Digital Publishers Push Boundaries Of Print: Woo Young Newspaper Downloaders, Bring Rich Media To Magazines
- by Ross Fadner , October 22, 2003
Newsstand, which produces exact online replicas of print versions of magazines, newspapers and newsletters, announced plans to launch its first consumer subscription acquisition campaign, aimed mainly at the so-called Millenials set, young adults (18-24) who are known to be heavy downloaders of digital media.
"Millenials have demonstrated themselves to be 'the real digital vanguard generation,'" says Michele Chaboudy, chief marketing officer of Newsstand. "They are the first to grow-up surrounded by the Web and all its forms of digital media and appliances. Their media usage habits are still in the formative stages and the Internet is their first media preference as evidenced by how they converse with friends through instant messaging and use their computers for everything from storing music to studying."
Chaboudy stresses that while the campaign in no way marginalizes older demographic users, it is targeted at younger folks and net-savvy consumers because there is a real need among newspaper publishers to appeal to younger consumers. In fact, one of the primary readership initiatives of the Newspaper Association of America and its Readership Institute has been to come up with ways to make newspapers more accessible and appealing to younger readers.
The online campaign also is the first foray into creative development by consulting firm Madison Avenue Consultants (MadAveCon), which serves as the ad agency for the Newsstand effort. It will feature banner ads, pop ups, pop unders, leaderboards, and text links.
Tim McHale, president of MadAveCon and part of its creative team, downplays the generational element of the campaign, maintaining the overall target is anyone who uses the Internet as their media hub. "The biggest problem for any technical application is the downloading process. It's scary for some people. We've noticed that if you are computer savvy there's no real age limit." The generational element, then, is incidental to the fact that young adults just happen to be the majority of consumers who are more adept at using the Internet.
"This medium is for understanding the consumer," he continues, noting, "We've produced 66 pieces of creative for this campaign. You can get that granular with this stuff because in six months your campaign will burn out with these fast-moving consumers."
Meanwhile, another popular print media digitizer Zinio announced plans to begin delivering rich media ads for Jeep for the digital editions of McGraw- Hill's BusinessWeek magazine. Zinio, which specializes in digital delivery of magazines, said the ads would utilize video and Flash animation, effectively transforming a print medium into a video advertising medium.
"We are witnessing the next generation in advertising with the inclusion of interactive ads in digital magazines," says Michael Edelhart, president and CEO of Zinio.
While it still is too early to position digital magazines as a revolution in advertising, consumer feedback shows readers are actively engaged with both linkable ads, as well as rich media-enabled spots in digital magazines.
Research conducted by Zinio shows 83 percent of digital magazine readers click on URL links in the editorial content and 60 percent in ads. Seventy- three percent of respondents to a survey requested seeing more rich media ads.
This certainly underscores the value of interactive advertising in digital magazines; it also suggests that in the crossover of print magazines to digital form consumers expect and even welcome new creative and interactive avenues advertisers will have to take to try and reach them.
Zinio, to date, has delivered 10 million digital magazines, including BuusinessWeek, MotorTrend, and PC Magazine to one million customers spanning 200 countries. They offer nearly 100 titles from 30 leading publishers such as McGraw-Hill, Primedia, Time, Inc., Ziff Davis, and IDG.
