The New Face of Print – A Primer: Digital Magazine Interfaces

Introduction

Interactive, digital interfaces take static, print magazines and bring them to life by making publications available online, and incorporating the interactive capabilities of the Web and rich media. With page by page synchronicity to its print counterpart, the experience of reading a magazine is enhanced. The idea of old media and new media colliding is fully apropos in digital magazines. Print magazines collide with rich media—namely webcasts and audio supplements, active links and the interactive capabilities of the Internet.

Do you want to archive an entire volume of your favorite magazine so that an article or phrase is searchable when you need it? You can through a digital magazine interface. While viewing an advertisement for a high-tech gadget have you ever wished you could see the gadget in use? You can with a digital magazine. When these media collide, print magazines come to life as a new, hybrid medium.

History

Digital readers are gaining popularity today, yet the technology that powers digital magazine interfaces has been around for nearly a decade.

When one peruses a digital magazine, he or she finds that the experience is much like viewing a PDF file—the portable document format that revolutionized the way we reproduce and share electronic documents. That is because digital magazine interfaces are built on the technology of PDF files, coupled with Flash technology—a software that emerged around 1996 and is commonly used to add animation and motion or interactivity to Web sites and pages. Merging PDF viewing with Flash technology created a digital reading interface. Then, around the year 2000, these digital readers were being developed for consumer use, led by Zinio—a digital interface provider that maintains the largest percentage of the market share for digital publications. By 2004, other interfaces began to emerge. Among them, Texterity, iMirus, Nxtbook Media and Olive Software, all interfaces that exist today.

A New Medium Emerges

The trend of making print versions available as a digital version is increasing at a remarkable pace. In less than five years time, four major providers of digital interfaces have grown substantially in the number of titles with a digital version. Zinio, for one, has seen a 215 percent increase in the number of titles between 2004 and the beginning of 2008—from 275 to 868. Another provider, Texterity, though it has a smaller share of the market, saw an amazing increase of over 1000 percent—from just 50 titles in 2004, to 600 in 2008! While these numbers seem low, the figures are a force to be reckoned with when one considers how that figure translates into digital subscribers. Zinio now has a stable of over 1000 titles and over 4 million digital subscribers!

The success of digital magazines can quite reasonably be attributed to the change in readership. Yet while reader demographics change, the usability of print publications has not changed. Analysts at Baxter Research Center say that there is a “new generation” of readers that want a “high-fidelity” experience when reading publications, according to reader responses—one “that combines elements of both print and online media, to the comfort level younger readers have with all things digital…” Audiences aged 18-34 are a key demographic in digital subscribers. Studies of these groups show that they are largely responsible for the Web 2.0 identity, having pioneered the transport of the Web from the information age to one of collective information. When we speak of participatory culture in new media and Web 2.0, we have learned that it is that key demographic that delineates that culture—those that become providers of information and content rather than just consumers; those that make the medium a means of two-way communication rather than one-way. So in the case of interactive, digital magazines, merging magazine content with the functionality of a Web site is what readers want, and access to information on their own terms sums up the digital magazine experience.

But we certainly cannot talk about the digital magazine experience without listing some of these interactive capabilities. Tables of content become linked portals to article openers, allowing readers to jump to preferred sections of the magazine; key words become searchable; editorial content and advertisements are enhanced with video demonstrations; Web sites and other URLs in advertisements are launched upon click, making the most of transmedia campaigns and making product demonstrations and virtual tours possible; music, testimonials and other audio is integrated to personalize the reader experience; text to speech capabilities read page content aloud to users; blogs are hosted—masked within links on letters-to-the-editor pages, yielding to participatory culture and encouraging contributory content from readers. The features are substantial and growing as publishers and contributors get more creative.

Many of these interfaces allow readers to access digital magazine editions and the integrated features with readability both offline—when downloaded to their computers, PDAs or iPhones—and online through Web browsers. Digital readers and interactive interfaces run the gamut in service, the most popular among them hosting online, digital “newsstands” as a means of providing both sales and distribution via the password-protected digital reader. Few opportunities like this exist for lesser known publications. Digital interface providers provide a rare opportunity for product positioning. In this virtual newsstand, a reader with a particular interest in say, antique cars, could visit a provider’s virtual newsstand. Here, a simple search of “cars” will produce search results for all specialty magazines related to cars. A smaller publication then, is given the same visibility as its more popular counterparts. This is a positioning strategy that does not exist for many small publications at traditional newsstands and retailers. iMirus, Nxtbook Media and Zinio all offer this virtual newsstand. Zinio however, makes the potential for visibility even more rewarding, as it has also fostered an exclusive relationship with book retailer Barnes & Noble to sell publications as the premier “e-tailer” on behalf of publishers both great and small.

