Archive for January, 2010
The Magazine Brand Crisis
Never again! That’s what most magazine publishers say to the rotten year that was 2009. With 25% average declines in ad pages, the industry simply cannot afford a repeat. But it’s not just the economy. As consumers flee print and flock to the web for content, it’s imperative that publishers get it right online.
While there are more online readers than ever, the fundamental problem for magazines is largely overlooked: magazine brand names are losing relevance — even on the internet.
Fewer people searching for magazine brands on the web
Of 140 magazines I analyzed using Google Insights for Search, only 31 publications saw increases in brand-name Google search volume in the last year. The average magazine experienced a 10% decrease in web search interest. And over five years (2004-2009), the keyword “magazine” has seen an astonishing 40% drop in its share of Google search volume.
With the proliferation of alternative content sources, the web eroding the brand name power magazines once held. People are no longer seeking out specific brands like Time, Newsweek or Discover. Instead, they use brand-blind information aggregators like Google. People may be reading more. But if readers don’t care where content comes from, publishers can’t claim the same value to advertisers on the web.
Here is a look at the change in Google search volume for some of the major magazine titles between 2004 and 2009:
What did People magazine do right?
Loyalty = brand advertising revenue
Print magazines are particularly appealing to brand advertisers because they reach a specific cohort of loyal subscribers every month. Kraft Foods, for example, might choose to place ads in Fine Cooking magazine for a year. They know their brand message will be repeated in front of a relatively constant audience 12 times. Not so on the internet.
When a Fine Cooking reader seeks out recipe information through Google, she might happen upon a random blog instead of Fine Cooking’s website. Kraft loses much of the control it has with the print publisher. But it does have another option: Instead of placing ads with a specific publisher, Kraft may chose to use an ad network across hundreds of websites and blogs. These ad networks can target specific demographic groups much like magazines. This makes Fine Cooking’s website much less valuable to Kraft.
Developing online loyalty
If traditional publishers want to survive online, they must develop new ways to their web readers loyal that are more effective than ad networks. This will give advertisers confidence they’re reaching a valuable audience that returns to view their ads each month – just like the print product. Some advertisers are even banning ad networks from their websites. But given the trends in brand name search volume, it seems publishers will be fighting an uphill battle.
A counter-argument – brands are dead
Some might argue that the internet has forever changed the way people interact with content. Brand loyalty as we once knew it will never again exist. Consumers have so much choice now, and it’s difficult to keep them around when cool new websites pop up every five minutes. So some publishers may decide to take a different strategy: forget about traditional brand advertising and go for volume-based direct response ads.
Direct response ads are different than brand advertising. They are about eliciting an action, as opposed to a soft and fuzzy impression that takes months to build in a consumer’s mind. Google has built its empire on direct response ads; they only get paid for the clicks. Imagine a magazine telling an advertiser it will only have to pay based on the number of calls it gets on the 1-800 number listed! It would never happen. Direct response advertisers care little about making you feel a certain way – they just want you to act.
Most traditional publishers are in no position to create a direct response-style strategy that can out-compete Google. Their strength is delivering the loyal audience that brand advertisers crave. But if you can’t keep a loyal audience, it’s the only option if you want to survive from advertising revenue on the web. Increasingly we will see publishers’ content strategies evolve to capitalize on the economic realities of the internet – and maybe some will beat Google at its game.
One thing is for sure: the magazine brand as we knew it will never be the same.
