I was recently challenged to consider the future of magazines and publishing…

My initial outlook wasn’t exactly optimistic… "Due to the challenging economic climate and recent Time Inc. restructuring, Time is eliminating its Canadian advertiser edition immediately after publication of the 12/29 issue.” “ MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC PLANS FOR BLUEPRINT AND MARTHA STEWART WEDDINGS” “ At least 120 newspapers in the U.S. have shut down since January 2008”

What’s a publisher to do.. ..in the face of the democratization of traditional print publication through services like Blurb.com..

.. and the introduction of new digital media like the Kindle?

Guess who’s winning this battle 10 out of 10 times?

CTRL-C, CTRL-V Publications raced to get their content online , but provided little to no improvement in the customer experience

Publishers have an unprecedented opportunity , enabled by digital technology, to create compelling & interactive content experiences for customers Traditional print media becomes a LEAD GENERATION TOOL (no one’s doing this.. TIME, LIFE, MacLean’s, PEOPLE)

What if… Instead of asking consumers to fill out onerous, value exchange-less registration forms…

.. we let them use an existing User ID to sign-on fast?

And we used actual, online user behavior (with permission) to build individual profiles .. .. that contained information about their preferences that was actually useful ?

The Hockey News recognized that a significant number of its subscribers were huge fans of hockey fights? What if…

And gave these users the ability to manage clips of their favorite fights.. ..via an integrated YouTube channel? (and notify these users via SMS when new fight clips become available)

You’re a numbers geek, and The Economist print edition provided instructions to go online, where they will give you access to the behind-the-charts scientific data, so you could run your own models? What if…

Access to that data was facilitated & sponsored by a relevant brand ? What if…

Recommendations Publishers must focus on content experience enhancement by leveraging interactive social & digital technology Leverage portable social identity platforms to accelerate consumer engagement Enable hyper-relevant content sponsorship Embrace Open Data – it’s coming

Publishers must focus on content experience enhancement by leveraging interactive social & digital technology

Leverage portable social identity platforms to accelerate consumer engagement

Enable hyper-relevant content sponsorship

Embrace Open Data – it’s coming

Predictions 100% paperless by 2020 Content will still be king – how we interact with content, and our subsequent experiences, will drive loyalty Customers demand content sources that provide responsible, in-depth journalism + access to data sources

100% paperless by 2020

Content will still be king – how we interact with content, and our subsequent experiences, will drive loyalty

Customers demand content sources that provide responsible, in-depth journalism + access to data sources

Michael Whang http://spinondemand.com http://twitter.com/mwhang Feedback is appreciated! Thank You The Future of Magazines & Publishing May 2009