Technology Review magazine sought to increase circulation and profits by offering a digital version of its magazine distributed through Zinio. Zinio provided an enhanced digital reading experience similar to print with features like immediate delivery, rich media content, and search capabilities. This new digital distribution channel helped Technology Review attract over 30,000 new digital subscribers with minimal additional costs. The digital version contributed incremental profits while meeting the needs and interests of Technology Review's tech-savvy audience.

1. Technology Review
finds incremental profits in digital
magazine sales
C H A L L E N G E
To increase the circulation
and profitability of a con-
sumer magazine amid
increasing competition
S O L U T I O N
To deliver the digital version
of its magazine, Technology
Review chose the Zinio™
service consisting of Zinio
Reader™
software on the
subscriber’s computer, com-
prehensive circulation and
fulfillment programs, produc-
tion services and a digital
magazine distribution system
B E N E F I T
Sales from the additional
digital distribution channel
add to profits with minimal
additional investment and
provide an enhanced user
experience through immedi-
ate delivery and interactive
capabilities available only
with the digital magazine
C A S E S T U D Y
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Technology Review searches for
circulation growth and profitability
Talk about longevity. Technology Review magazine
was founded over a hundred years ago—in 1899
by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)—
as a clearinghouse to disseminate information about
technology. MIT evolved Technology Review into a
consumer magazine in the 1980s, but circulation
never exceeded 100,000. Although it had a dedi-
cated core of readers, the magazine was losing
money and was too small to be sustainable in the
consumer space. To increase its impact on society
and turn a profit, the Technology Review staff
needed to find new ways to boost circulation.
In 1998, the magazine was relaunched with a new
editorial mission—to promote the understanding of
emerging technologies and their impact on business
and society. Technology Review was spun out of
MIT and repositioned from serving scientists to
helping a broader audience of people better under-
stand technologies that are about to be commercial-
ized—now, many of the readers are business and
technology executives.
The relaunch was a great success. Technology
Review has grown to a circulation of 315,000 and is
profitable. Although still owned by MIT, the magazine
operates as an independent company and maintains
a feature-rich Web site that supports the same edito-
rial vision as the print counterpart.
Undoubtedly, Technology Review has withstood the
test of time. But like many publishers, it still faces
challenges—building profits through greater circulation
and addressing the evolving interests of its audience.
Magazines move from lap to laptop
In late 2001, with their audience in mind, Martha
Connors, vice president and general manager at
Technology Review, Inc., and her team began to
explore the possibilities of distributing the magazine
in digital format. Initially, this was driven by their
curiosity about the potential for digital delivery.
“We thought it was cool,” she says.
But then it became apparent that a digital magazine
could become an additional channel of distribution
for Technology Review, adding to circulation and
profitability. Connors saw the new format not as a
replacement for the print version, but rather as a
way to attract new readers. Because content could
be reused from the print version, the digital format
would require very little incremental investment.
Plus, a digital magazine format seemed to fit per-
fectly with the interests of tech-savvy Technology
Review readers.
But there were questions. Would a digital version
of the magazine cannibalize the print version?
Would people actually read a digital magazine?
Would the large file size deter readers from down-
loading it? And most importantly, would readers
find enough value to renew their subscriptions year
after year—the key to profitability?
T E C H N O L O G Y R E V I E W

2. computer. “Avid magazine readers value the brows-
ing experience, not the ‘hunt and peck’ searching of
the Web,” Connors says. “Zinio brings the proven
magazine reading experience to digital delivery with
added benefits and conveniences.”
For subscribers, the Zinio Reader, shown in Figure 1,
unlocks a unique reading experience that extends
the print metaphor with features available only from
a computer:
• Automatic magazine delivery to a desktop, laptop
or tablet PC at the same time that the magazine
hits the newsstand (especially important for
foreign subscribers)
• Access to magazines anytime and anywhere
(online or offline)
• Ability to view rich-media content, such as animated
GIF files, Flash* animations, sound and video, for
an enhanced reading experience
• Access to archives of the magazine’s past issues
• Ability to highlight sections of text or insert notes
• Ability to send a free magazine copy to a friend
or colleague via a “Send to Friend” feature
• Keyword search capability
• Links to Web content referenced in articles and
advertisements
The rich-media content enabled by the Zinio Reader
offers key benefits to publishers, readers and adver-
tisers. For example, with just one click of the mouse,
a static photograph of a research instrument instantly
becomes a video demonstration of the tool. This
greatly enhances the publisher’s ability to convey
complex thoughts. It also provides a more engaging
reader experience, adding value to the digital mag-
azine subscription. In addition, advertisers can use
rich media to engage more readers. Zinio compresses
magazines so that readers can download issues
easily, even those that offer a wealth of rich-media
features. By leveraging these capabilities to see
more ads and sign up more readers, magazine pub-
lishers can add revenue.
