Brands leading the race for engagement

It was 2006 when Facebook and Twitter started hitting the masses  (I recall the discussions suggesting nothing would replace MySpace) just before the rise of the Smartphone, and well before the birth of the tablet (I also recall being rhetorically asked “who on earth would want one of them?”).

In the world of publishing over the last couple of years, I think it’s safe to say there have been two main topics of conversation: One surrounding the decline of printed publications; the other about how to best get the print content onto digital devices, as that seemed to be what consumers want.

Advances in technology have given consumers multiple choices on where, when and how they access news, articles, in fact all their content of interest. Lifestyle changes have almost made it the norm for many to access news content on the go on digital mobile devices.  It's clear to see why publishers wanted to get their printed product behind a screen, where people could swipe through the news while waiting for a bus, as opposed to wetting the tip of their finger and turn a page in the comfort of their armchair.

At IFRA in Vienna last October every single exhibitor, one way or another, was making reference to the ability of their solutions to help publishers in the digital era – this is where the future was, digital versions of publications.

A lot of publishers have opted for the page turning route – we personally feel digital has a lot more to offer than that, we see digital as being a whole new playground for publishers to immerse themselves in and not just a way of replicating what they already publish in print, but that’s for another time.

But while publishers were getting hung up on the need to have a digital presence to meet the perceived needs of their readers, and to work out the most effective way of generating revenue to do this in what is no doubt a tough time economically, household brands that we all know and love were slowly becoming publishers of their own.

Coca Cola, Cadbury, Pepsi, Nike, Ford, Starbucks… the list goes on. They knew that their audiences and consumers were actively engaging on social media channels. As Brian Madden at Hearst recently pointed out “850 million people on Facebook, 7 hours a month on the site; 250 million tweets a day; and Pinterest crossed the 10 million unique visitor mark faster than any other standalone site in history".

It is clear that this is where brands need to be, to continue interacting and communicating with their audiences. Not only do their consumers have the ability to communicate with these brands on the go with their smartphones and tablets, they can do in real time – something these brands have started to embrace. You only need to look at Coca Cola’s twitter feed to see how much real time community engagement there is.

I refer you to Jonathan Mildenhall, Vice President of Global Advertising and Creative Excellence at Coca Cola, who really does hit the nail on the head in this video. Coke's consumers are demanding to be part of a conversation, because one, these brands impact their lives and two, they now have the ability to be engaged with. 

With more user generated stories on Coca Cola than stories generated by the company itself, it begs the question as to whether Coca Cola need to bother with traditional advertising any more.

As Nike’s UK Marketing Director aptly put it “advertising is all about achieving awareness”. Nike don’t need to worry about this, instead they need “to find new ways to become part of people’s lives”. Furthermore, compared to its competitors, Apple spends the least on advertising because huge numbers of people are talking about them anyway, as pointed out in an El Pais Technology Blog article in April. With all the user generated content on social media channels, brands are beginning to harness this to their benefit.

As well working out the best tablets and Smart phones to publish their digital editions to, publishers might want to start rolling back the years to 2006 and look at how they can engage with their readers on social media channels too.

However, just as Lorraine Candy from Elle said at this year’s PPA Conference, don’t give away content on social media which you then plan to sell later on in your publications, whether its print or digital, its counterproductive. Instead, use social media to build brand content and generate conversation about the magazine brand itself and its values. Maybe this is a way to salvage the print product after all, and make it work on digital, by engaging as a brand with its audiences on social media to become more than just a publication.

Print v Digital - The Debate Goes On...

Digital publishing is growing. Not only are publishers achieving growth in their web audience, for example the Daily Mail’s Mail Online growing daily traffic by 12.3% in October last year, but figures for smart phones and tablets are also on the up, with Conde Nast announcing a 268% digital subscription increase last year too.

So, with the buzz surrounding digital publishing and the growth it is experiencing, combined with the unfortunate decline that print is facing, what better time to pose the question which everyone concerned wants an answer to: can traditional print based publishing survive the onslaught of digital?

We are a sponsor of Digital Ad Lab, an independent, non-profit open forum for those involved in all aspects of digital workflows, which provides a platform for participants to discuss issues relating to the creation and delivery of digital content.

One of the answers to the print v digital question may have come at the recent Digital Ad Lab meeting, which coincided with the Digital London show held at the impressive London ExCel.

A panel discussion with representatives from YUDU Media, Hearst, Financial Times, Butler, Tanner and Dennis and e-graphics came together to provide their views on the prevailing topic.

Full details of the discussion can be found here, but the panel shared the same view that print and digital were there to complement and enhance each other as they serve different purposes.

Digital is serving the ever growing need for dynamically consuming content on the go, while the traditional attributes of printed publications can’t be replaced - right down to the smell and texture of the publication itself.

It was suggested, however, that in time the difference could become even clearer, with digital becoming the mass media channel for accessing content, as print becomes more premium and more about status by being given as a gift.

Putting your iPad on your coffee table isn’t quite the same as spreading a few of your favourite high quality magazines next to your box of shortbreads, as pointed out by the panel.