Also high among reader survey comments is the need for scanability and improved portability. Many readers like to archive articles for future reference and/or share with their colleagues. They want to do this: 1) in a way that does not compromise the quality of the piece in terms of resolution; scanning a printed article does not always produce the best output, and 2) they want to do this in a way that does not comprise the condition of the magazine; those who archive their magazines in volumes will want each edition to remain in its pristine condition, a guarantee one does not have when he or she shares with a colleague. Digital formats address each of these needs in a screen optimized, shareable solution. According to Mark Grimms, marketing director at Nxtbook Media, these readers “want to be able to search when they want to search and browse when they want to browse and contribute when they want to contribute.” This desire to contribute is the key characteristic in what we observe in the participatory culture that prevails amongst users and diffusers of new media.

Publications both great and small can offer a digital edition, extending their reach and visibility both domestically and internationally at a minimal cost. The range of costs for creating a digital version is from $250 to $2000 a month, and the byproduct of this low-risk, low entry-cost add-on is priceless. Digital subscribers, reader surveys find, are a substantial sample of dedicated subscribers. One publication, Landscape Architecture—the magazine of the American Society of Landscape Architects—found that 22 percent of its readers would prefer to receive a digital copy to supplement print editions. Additionally, 23 percent of the readers surveyed said that they would opt out of receiving the print version, to receive only the digital version. If such results are generalizable for all publishers and publications, this is good news for those who manage production and distribution costs, especially during a time when fuel surcharges and shipping costs are skyrocketing, and the pressures of “going green” mean costly transitions to environmentally friendly paper and ink sources and supplies.

Earned Media and Advertising for Strategic Communications

So what are the considerations for strategic communications? As public relations and communications practitioners, we know the value of both earned media and strategic advertising. The opportunities for both lie within digital magazines.

Marcus Grimm, marketing director for Nxtbook Media says there are three truisms that are generalizable for many of the publishers of interactive digital magazines, and their interfaces. First, Grimm warns that publishers should not have unreasonable expectations about the number of digital subscribers versus the number of visits to a Web site. He suggests that, just as many readers will not pick up a print magazine when they know they have little time to digest, the same behavior is engaged when reading a digital version—a behavior he refers to as “magazine mode.” Alternatively, web sites do not require the same time investment or commitment, allowing users to access specific information and depart quickly. Conversely, the traffic that a digital magazine receives will be engaged much longer, having entered that magazine mode. The last truism—the “click-through” rate for digital magazines is much generally higher than the click through rates on the publications’ corporate Web sites.

These truisms are good news for communications professionals, providing measurable assurance that they are reaching their key demographics. A 2006 survey conducted by Texterity, Inc. and BPA Worldwide revealed that most readers take some form of action after reading an ad. Among those surveyed:

• 83 percent looked at an advertiser’s Web site
• 41 percent forwarded advertiser information to a friend/colleague
• 37 percent contacted the advertiser for more information

Communications practitioners will effectively reach a key demographic of consumers 18 to 34 who are tech-savvy, and in tune to participatory culture and active engagement. Knowing that readers are so inclined to visit active links, strategic communicators will want to include links to Web sites in news releases and advertisements. And if access on their own terms sums up the digital experience, as mentioned above, then the incorporation of real simple syndication feeds is a Web site extension that practitioners cannot afford not to integrate. Through the use of this tool, timely information is always one click away whether a reader is perusing a current or archived digital issue. We have already discussed the increase in visibility for smaller publications; this visibility is equally beneficial for communications practitioners and their campaign efforts as they are able to advertise in smaller, specialty magazines with lower advertising rates but the same reach potential.

Encouraging readers and adopters of new media to migrate to digital versions of their favorite publications is undoubtedly in our favor as communications practitioners. A captive audience; the integration of audio and visual supplements, RSS feeds, enhanced ads, and many more bells and whistles; increased visibility; decreasing production and distribution costs—all at a nominal fee, and all while the publisher still needs to supply only a PDF of the magazine... This is the new face of print magazines—an interactive, digital interface.

For More Information

iMirus
Nxtbook Media
Olive Software
Texterity
Zinio

Sources

BPA Worldwide and Texterity Inc., “Business and Consumer Digital Magazine Reader Survey”

Baxter Research Center, “The State of Digital Magazine Delivery”

Folio Magazine, “Vendor Survey Reveals Readers Satisfied with Digital Magazine Editions”

Landscape Architecture Magazine, “2008 Readers Survey”

Marcus Grim, “What To Expect From Your Digital Magazine”

Rob Gallagher, Senior Sales Director, Zinio

Steve Zdanowicz, Senior PreMedia Specialist, Brown Printing Co.