The Zinio Reader is well suited to the needs of
mobile and wireless users. The client software auto-
matically downloads magazines from the Zinio server
to the user’s desktop so that users can read maga-
zines whether they are connected to a network or
not. If the user becomes disconnected for any rea-
son, and then reconnects later, the partial download
BUSINESS SOLUTION
Zinio helps Technology Review readers
see clearly—digitally
Many of the digital magazine distributors that
Technology Review initially evaluated lacked the elegant
user experience that was needed for an audience that
was already discriminating about technology. Moreover,
ads did not appear as high-quality images—a signifi-
cant obstacle for a magazine.
Then Connors and her team
discovered Zinio—a leading
digital magazine provider,
today having distributed over
7.5 million magazines to
more than 650,000 readers.
Zinio now delivers over
70 titles to more than 200
countries. Impressed with
the appearance and function-
ality of the Zinio magazines,
Technology Review began to
work with Zinio in mid-2002
to distribute the digital
version of the magazine.
For Connors, choosing Zinio was easy. “I was very
impressed with the image clarity and overall user
experience that Zinio provides. Our test with sub-
scribers went very well,” Connors says. “From the
easy downloading to the searching capability to the
quality of the display of advertisements, Zinio has
enabled us to offer a reading experience that is
superior to print media.”
Zinio enhances the reading experience
Publishers have long used the Internet to display
content. However, the digital magazine represents a
significant departure from simply posting content to
the Web. First, subscribers automatically receive
their digital magazine at their desktop, so they do
not have to go to a Web site to get it. This obviously
results in a delivery metaphor similar to print publi-
cations. Also, the Web user interface is different
than print. For example, a Web user typically scrolls
down or clicks “next” to get to the next page, while
users of digital magazines flip from one page to the
next—again, similar to using a print magazine.
According to Connors, Zinio magazines bring the
reading styles of print magazine readers to the
T E C H N O L O G Y R E V I E W C A S E S T U D Y
Figure 1. The digital version of Technology Review is read
using the Zinio Reader

3. will continue from where it left off. Designed to run
on a variety of clients and preinstalled on various
tablet PCs, the Zinio Reader gives travelers access
to their favorite publications, at any time and at any
location in the world.
Zinio helps publishers spend less to gain
more new subscribers
Digital publishing with Zinio is a simple extension of
what publishers are already doing. The publisher
simply provides Zinio with the same files—such as
PDF or QuarkXPress* files—that would normally be
sent to a printer. “Magazine publishers do not have
to reinvent their workflows to take advantage of Zinio
services and benefit from digital delivery,” says Pam
Horan, vice president of marketing at Zinio Systems.
Zinio also provides comprehensive sales, circulation
and distribution programs for publishers. Zinio handles
everything from sourcing the customer to handling the
transaction and fulfillment. “Completely turnkey maga-
zine distribution can help publishers acquire and serve
new customers at a lower cost,” Horan says. In addi-
tion, Zinio ensures that the publisher’s content is secure
by binding digital rights management into each issue.
Publishers use Zinio to spark advertising interest
In a tough advertising climate, Zinio has enabled
Technology Review to give its advertisers something
to cheer about. Connors says, “Advertisers have been
blown away by the fact that you can embed sound,
animation and other forms of rich media into digital
advertisements.” Although advertising agencies are
just beginning to recognize the potential of digital
advertisements, Connors sees interest growing.
“A leading automobile company, which recently used
Flash animation in an advertisement, is eager to use
more rich media in the future to gain a leading posi-
tion in this emerging area of advertising,” she says.
An Intel processor-based distribution
system helps Zinio deliver
The Zinio service utilizes Intel®
processor-based
servers for the production, publishing fulfillment
distribution and delivery of all of its digital magazines.
