A Sign of the Times.

I've talked plenty about newspapers and print media and their struggles in competing with digitization. Many are still far behind in the transition to online publication, but the New York Times and Prudential teamed up to produce an interactive advertisement that certainly sparks some interest in the media legend.

NYT Interactivity

The idea of the ad on Prudential's end was to promote their products that help to sustain life longevity. Readers could see what was considered front page-worthy on the day they were born, thus showing how much things have changed since that day. In all the time I've spent on the Internet in my life, I don't think I have seen an advertisement work so effectively for both the advertising brand and its host. It encourages interest in both the New York Times and Prudential, and it does so without controversy.

Both brands are established already in their respective fields, but the awareness helps them both in ways that are tough to duplicate.

With many print media sources trying to find a way to move online, an advertising spot like this would encourage readers of the New York Times to visit their site again. Higher traffic will bring more readers, at least numerically, and also increase the opportunity to profit from ad revenue.

Prudential, on the other hand, promotes themselves through the successful execution of their advertisement. They successfully designed a piece of integrated marketing that addresses the interests of the viewership of another company, while also promoting the ideas of themselves at the same time. It's tough to do, but all in all, it's a great approach to a very modern marketing environment.

Running Out of Time.

I talked in my last post about publications needing to move along with digitization. With technology only advancing in its superiority, print media is becoming harder and harder to stand by as a primary source of income for businesses. To fight rapidly decreasing revenues, Time Inc. has been looking to sell off many of its print publications off to other publishers. In an attempt to focus on what they do better, film and television, many big name magazines were supposed to be sold to publisher Meredith. This did not happen, though.

Time Inc. Is Up for Grabs

The company's annual revenue of $28.7 billion is nothing to scoff at, but it has been shrinking recently, in large part because of the digitization of the industry. With so many prestigious publications to their name, it's tough to single out any as worthy or safe enough for an attempt at going digital.

Though the deal with Meredith fell through, Time Inc. is still looking to sell off their publications at some point this year. As long as their other areas of focus stay profitable throughout the year, holding onto this division should not be an issue for the company.

However, it's my opinion that they should hold on to at least a few of their big names, such as Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated. Each of these publications has a wide viewership that can be targeted easily, especially with the name recognition that each has. Frequency of publication varies between each, but a devoted effort to transitioning these titles to the online world could prove worth the effort. Prices for annual subscriptions would not have to come down too much, since consumers would be receiving the same amount of content, and the margin for producing it all would skyrocket. Overall, it could make an already-extremely profitable company even more rich.

Click (and Pay) to Subscribe.

In class, we've talked a good amount about digital subscriptions. Primarily, our conversations were rooted in attempts to find viable solutions for print media as they either combat or go along with digitization.

Digital Subscriptions

The article linked above shows the attempt of some of these print media legends to stay in the game. The Wall Street Journal was one of the main sources mentioned in class discussion, and they are the first mentioned in the article. They are a credible enough source to successfully draw their readers to their online content.

Transparency of pricing has been one of their main concerns, which happens to be a big deal in the digitization field. As more and more information is available online, it is becoming easier for consumers to see just where their money is going. Websites like Kickstarter show just how much of a product's price can be taken out when intermediaries aren't included.

Online publications take out the need for things like printing costs, thus at least partially cutting the cost of subscriptions, whether they be on a monthly or yearly basis. Some sites, like Baseball Prospectus, were started with an online foundation and have expanded slightly, even if only to the publishing of books with research. The margin on collecting money for online subscriptions is simply too high not to pursue over print subscriptions, and it will be vital to the survival of many of the media giants we have known for years.