Digital publishing news for August 19, 2013
The Guardian has a full report on how the luxury titles at Conde’ Nast have been performing. Josh Halliday reports,”Thumping in at 430 pages, the September issue of Vogue is the largest since the financial crash of 2008. More significantly, it carries more advertising than any edition in the past five years, with 272 pages bought by luxury brands including Ralph Lauren, Gucci and Dior. Is this a return to the boom-time at Vogue House?”
However, digital copy sales haven’t hit exponential growth yet. Rob Lynam head of display at media buying agency MEC is quoted saying, “What we’re seeing is marginal growth off an incredibly small base, so it means print sales are even more important to the overall heath of the titles.” Nicholas Coleridge president of Condé Nast International points out that “print itself is declining more slowly than doomsayers foresaw.”
Allure Lets Subscribers Shop On iPads
Woman Wear Daily has a report on how Allure is letting readers shop for products in their digital edition. Kristi Garced writes for WWD, “ShopAdvisor, the shopping-experience company used for tablet magazines like Cosmopolitan, Parenting magazine, Popular Science and more, is launching an e-commerce element for Allure’s mobile app.” Allure.com has been offering products via their website since 2011 but they now want to bring that experience to their digital subscribers. Garced adds,”The magazine worked with ShopAdvisor to implement a “Buy It Later” functionality that mirrors women’s consumer behavior in buying beauty products and allows them to set reminders on saved products. Readers will be able to shop not only the magazine’s editorials but also its interactive advertisements from a list of authorized beauty retailers across Web and mobile platforms.”
This type of tablet / e-commerce integration could be a big source of additional revenue for publishers.
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The New Yorker Gets a Business Blog
Fisbowl NY reports that The New Yorker has launched a new business blog called Currency. Chris O’Shea writes, “Currency joins a slew of other business blogs out there, but it instantly gets some credit because it’s found on NewYorker.com. And true to form, there’s already some quality content posted, such as a look back at some of the more famous businesspeople the New Yorker has profiled from the past 80 years.” Did somebody say recycled magazine content?
Serious Eats Debuts Digital Magazine
GrubStreet.com reports that Serious Eats has launched a new app-based digitalmagazine. Hugh Merwin reports,”issues will be themed, and the first is all about cooking things outdoors with fire, and as such, it includes recipes, an essential-equipment guide, taste tests, and more.” They have just released their first issue which has a grilling theme. Subscriptions will cost $19.99 a year.
New Editor In Chief at Martha Stewart Living
Fishbowl NY reports that Eric Pike has been named the new editor-in-chief at Martha Stewart Living. He has been with the publication since 1992.
