BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Why Do Good Magazines Die?

BoSacks Readers Speak Out: Why Do Good Magazines Die?

Re: BoSacks: Why Do Good Magazines Die?
I agree with your premise, below. My first job was with House & Garden and it was a heady time, with editors who had tremendous style and clout with the reader and the retailer and a publisher and ad sales staff who were nearly mythic in their ability to convince the advertising community that the House & Garden brand was essential to their media schedule.

The key here was the fact that the "brand" was presented as unique, and advertisers understood clearly what the brand meant, in terms of the emotional connection and importance it had to readers.

I wonder if that was the way the magazine was still being presented to the ad community - and if the reader also understood why they needed to have the magazine as well?

Many magazines believe that just because they have a product that comes out every week, or every month, etc., and appears on the newsstand, or in their customer's mailbox, that they have a "brand". That couldn't be further from the truth!

I think that unless and until the magazine moguls understand that each magazine needs to do what their own best advertising customers wouldn't step foot out the door without doing - and that is to make it clear what is unique, compelling and competitive about the magazine - and what the emotional connection the magazine uniquely has with the reader - we're going to see a lot more titles, old and new, go under. A magazine should be a brand, not a commodity.
(Submitted by a President and CMO)

Re: BoSacks: Why Do Good Magazines Die?
Yes, this is truly astounding. You have to wonder, "What were they thinking?!" They couldn't even sell the old lady onward to someone who saw an opportunity? Must be nice to be that fat, dumb and happy, but if I were a Condé Nast shareholder I'd be screaming bloody murder.
(Submitted by a Publisher and COO)

Re: BoSacks: Why Do Good Magazines Die?
Wow Bobby, taking on the Conde behemoth - you go boy!!
(Submitted by a Senior Publishing Consultant)

Re: BoSacks: Why Do Good Magazines Die?
Bo, the main reason of H&G closing is how Conde Nast manage circulation and advertising. All the income is based on advertising pages and just a little amount on circulation. If H&G had a "good paid circulation", like People or US Weekly, probably it would not had been closed.
(Submitted by a Senior Magazine Rep)

Re: BoSacks: Why Do Good Magazines Die?
Your comments about the unfortunate impact of the influence of youth are spot on. In support of that statement I offer an article in the latest issue of Scientific American discussing something called myelin. Myelin is the white matter underpinning the gray matter of the brain. To the best of my rather basic understanding, the gray matter is a network of firing neurons performing data processing tasks and is, more or less, present at birth. White matter is the infrastructure that, among other things, determines the quality of one's decision making. Myelin, and the advanced decision making abilities it imparts, is not even all there until one reaches his mid-20's. 'Nuff said.
(Submitted by a Printer)

Re: BoSacks: Why Do Good Magazines Die?
Bo, I agree with you and your analysis, and I loved the title of your piece. I think the industry is just damn confused. The big guys, which I am not, don't have any more of an idea where this industry is headed then I do as twenty nine year veteran publisher of four smallish titles. Actually I think I am in a better position to survive the content wars than the so called giants of the industry. I know my readership and they know me. Can any Conde publisher say that? I doubt it. My readers pay me a very fair price for my work and my titles on the newsstand or as a subscription. Can they say that? I doubt it.
(Submitted by a Publisher)