Zinio Reader offers a high-performance reading
experience
To promote an exceptional reading experience for all
users, Zinio is working closely with Intel to ensure
that its client software runs optimally on a wide range
of hardware, including high-performance PCs based
on the Intel®
Pentium®
4 Processor with HT Technology
and notebook computers based on Intel®
Centrino™
mobile technology. The Intel Pentium 4 Processor
with HT Technology gives readers the power to better
run multiple applications at the same time. For
example, you can browse a digital magazine while
downloading photos from a friend’s Web site and
listening to your customized music playlist—all at
once. The integrated wireless LAN capability of note-
books based on Intel Centrino mobile technology
enables Zinio to automatically suspend and resume
downloads based on the status of network connec-
tivity. Internally, Zinio developers use Intel tools,
such as the Intel®
VTune™
analyzer, to optimize the
performance of the Zinio Reader on Intel processors.
Intel servers power the service
To meet the needs of both publishers and sub-
scribers, Zinio relies on more than twenty Intel®
processor-based Dell PowerEdge* servers, which
use either the Intel®
Xeon™
processor MP or the Intel
Pentium 4 processor. According to Graham Golder,
vice president of engineering at Zinio Systems, Zinio
chose Intel®
architecture-based servers because
they offered the best combination of performance
and price. “The Intel architecture-based servers play
a key role in the performance and capabilities of all
the services that Zinio provides to its publishers
We are constantly
seeking cost-effective
ways to increase our
readership. Zinio has
enabled us to attract
a new type of reader
with minimal effort
and investment.
– Martha Connors
VP and General Manager
Technology Review, Inc.
LESSONS LEARNED
• Because it is human nature to devalue “intangible” products (digital mag-
azines included), show your readers the value-added features of digital publi-
cations. Technology Review positions the digital format as the same content
at the same price, but with a number of added benefits.
• Target your readers carefully. Digital magazines appeal to those who travel,
have broadband Internet connections, prefer to receive information and news
online and are open to trying new technology.
• Although most readers of digital magazines will have high-speed Internet
access, try not to let file size exceed 15 MB per issue.
• When catering to the technology-savvy, never underestimate the power of “cool.”
Innovative products on the forefront of technology (such as a Zinio-based
magazine) are exciting to this audience.
• Digital magazine readers value applications that leverage the latest technologies.
Mention that Zinio uses servers and client software optimized for the latest Intel
processors to provide a high-performance digital reading experience.

4. and readers, from e-commerce functionality to fast
downloads,” Golder says. “After performing bench-
mark testing, we knew that Intel architecture-based
servers offered the performance we were seeking
at the lowest price.”
As the volume increases, Zinio can simply add servers
to address the growing demand. Says Golder, “We
also have the ability to repurpose our servers quickly
according to need, which helps us respond efficiently
to any new customer or business demands.”
As shown in Figure 2, the Zinio server infrastructure
provides redundant services that benefit Zinio and its
readers/end users and publishers. For readers, the
Zinio servers manage the e-commerce functionality for
the purchase and distribution of digital magazines. For
publishers, Zinio servers provide support for circula-
tion, production, fulfillment and tracking services.
Technology Review attracts new
readership with Zinio
Technology Review uses the digital version of the
magazine to increase circulation and advertising
interest with minimal incremental investment.
According to Connors, the digital magazine costs the
company about one-third that of the print version.
“After one year on the market, Zinio has attained
a circulation of 30,000 for the digital version,”
Connors says. “Half of that is coming from subscrip-
tion agents, while the rest is coming from e-mail
campaigns and the Web site.”
International customers respond favorably to the digi-
tal version, citing lower cost and immediate delivery
as key benefits (international subscriptions are the
same price as domestic subscriptions). “Readers are
impressed with the fast delivery of the magazine, the
ability to access magazines while traveling, the archive
and search features and more,” says Connors.
Going forward, Technology
Review plans to continue to
measure results of its new
digital format, especially
renewal rates. More rich media
in editorial and advertisements
can be expected. “Because
greater circulation is our goal,
we are constantly seeking cost-
effective ways to increase our
readership,” Connors says.
“Zinio has enabled us to attract
a new type of reader with
minimal effort and investment.”
T E C H N O L O G Y R E V I E W C A S E S T U D Y
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Internet
Production
services
Magazine
distribution
Zinio
Reader
CRM (customer
relationship
management)
Agent sales
(e-commerce)
Audit and
reporting
Publishers’
fulfillment and
circulation
services
Figure 2. An Intel processor-based server infrastructure manages essential
services for Zinio and its publishers and readers
Intel Technology
Intel®
Pentium®
Xeon™
Processor
Intel®
Pentium®
4Processor with HT Technology
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VTune™
Performance Analyzer