Q: Looking back on 2017, what publishing trends particularly stood out for you?
A: A lot of “hypes” became part of daily business reality. Let’s take the ‘cloud’ for example: after many important discussions about bandwidth, security and privacy, running a publishing system in the cloud is widespread now – it’s a common alternative to on-premises installations. Another example is digital publishing. For years, Adobe DPS/AEM Mobile was a key technology to publish magazines on tablets or smartphones. But, last year, other products (eg. Twixl Publisher) entered the market, providing more cost-effective solutions and gaining significant market share. At the same time, you see more and more publishers using an editorial system integrated with a web CMS to deliver content for mobile devices instead.
Q: In terms of content creation, how is the market evolving?
A: We believe that there's demand for solutions that feel lighter and aren't geared strictly towards publishing houses. The younger generation of content marketers and digital natives is at home in the browser, working content first. They drag and drop text, images and videos in from a database, link the team via Trello and/or Google Docs, and create workflows on the fly in Slack, for example, to distribute content via Hootsuite, WordPress or HubSpot. We're talking about an entirely different approach. Established tools such as InDesign, InCopy and QuarkXPress really are being challenged. It’s about speed, flexibility and costs, of course. But more than anything, it's about easy handling. These days, no one has time for months of training. Incidentally, the same can be said for system administration and even IT infrastructure.
Q: What advice would you give publishers looking to make their editorial workflows more efficient?
A: Most publishers already own an editorial system but only a few use it to its full potential. Workflows could be so much better but in many cases, users don’t know much about the details of a system feature or how to use built-in automated workflows. So, publishers should invest in training their staff and they should ask their integrator to help them get the most out of their system.
Q: Do you have any publishing predictions for 2018?
A: I expect that the hype around Artificial Intelligence will continue. Publishers have already turned toward programmatic advertising, and programmatic video has huge potential to deliver advertising boosts. So, publishers have to find the right strategy for their publications and how to make money with it. However, leveraging AI will mean investing more time in quality control.
In addition to that, video was already a trend in 2017, and it will continue to be a large investment for publishers in 2018 as well. Publishers will take a more strategic approach to creating video content. Longer form, higher quality video will be essential to capture a reader’s attention as people become accustomed to watching more video for a longer period of time.
Q: What’s coming next from vjoon?
A: We have been developing our digital asset management (DAM) capabilities. In the past, we focused mainly on extending DAM functionality within vjoon K4. Today, users can already manage image workflows, extensive metadata and all production-related assets in vjoon K4. Working with other DAM providers has been a good experience, so we'll continue to collaborate. On top of that, we want to make the most of our know-how to benefit our customers, and to bring our own product to market – an optimally integrated solution. We plan to unveil the new DAM product at our next vjoonity conference, along with a new version of vjoon K4.
vjoon, a fixture in the publishing market since 1990, is a leading developer of software solutions for the management of digital content. vjoon rapidly integrates technology innovations into its solutions and consistently develops its products to meet market needs. vjoon’s flagship product vjoon K4 is one of the most innovative multichannel publishing platforms available in the market and lets you deliver your valuable content to any output channel – online, mobile or print. Renowned customers worldwide and in configurations from 3 to more than 1,500 concurrent users benefit from this sophisticated solution.
Email: press@vjoon.com
Web: www.vjoon.com
