1. America’s Oldest Consumer Magazine
in the Age of Globalization
Society for Scholarly Publishing
June 2, 2005
Scientific American’s first issue – August 28th, 1845
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2. Scientific American International Editions – Average total sold circulation
Germany
Italy
France
Brazil
Taiwan
Poland
Spain
Japan
Belgium
China
India
All together, the International Editions
Russia
Mexico sell about 400,000 copies per month
Greece
Romania
Israel
Czech Rep.
S. Korea
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000
What have we learned in 37 years of publishing international editions?
Four lessons:
1.) Despite the growing prevalence of English worldwide, even hi ghly
educated people mostly prefer to read in their native languages.
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3. Sold copies of U.S. and local editions - Selected local markets
18x
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
11x 14x
50,000
40,000
33x
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
France Germany Taiwan Brazil
Circulation of U.S. edition prior to launch of local edition
Current circulation of local edition
Effect of local edition launch on U.S. edition sales – Selected local markets
6,000
- 8%
5,000
- 44%
4,000
- 44%
3,000
2,000
- 9%
1,000
0
France Germany Taiwan Brazil
Circulation of U.S. edition prior to launch of local edition
Circulation of U.S. edition after launch of local edition
Four lessons:
1.) Despite the growing prevalence of English worldwide, even hi ghly
educated people mostly prefer to read in their native languages .
2.) High-level science writing travels very well, but original local content is
critical to each edition’s success.
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4. % of original content by local edition
% 100
Original editorial
80
60
Translated editorial
40
Each month, the International Editions create
20 enough original material to fill four new issues
of Scientific American
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Czech Rep.
Belg./Neth.
Italy
Japan
Spain
Romania
Brazil
Mexico
China
Poland
Greece
S. Korea
Taiwan
Russia
Germany
Israel
France
Old content production model
New content production model
Content Pool
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5. Four lessons:
1.) Despite the growing prevalence of English worldwide, even hi ghly
educated people mostly prefer to read in their native languages.
2.) High-level science writing travels very well, but original local content is
critical to each edition’s success.
3.) Every local market has its own peculiarities – and often they can make
the difference between success and failure.
Some critical variables for the magazine business:
- General circulation pricing levels
Price of leading newsmagazines – Selected markets
$6.00
$5.50
$5.00
$3.90 $3.80 $3.95 $3.80
$4.00
$3.00 $2.80
$2.00
$1.50
$1.00
$0.30
$0.00
Germany
France
Italy
India
China
U.S.
Japan
Brazil
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6. Some critical variables for the magazine business:
- General circulation pricing levels
- Subscription culture
- Newsstand infrastructure
- Purchasing power of target group
- Advertising potential
A tale of two markets
Mexico
- Weak subscription culture
- Weak newsstand infrastructure nationally
- Generally low circulation pricing levels
- Economically weak readership
Status: Closed April 2005
Brazil
- Strong subscription culture
- Good newsstand infrastructure
- Higher circulation pricing levels
- More prosperous readership
Status: Circulation 40,000+
Four lessons:
1.) Despite the growing prevalence of English worldwide, even hi ghly
educated people mostly prefer to read in their native languages .
2.) High-level science writing travels very well, but original local content is
critical to each edition’s success.
3.) Every country has its own peculiarities – and often they can make
the difference between success and failure.
4.) You can’t usually navigate those tricky waters without the help of a
local partner – but make sure you find the right one.
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7. Three basic kinds of partners:
Commercial Institutional Enthusiastic
Publisher Publisher Amateur
Nikkei Science Kexue Science Ollze
Japan Mainland China Korea
Thanks very much for your attention!
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