• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, March 20, 2012

Speaking on a panel at the MPA’s tablet-focused swipe conference Tuesday, Jeanniey Mullen, CMO of Zinio said 75% to 80% of those who sign up for magazine subscriptions through the virtual newsstand hadn’t already been print customers. That’s led to the company’s to focus on organizing content by category rather than publication. “When a brand is in the digital publishing space, a lot of your brand cachet goes away,” she said, since readers online are more focused on types of content than titles.

Zinio has also embraced bundling of content that goes beyond just print and digital since print subscribers who get digital free aren’t necessarily active digital users. Bundled material can also include video, special shopping guides and other value-added material to enhance engagement. Mullen encouraged publishers to experiment with different combinations of free and paid content to find out which is most effective.

Speaking on the same panel, though, Keith Barraclough, CTO for Next Issue Media, however, warned not to give people too many options or “they’ll run away.” He advised creating simple bundles of content to keep users from being overwhelmed by too many choices.