Rethinking A B2B Print Icon in the Digtial Age

Rethinking a B2B Print Icon In the Digital Age CIO Magazine 2009 Abbie Lundberg, Former Editor in Chief, CIO President, Lundberg Media abbie@lundbergmedia.com

New Realities Maturing online offerings CXO multi-channel media company Shifting competitive landscape Shifting advertiser behavior/revenue streams, driving… Shifts in resources Economy tanking

Goals Make the magazine fresh, compelling, timely, cool Connect what we do in the magazine with other things we’re doing: online, community, events, Council, but … Use the magazine for what it’s uniquely good for Make it less expensive and easier to execute Re-engage a demoralized team; have fun!

Timeline June 2-day Offsite July-September Develop new sections: length, what elements they’ll include, what those elements will be called, who will produce them and how Plan research coverage October/November Finalize names, schedules, rotations, etc. for sections; create mock- ups Graphic design December Stretching Things Out Assign, write January Initial timeline was six months, but Edit had to move some costs into new February fiscal year. Lost some momentum Design, ship in the beginning of the process. March Launch Image by Eli the Bearded

We should focus on several points in which print has an advantage: discovery; linearity; finite nature in a world where attention is scarce.

Exercise: Magazines we love

Reader Feedback: Common Themes Give readers a reason to open each issue the day it hits their desk. Tell them things they don’t already know but that can affect them. Be independent, bust hype, tell it like it is. Continue peer-based approach. Provide nuggets of information and short articles, but also… …Occasional deep dives into pressing, complex topics. Tell them what we think about things; have a POV, opinion, attitude. They are on the go all the time, leading integrated lives that are technology enabled. Speak to them as whole people, not just as corporate suits, and help them be more successful in their life overall (personal productivity, time management, gadgets)

Defining the Ideal Reader In the most positive possible terms Smart Busy Competitive Connected Tech-savvy Business-smart Problem-solver Risk-master Invested in work & life Multi-dimensional

Rethinking the Magazine Multiple sections of shorts – Organized around issues that matter to readers today – Get more information into smaller footprint – Help readers browse and select stories – Make it easier to use content from online w/out a lot of rework – Regular contributors; no more over-the-transom pitches Features – No more “well”; instead 1 long, deep article on compelling topic Design principles: high impact, low cost, easy to produce – Single pages – Templates for different configurations, including fractionals – Lots of color – Less photography; less commissioned art; more standing art & designer-created illustrations

New Sections (take 1) NOW TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT CAREER PEER 2 PEER

New Sections (take 2) START THRIVE Your Life and Career Path GROW THE BUSINESS CONNECT Innovation and Business Value Peer Advice from the CIO Executive Council RUN FINISH THE BUSINESS Leadership and Operational Excellence

Architecting the Sections

Parting Thoughts Print’s strengths: visual, tactile, markable, browsable, long form but chunkable, bundled/packaged/directed Complement the web, take from the web, but don’t mimic the web The process can be as important as the product Structure and design for three things: navigation, visual impact and ease of execution: template, template, template! The best results come from the entire team having ownership and editors and designers working together all the way through

abbie@lundbergmedia.com

Rethinking A B2B Print Icon in the Digtial Age

by Abbie Lundberg on Jul 19, 2009

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

Statistics

Rethinking A B2B Print Icon in the Digtial Age — Presentation Transcript