Magazines: so much more than print

David Reich

Engagement: advertisers say they want it; magazines say they offer it. The term was bandied about a lot at a key conference where publishers connect with advertisers.

At the Advertising Club's annual Magazine Day in New York last month, it was clear that magazines today mean a whole lot more than the glossy printed piece that comes out every week or every month. "Magazine" today for many publishers also means broadcast, cable and, of course, the other word that was used heavily at the conference -- digital.

John Griffin, president of the National Geographic Magazine Group and one of the session panelists, said his company is actively involved in all platforms. "We develop stories from the ground up, considering all of our media brands," he said.

In print, he noted, the line between editorial content and advertising remains fairly clear. But in other forms of media, especially online, the line is not as hard and fast. That can make for some interesting possibilities, both from an advertising and public relations perspective.

Digital is the hottest area for publishers. One media buyer at the conference said digital offers his clients the chance to place a message where news is being seen almost as it's happening, rather than in a place (in print) where it's already stale by the time it's seen. Print, though, still offers a great environment for certain products like beauty, fashion and food where there's usually not a hard news edge. It's hard to match the dramatic beauty of glossy pages online, and I haven't yet seen a way for fragrance marketers to put scent strips online.

One advertiser noted that with some publications now, the print part of his buy is the smallest, as more money goes to cable and digital incarnations of a magazine brand.

The publisher of Gourmet, Tom Hartman, told the audience that "no one just wants to buy a page anymore. They want to talk about the other opportunities in addition to the page."

In most cases, what they're talking about -- and buying -- is that d-word -- digital.

David Reich
DAVID REICH, president of New York public relations boutique Reich Communications, Inc., is a 30+ year p.r. veteran. He has won national awards for his work, including a Marketing Excellence Award for his work representing McDonald’s, and a National Safety Council Award and The Administrator’s Award for traffic safety programs for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the New York Automobile Show. Before forming his own agency in 1990, David was a senior vp at Manning, Selvage & Lee, where he headed the corporate-financial department, and at Saatchi's The Rowland Company, he managed large consumer accounts that included McDonald's and Bacardi. His background includes work for Jaguar Cars, Phillips Petroleum, RJR Foods, Gulf Oil, Ryder System and Westinghouse. He led the p.r. team for the launch of L’eggs Pantyhose, which became a Harvard B-School marketing case history. David's "my 2 cents" blog ( http://reichcomm.typepad.com )on media and marketing was recently named among the Top 20 marketing blogs by Junta42. He is a contributing writer for MarketingProfs Daily Fix online.