Silver Bullet for Publishing?

Publishers in various forms and shapes are still at the core of our day-to-day content supply. Some digital natives working at media agencies these days are wondering whether they should continue investing in publishing dinosaurs. Everything on mobile! It’s the iPad!

Well, I agree some may look like dinosaurs in their (broadsheet) print formats, but they know how to process content and how to present it the best way. They are just struggling to find out how to make money with the various channels available. Some developments are taking place fast and a century old industry just seems to lack time to adapt.

Maybe the introduction of iPhone and iPad will change things to the better. The future of books, magazines and newspapers seems brighter, thanks to Apple. I read a great quote on one of the iPad blogs recently: “….. it creates a whole new channel for sharing content with consumers, and it also begins to define a new creative medium that can become part of a communications strategy.”

I’m listing for you 10 challenging thoughts on the iPad I found in relation to publishing. Bits taken from a debate initiated by a recent column on AdAge.

1. The iPad could be the turning point – are consumers willing to subscribe for regularly delivered content again? New models are to be developed for billing, revenue sharing and advertising.
2. The web has proven to be a lousy platform for branding. It used to be owned by magazines and newspapers and they could become king of the hill again if applied smartly.
3. The new generation-Y wants constant streams of info, but their iPhone is too small to show real compelling pictures and video. The content is available, a new suitable channel is borne?
4. Distribution of content has skipped another big hurdle. Is this the best of TV (video), radio (sound) and magazine/paper (print) combined? Electronic publishing is now really upon us.
5. But, you can read books and listen to music on your laptop too. There is no work software on the iPad, so an extra gadget to carry along.
6. Interactivity with books is news. The idea of “augmented content” or “augmented literature” is a new category created. It’s about the user’s EXPERIENCE with the devices that really matter. Not getting WORK done.
7. The iPad has major hardware issues. It is the software (iTunes store) and marketplace that makes Apple worth mentioning in this context. You are NOT going to need an iPad to access content. I.e, listen to iTunes on a Window’s machine.
8. (comparing to iPod and iTunes) in the case of the iPad, the revolution may be the Apple bookstore, not the device.
9. The iPad isn’t a pill publishers can take and, presto, become attractive. It’s going to take WORK. Lots of it — the painful, sacrificing, work-up-a-sweat kind.
10. Because magazines are created for targeted communities their advertisements in print magazines are just as much a part of the reader’s experience as the editorial content. This is also why print is still extremely effective. In regards to the iPad, if publishers and agencies can carry that experience over to the iPad you’ll continue to have a win-win-win situation with the reader, publisher, and advertiser.

Who’s publishing with iPad?

The Apple wireless tablet publication, or iPad, (or XL-size iPhone if you wish), is entering the publishing market by storm. It offers publishers a full color and interactive e-reader platform. The question whether the storm is just caused by the Apple tribe can’t be taken too lightly. Whatever happens with iPad, publishers know they got to act quickly not to miss the boat ready to leave the digital port. Some of those publishers have built really new apps for the tablet, while others are kicking off with converted versions of existing iPhone apps.

I’m listing all the first seven US print publishers joining iPad (with help of Advertising Age).

1. Conde Nast: Wired, Vanity Fair, Glamour and The New Yorker are expected later this year. Kick- off on the iPad is with its GQ app, (i-Phone optimized version). Each issue of the GQ app costs $2.99/issue.
2. Rodal: publisher of Men’s Health offers an iPad edition for $4.99/issue. Each issue will include all the editorial content of the print edition plus extras such as video. Gillette secured sponsorship of the April and May issues of the Men’s Health iPad edition by increasing its other ad spending with Men’s Health (hence the print+ model).
3. The New York Times: NYT’s “Editors’ Choice” app is offering a selection of news, opinion and features, available free to consumers and relying on advertiser support. The Chase Sapphire card is sponsoring the app at the start.
4. Bonnier: Popular Science is the first iPad app by the Swedish publisher. The app will feature content from the magazine’s April issue and touts flow navigation “more like a panning camera than a flipping page.” Future issues will sync with the print publishing schedule and will be on sale within the app.
5. Time Inc.: this iPad app will include all the magazine’s weekly content plus additional slide shows and video, costing consumers $4.99/issue. Initial advertisers include Fidelity, Korean Air, Liberty Mutual, Lexus, Toyota and Unilever.
6. USA Today: this app will include much of the editorial content from each morning’s paper and will update around the clock. It’s free to consumers for the next three months, courtesy of a sponsorship from Courtyard by Marriott, but will require a paid subscription after that. USA Today has not yet set the subscription price.
7. The Wall Street Journal: WsJ for iPad is a free download with some free content, but complete access will require a subscription that runs $3.99/wk. The subscription will include news throughout the day, top picks from editors and access to the last seven days’ worth of print content. Initial advertisers include Buick, Capital One, Coca-Cola, iShares, FedEx and Oracle, with full-screen ad units that appear between article and section pages.