The Future of Magazines

When Dataquest started in 1982, it was Indian IT industrys second trade magazine (Telematics, the pioneer in this field, packed up several years ago) and all that we knew was that magazines were made of paper. In those times of DOS (am not sure how many of our readers today know what DOS was or have actually seen it) I am sure nobody had even dreamt of Windows and GUI, or web or internet or online. It was beyond imagination that one day magazines will be digital which people will read on their cellphones, and news and articles will be read out to them on IVR systems.

No wonder the print magazine publishing world is a worried lot today, as it gears up to experiment and leverage the new technologies. The recent 38th World Magazine Congress, held in India for the first time, got the big daddies of magazine publishingNational Geographic, Time Inc, BBC, Bauer Media, Mondadori, Conde Nast et, Living Media, IDC, Cyber Media et alfrom across the world including US, Europe, as well as emerging economies such as Vietnam, Brazil and Kazakhastan, and Indonesia.

One of the biggest learning from the deliberations of the publishing gurus was that magazines will have to adapt fast to the changing profiles and expectations of their readers. For instance, the Dataquest reader profile is much different today from what it was 20 years ago in terms of age, reading and lifestyle, information needs, and so on. Dataquest should be able to give information to readers across multiple platforms (mobile, on-line, digimag, besides print), whenever they want.
In effect, there should be an option for readers to pick and choose, instead of getting loaded with a flood of information; there should be a pay as you read model also available for once in a while readers; there should free content as well as premium content for which readers should be charged; there should be integrated programs that not only give news and article, but also offer workshops and conferences, and research reports.

Clearly, the coming days are going to be action packed for us editors and publishers who will work on creating newer, exciting and more value-for-money type of stuffacross different platforms. At the same time, unique and premium content, that will provide the differentiation, will have to be strengthened. The focus will be on building a community, and developing a two way engagement with the community. But more than us, I believe, our readers are likely to see new things.

hey will have a voice in the future of their magazine. It is clear that the readers will be the final beneficiaries.

The future of the magazine is both print and digital. Print is actually seeing a surge in terms of new magazines being launched, more glossy paper being used, and re-positioning magazines as premium products. There are so many strategy options going forward. And they will offer a much higher RoI to our readers and advertisers.

Happy reading.