from digital marketing and advertising agency eMarketer, US print ad revenue alone was expected to increase to only US$15.19 billion by the end of 2012, an insignificant shift of 0.3 per cent from 2011’s US$15.15 billion. The precipitous declines of 11.7 per cent in 2008 and 25.6 per cent in 2009 in the United States and other losses around the world have seemed as though they would never recover.
And yet, there is hope on the horizon.
Investment firm Veronis Suhler and Stevenson projects improvement over the next several years. The firm sees print advertising recovering modestly and digital spending accelerating. By 2015, the investment company estimates total US magazine revenues will rise to US$23.7 billion.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau
(IAB) was projecting at the end of 2012 that 2013 could be the year that internet advertising revenue finally surpasses print ad revenue (final numbers were not available at press time).
In terms of sheer numbers, the most
exciting — and potentially profitable — way to combat revenue drain requires that publishers execute a paradigm shift of their own. Traditionally objective curators and trendsetters, magazines have rarely given outright endorsements or sold products. But now is no time to rest on tradition. Moving into the retail space offers magazines a new revenue stream, one that
By 2015, investment company Veronis Suhler estimates total US magazine revenues will rise to US$23.7 billion.
could soon surpass traditional ad revenue. While moving magazines into the retail
space may seem like a massive task, it’s actually already a reality. Net-a-Porter, an online fashion retailer with editorial roots, posted profits of almost US$1.9 billion for the 2011-2012 financial year, boosting owner Richemont’s profits a stunning 43 per cent. The company, already running a successful iPad magazine, has plans to launch a print mag sometime over the next year.
Ecommerce on mobile devices alone
topped US$6 billion in 2011; figures are expected to reach $31 billion by 2016 — a near unheard of 517 per cent growth. Former Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl now directs editorial at Gilt Taste, while former Esquire UK editor-in-chief Jeremy Langmead is the editor of Mr. Porter, Net-a-Porter’s menswear site.
If retailers can run successful
magazines, isn’t it feasible for magazines to work as successful retailers? Yes and no.
The Net-a-Porter or Gilt Taste-
like infrastructure required for in-app purchases may be beyond the reach of some smaller publishing companies;