It was pointed out that the key to both channels being successful was quality content; whether it’s in print or digital just dictates how this content is delivered and who it is delivered to.

In which case, I wonder whether the impact of digital on print publishing will depend on how digital publishing is approached? It is clear publishers recognise there is a challenge in efficiently publishing to digital, but more important in these difficult economic times is how publishers measure their audience. It is a challenge which needs meeting head-on.

Even within digital publishing, however, there is a debate on how best it is approached. The developments of HTML5, as adopted by the Financial Times among others, enables publishers to produce one application which can be accessed on any device, whereas the more native apps are device specific . That means for each device publishers want to deliver to, they need to repeat their work.

It’s a snapshot view I know, but given the economic pressures publishers are faced with, wouldn’t it make sense to only have to produce one application, rather than investing the resource many times over? At least that’s where we see the benefits.

For the time being print and digital may complement and enhance each other, the route publishers decide to adopt could determine just how successful digital publishing is for them, and whether or not they need to turn back to their old print friend for help.

For more information on Digital Ad Lab, or to attend a Digital Ad Lab meeting, contact Hannah Newberry at Hannah@leafagency.com.

Looking for the PCX Factor...

We’ve not yet reached the end of January, but it feels like we’ve had an extraordinarily busy 2012 already.

That’s partly down to a rush of activity in our Marketing department where we’ve said goodbye to one bright young thing, welcomed another and begun the search for two more.

Graphic Artist Rachel Crump set out for pastures new after a mercurial couple of years having come to us straight from Coventry University. Rachel had a major input into PCS’s change of image, look and feel and some of our marketing messages in the time she was with us and we wish her well in her new job.

Even in a relatively short time, she’s left quite a legacy for her successor to follow – some of it clever enough to attract what appears to be a little flattery by imitation. Ironic that her ‘Anything but ‘me too’ message seems to have resulted in a ‘me too’ nod from elsewhere in the industry.

Currently occupying Rachel’s seat in the Marketing office, if not her role, is local lad Russell Booth, who has joined us as an intern with a mission to research potential markets. He’s already begun to make his mark and we look forward to Russell’s contribution over the months to come

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It does mean that we’re still on the hunt for our new graphics guru and we expect to make a decision on that post shortly.

What’s been encouraging is the response we’ve had not only to our ad for the Graphic Artist, but for another intern, too.

In the space of only a few days we had towards 100 applications for the two posts. In the end we had to call a halt to enquiries from one of the channels we were using otherwise we would have been well and truly swamped.

As you can imagine, that’s led to plenty of sifting through CVs up and down our admin corridor as we’ve tried to identify the folks with the X factor who can help us build on the momentum we’ve been creating over the last year or so – and especially since Ifra Expo in Vienna last October.

It’s been an interesting process, particularly with so many applications in such a short time.

On top of that, however, we’ve been talking to potential partners in a couple of overseas markets as we start to implement our strategy for 2012 and beyond.

That process is coming along nicely, too. Exciting times, indeed.

Ring in the new...

New Year heralded something of a milestone for PCS. We’re officially into our 40^th year and already looking forward to the big Four-O celebrations in 2013.

As ever, the turn of the year heralds much excitement and optimism. There’s always a sense of change and renewal and this year’s no different.

Standing at the gates of 1972, who would have expected the release of the first hand-held calculator, introduced at a starting price a little under 400 dollars (just over 2,000 dollars at today’s rates)?

Mid year came the demonstration of the Magnavox Oddyssey gaming system that signalled the dawn of the video gaming age; then there was Atari’s release of the fabulous ‘Pong’ later in the year – as big a sensation in its way as the iPad.

In 1972 PCS was still the equivalent of a technological twinkle in the eyes of its parent company, the Express & Star, but in 1973 we bounced into life with a bright little bundle of our own, the ‘electronic’ publishing system, Press 11.

Gazing ahead in 2012? Well, who knows...

Remembering that it’s still less than two years since Apple shook up the tablet market with iPad, we come into this new year anticipating even further developments.

In the UK, the first milestone will be the launch of the Kindle Fire (currently available at less than 200 dollars), which has already started to make inroads into the iPad market in the USA. That’s currently slated to be sometime in February, but then we’ve been told to expect an iPad 3, an iPad ‘mini’ and a Google tablet this year year – probably sooner rather than later, too.

The tablet market’s still in a highly agitated state, but we’re actually more excited about that than we are concerned.

Last year we took the decision to face the volatility of the tablet landscape head on by giving ourselves the option of building digital content delivery mechanisms in our Knowledge digital content management and publishing solution in HTML5, so giving ourselves and our customers more options for their web, tablet and smart phone offerings.

We have an idea what’s coming and we’re ready for the opportunities they will bring. That doesn’t mean, of course, that there won’t be some other disruptive technology ready to smack the industry straight between the eyes all over again.

We’d like to think we’d be ready for that, too.

We’re actually quite excited about what lies ahead – and we might just have some more exciting news of our own to announce in the very near future.

So, it’s a Happy New Year from us. Bring it on...