoughtful ideas around the digital component, some more compelling than others. However, what did feel left out of the communications plan equation was the magazine itself. Few groups in their response to the brief, actually gave life to the magazine itself.

Why did I write the brief with such a slant towards digital? Because often clients write briefs asking for guidance in areas they don't feel comfortable with, areas that they feel they should be involved with but don't know really whether it makes sense for their business or not. Sometimes we have to read between the lines.

We have a tendency to jump on the latest fad without fully contemplating what the business/marketing/communications challenge really warrants as a solution.

Whatever the question is, the answer is a podcast

or so it seems these days. (Last year replace 'podcast' with 'branded content'!).

For the magazine The Phoenix, I created a front cover. Hope you like it.

Print is Dead...Long Live Print...

Here is the August winner of the National Newspaper Awards in the UK. Winning Agency is Weiden & Kennedy for their ad for Yakult. nothing more to say really except enjoy...

Nice bit of Creative Media...?

Saw this today from those lovely people at Oxfam. These little Post-It style notes will be stuck to the front cover of Observer Monthly encouraging people to sign up to the Oxfam "I'm in" campaign.

Seems a good little idea to get the attention first time round, but not so sure about the longevity to such an idea for Oxfam or The Observer. Readers will tire of this very quickly. As a one off though, hopefully it does the trick for the Oxfam campaign.

Off to the Media & Marketing Awards tonight

Helped on the judging again this year.
Will be interesting to see which campaign wins the top award this year.

Will it be one that is packed full of ROI success measures?

Will it be one with the Branded Content Idea?

Will be one that demonstrates brilliance in understanding how communities filter out or allow brands in to their world?

Or will it be one with a bit of telly, a smattering of print and a 'funky' outdoor poster?

We shall see...

I will also be looking out for how the media brands will be marketing themselves at the event. I presume EPSN will be bringing the red balloons...

From the ashes...Print Phoenix rises again...

Hot on the heels of MySpace contemplating a paper magazine, we now have ASOS.com the online retailer moving into the printed word. According to the CEO, they see print as a medium to

reinforce our celebrity fashion credentials, attract new customers and increase loyalty and sales

Now there is a quote that will be appearing in future print owner sales pitches...

Have digital papers a future?

The International Herald Tribune did a great piece recently on the status of technology that allows constantly updated stories to scroll across plastic screens thin and pliable enough to be rolled up and stuffed into a pocket.

Amongst other tests under way is one in Belgium with a Financial Paper.

Says the IHT: "For publishers confronting declining newspaper circulation in most parts of the world, the devices offer the tantalizing promise of reaching more readers, sparing some forests and saving on printing and distribution costs. But after some highly publicized e-book machines failed to take off in the late 1990s, those long-held hopes have remained elusive. The difference this time, developers and supporters say, is that the screens on the new hardware are designed to reflect rather than transmit light, making them more like paper, readable in sunlight or a dark subway train." The article also reflects on the potential for advertisers to construct a daypart strategy with such devices.

This is all well and good, but what will we use to swat flies and make papier maché heads?

Helsinki Conference part 2 : Lord Heseltine speaks...

Also on the bill at the Helsinki conference was Lord Heseltine. Speaking on key global trends in the magazine industry, here is a quick summary of his main points:

1 Embrace change in the industry. By ignoring the new realities, companies will miss out.
2 There is no such thing as strategy
3 When pressed for a global strategy, his view was to make it happen in one market, then replicate and roll out.
4 Content is critical to success in the magazine industry. He no longer sees Haymarket as a magazine publisher, but as a content creator and provider
5 Get the right people. They make the success, not strategies
6 Crunch time for any publisher will be when the web-based extension has to be set free to compete, leaving behind difficult decisions to close paper versions (see Smash Hits in the U.K.)

The Value of Magazines in the Digital Age - Helsinki Conference part 1

The Value of Magazines in the digital age – Conference In Helsinki part 1

Recently spoke at a conference on the evolving value of magazines in Helsinki, as a guest of the Finnish …….
Wonderful hosts and a stunning venue, the Finlandia Hall designed by Alvar Aalto.

Also speaking there was a great photographer based in Sweden, Pelle Bergstrom. Intertwined with a history of his still life work for many well known brands, Pelle dropped in some great nuggets of insight.

First up on the Top Tips from Pelle list would be ‘Trust your small ideas’. Given an unplanned situation to deal with by a client, his little bit of improvisation created a whole new look in photography seen first in the pages of Wallpaper.

Next up from him: “Time has a relevance to the result”. Often when clients wish to minimize time for cost reasons, the resulting photographs can miss something that would otherwise be achieved with a little more time and planning.

Lastly, in what he sees as the role of the still life photographer, he says: “We know what things look like…sometimes it is great to show things in a new light with a new perspective”.

Such a role has value in how we all approach marketing communications. Seek a fresh perspective on how we are structured within our own organisations; refresh how we work with agencies, clients and media owners; rethink how we connect with consumers...

The Print Medium... an endangered species?

Circulation pressure across the globe for many titles; media moguls shifting investments into digital platforms; Advertising Age U.S. headlining with 'Print Publishing decline quickens as digital media soars'.

All very gloomy for those in the print medium?

Maybe, but maybe not. So much opportunity exists. Contract publishing for brands has only scratched the surface; user generated content online is now appearing in paper format, as the brilliant eggbaconchipsandbeans by Russell Davies testifies. What started out as a blog to indulge Russell's passion for the old Cafes serving fry-ups, has now expanded into paper book format (which is sold in book stores on and off-line). Community based content has also yet to be fully explored in print. The underground rise in interest in arts and crafts may yet turn up in paper format. This and so much more.

So as a Homage to print, here is my favourite title of the month: Straight No Chaser. Consistently great design, stunning content, and gives me insights that I would not otherwise get.

Please share your favourites and I will post them for all to enjoy...

Online Publishers learning from Online Retailers

Interesting article on comparing the differing approaches of the online retailers and the online publishers.
Mike May notes that the Retailers know “that their primary objective is to help customers find what they are looking for, purchase it, and then leave”, whilst the Publishers focus on delivering more opportunities to catch eyeballs. On the face of it such actions from publishers justifies increased advertising, but it ultimately ‘interrupts’ the consumer connection rather than enhances and engages. for more on the engagement vs interruption debate have a look at Alan Moore's stuff. at smlxl