• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, October 4, 2011

Top magazine executives expressed bullishness about the industry's digital opportunities Tuesday, but made clear they feel the traditional printed page has a lot of runway left. Much of the digital optimism conveyed at the American Magazine Conference, of course, is rooted in new real estate offered courtesy of tablets.

Time Inc.'s CMO Stephanie George, the chair of the event, began an opening address by reiterating the publisher's plans to have versions of all 21 of its U.S. magazines in tablet form by the end of the year. People, Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune are already up and running, so there are 17 more to go.

As part of a campaign backing its initiative, Time Inc. has purchased a billboard in Times Square this week carrying the message "All Titles on Tablets by January 1." George said the company is satisfied with results from the four tablet versions so far "in terms of downloads, single copy sales, and subscription authentications."

While the iPad is or could be a boon, magazine executives are enthused by growth potential from Amazon's newly released Kindle Fire tablet, which costs less than the Apple flagship.

Hearst last week said it has passed the 300,000 mark in paid digital circulation on multiple devices, and company president David Carey cited the new Kindle as an "absolutely critical" contributor, and he "think(s) that number will double in short order."

Joining Carey was Conde Nast President Bob Sauerberg, who said that digital distribution is bringing in new customers, including younger ones. "We think ultimately that it will be the key asset that will allow us to revalue the consumer proposition at Conde Nast," he said.

He added that there are a slew of pricing opportunities in the digital realm not available in the traditional world. For example, raising a newsstand price can be disruptive, but setting and altering prices for monthly subscriptions or pay-per-click is far more "malleable."

Hearst's Carey prefers a dual revenue stream with subscriptions and advertising on a tablet. On the ad front, he said ads designed specifically for the platform can be particularly effective, while noting that some data shows engagement and time spent on tablets can top magazines, which could benefit advertisers.

Conde Nast has a digital studio working on developing advertising applications, Sauerberg said.

A third panelist, Tom Harty, president of Meredith's national media group, said his company has invested heavily in tablet initiatives, but many of its readers are on a modest income and aren't rushing out to buy iPads, so it may not be a pacesetter in the space. The cheaper Kindle could provide a lift, and content on Barnes & Nobles' Nook has been a successful gambit.

Still, executives have not given up on finding new ways to invigorate the long-held businesses. At Meredith, the company is offering advertisers performance guarantees.

The initiative grew out of a test conducted in partnership with Nielsen Homescan, where a panel of 100,000 consumers included a subset of 12,000 Meredith subscribers. The test showed that ads in Meredith publications for 14 brands led to a sales lift and resulted in positive ROI, prompting Meredith to take some risk with altered guarantees.

Harty said Meredith could have kept the data to itself -- but worked with Nielsen to share it with the industry as a high-tide-lifts-all-boats dynamic, and Time Inc. has also embraced it.

Time Inc.'s George said magazines have an advantage in a world with so many media options -- perhaps hinting at the proliferation of online aggregation sites -- in that the content "refuses to be commoditized as some other content is because it has a voice."

That ostensible uniqueness makes "people want to participate in our brands," which has been changing some of the sales tactics at publishers, George noted. Ad pages are just a sliver of what can be offered to a marketer, joining digital extensions and experiential marketing avenues such as linking with an Essence Music Festival.