At the Specialist Media Show on 25 May, hundreds of opinion-formers in specialist print and digital publishing and events gathered to share ideas and pick up tips from experts and peers. We interviewed a selection of visitors, speakers and suppliers and captured their thinking in this short video.
The main theme was that publishers are thinking more broadly about their business, and embracing a wider range of platforms, from print to live events, online and mobile, and extending their content repertoire from just words and pictures to cover everything from data to video. The explosion of data means far greater accountability for marketing activity, and more insight into the content that readers really value.
The main challenge for publishers, according to Sean O Driscoll, MD of David Hall Publishing, is the decline in printed magazines, the migration of advertisers to digital channels and the search by publishers for alternative revenue sources.
Iain Sidney, Publisher of Bike Jobs, wants to be able to move readers from print to web to mobile and back again and make money from each platform.
James Ormiston, MD of Circdata, feels publishers have to move beyond the idea of circulation and now need to think of themselves as media owners, and instead look at their "audience" across print, events and digital.
John Hazell, Commercial Director of Netcopy, who provide online digital archiving services to print publishers, believes that unique, hard to find content can command a premium online, and should be priced close to the print edition.
Peter Houston, Director of Content for Advanstar, advocates publishers re-using content in as many different places as possible. Content can be repackaged and re-used, and, if necessary, repeated: not a problem to those who didn’t see it the first time!
Fiona Ryder, CEO of Stream Exchange, suggests that publishers consider video as a revenue generating opportunity, not just a cost-centre.
Ashley Friedlein, CEO of Econsultancy, urges publishers to put as much emphasis on data and analytics as retailers do; to fully understand where their marketing is working and where it is not.
Chris Took of Pagesuite gives an example of a publisher app that had linked their database with a major promotion for an advertiser.
University of Leicester students interviewed visitors to the show about their big issues and reasons for attending. Their main conclusions were that specialist media people know that digital media will be important to their business, but their key challenges are the pace of change and how to grow revenues from readers and advertisers:
“I think brand visibility will be difficult in digital media and it is difficult to keep up with the different sources. e.g. mobile apps.”
“There are many challenges that our company will face in the future: competition; keeping costs low; monitoring returns from digital media; but potential huge opportunities”
“The main challenge I believe is to be able to build communities and readers.”
“Convincing advertisers to use all the channels especially via digital media.”
“We would like to expand to new online media, getting people to pay. Also finding ways to link buyers and sellers through different media.”
Their motivation to attend the event was to learn and network:
“It always surprises me what opportunities there are at events like these and it’s stimulating to meet people in a similar situation.”
“I came to get a complete picture of digital media publishing and find creative ideas for the future.”
The aim of the Specialist Media Show is to get publishers talking about their challenges, sharing ideas, being inspired by what others are doing, and learning about new opportunities in publishing.
