Publication Dysfunction
Posted on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 4:58 PM
So this guy asks me what can he do to improve the fortunes of the local
magazine he acquired. He bought it nearly a year ago when it was sold
off by a downsizing chain. The publication had been a nonperforming
asset for the chain. In this economy, it was a high-risk acquisition for
the new owner. But given the McPublication approach many chains have
used to operate their properties, it was reasonable to assume there is
much that can be done with this publication to change its fortunes for
the better.
I conducted an analysis of what the new owner had
been doing. What I found offers some lessons for the operator of any
publication -- ranging from a local magazine or newspaper, to one on a
national or international scale.
Here is what I found:
1.
The owner recognized there was not enough advertising potential in the
limited geographical area the publication had served. The publication's
name was tied to that location. To pave the way for expanding the
territory, the owner changed the name. That was a good move. But he blew
it. The new name was so generic-sounding (I won't mention it here) that
the publication might as well've been called "A Magazine." Surely, it
would have been better to have chosen a new name with some affinity to
the larger territory that he wanted to serve, or to have at least
focus-group tested his choice against alternatives.
2. This is a
print publication, with no discernable Web presence. Circulation is
free, with bulk distribution being made to local retailers and other
public locations. There's no hard and fast data on how many copies
actually are read. There is no means for producing a demographic and
psychographic profile of readers. There is no data on the spending
propensities and proclivities of the readers, whoever they are.
3.
While content is being produced by experienced, professional
journalists, there is no mechanism for finding out what readers are
actually interested in and which stories resonate with them.
4.
No methodical assessment has been made of the advertising market. As a
result there is no intelligent basis for targeting market segments or
for aggregating an audience that would be a good match for
as-yet-unidentified hot segments of the ad market.
The
bottom-line of my analysis of this publication is that it is
dysfunctional. That means that the reason the publication is not
achieving greater success is because of the way in which the publication
itself operates.
This publication needs to make its money by
selling advertising space. Yet it has only a superficial understanding
of the ad market. That in turn makes it impossible to make intelligent
decisions about how to aggregate an audience that would be productive
for the advertisers. In turn that makes it impossible to know what kind
of content will be successful in attracting and sustaining the interest
of the desired readers. And of course that leaves completely undefined
the matter of how best to circulate the publication, including the
question of what should be in print and what online.
When
confronted with this analysis, what did the owner have to say? He
replied that he had read about all this "theoretical kind of stuff"
years ago. But right now what he needs is someone who knows how to sell
advertising.
What's wrong with his response?
First of all,
he does not seem to realize that advertising space in a publication has
no intrinsic value. The space itself is virtually worthless. It only
acquires value when it performs a real service for the advertiser. And
usually, that means connecting the advertiser's message with a consumer
base that is inclined to buy.
And second, even if the owner did
find "someone who knows how to sell advertising," it would be only a
matter of time before advertisers would discover that the money they
were putting into advertising in this publication is not bearing fruit.
The
business approach being used by this owner is one that I call
"blundering through." Instead of taking the kind of strategic approach
described above, i.e., starting with a methodical analysis of the ad
market, and finishing with the design of a circulation plan, this guy
has started with the last step. He's picked a method of circulation. His
choice was simply one of convenience and cost containment. The result is
that readers are picked somewhat randomly and without knowledge of their
interests. That leaves editorial functioning in a vacuum. And
advertisers, well, they're left with a veritable boondoggle opportunity
for spending their ad money with this publication.
The
"blundering through" method of publication management can sometimes
actually be successful. At times when the economy is supercharged,
publications that are so managed can be seen succeeding. But when the
going gets tough, those publications are usually the first to fall.
Now
that the worst of the recession seems to be behind us, it is time to
look seriously at where you will go from here. Having survived the
crisis, what can you now do to regain strength?
My recommendation
is that you make a frank assessment of your business plans and
strategies. Are there any elements of the "blundering through" method
present? If so, now is the time to rethink them. Take a more analytic
look at the external opportunities that are before you, and follow a
strategy-based path in devising new approaches. Rid your publication of
dysfunction, and you'll have a surer chance of achieving new success.