Writing is on the wall. Dwindling circulation/readership numbers, shrinking advertising volumes, overcrowded landscape, Magazines are really up against it. It's a daunting task to survive through all this carnage if you are a magazine publisher. Who would have thought, less than a year back that the joyride would come to an abrupt halt and topple the applecart in the worst possible manner.
No one has managed to come out unscathed. Every single publisher, be it a broadsheet or a magazine has borne the brunt of the slowdown. Contrary to the preachings of the marketing n advertising Guru's, the first thing that goes under the hammer is the advertising budget when the going gets tough. Remember what famous Henry Ford said once, " Half of all advertising is a waste of money; we just don't know which half ". So rather than trying to figure which half to focus on our esteemed advertisers have decided to play safe and save on every single dollar/rupee.
Pick-up any magazine and you'll understand what I mean.Due to lack of advertising revenues, even the editorial pages have taken a hit and publishers have been forced to scale down the number of pages. Magazine's have already started looking at corrective measures, like upping the cover price, change of frequency , closing down non profitable titles etc.
But I still feel that, no one has really come out with a strong long term blue print to survive and thrive. Everyone has resorted to short term measures. There has to be a paradigm shift the way magazines are published and sold. Nokia is not the same company it used to be about a decade back, nor is HP,two of the biggest advertisers. These are companies at the cutting edge of technology. Tech leaders who are looking for very innovative, clutter - bursting advertising solutions in real time.
I think we've reached a stage where both the publisher and the advertiser will have to be partners in the real sense and look at a complete new business approach.
Think about it !!
And I am not taking off my thinking cap, just yet.
