A Magazine Publishers of America conference in the US earlier this week spent considerable time talking about how tablets are taking over. AdWeek has a good report on proceedings.
There’s no doubt about it: tablets are taking over. Eleven percent of the total U.S. population used iPads and various other tablet devices last year. By 2014, that percentage is estimated to rise to 27.7 percent—more than one quarter of the total population, or about 89.5 million people.
Magazine publishers simply have to reach out to this wildly expanding audience, said eMarketer senior analyst Paul Verna, the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s MPA Digital: Swipe Conference. He pointed to statistics that showed that with print failing to bring in new revenue, it’s a necessity that brands jump on the digital bandwagon.
The conference also looked at how publishers attract people to their digital offerings. One contributor commented of the strategy of offering something for free and then charging does not work as people don;t want to pay for what was free.
The US magazine market is quite different to Australia with subscriptions counting for a far greater percentage of magazine sales there compared to here in Australia. US publishers often have a more direct relationship with their customers as a result.
Australian Newsagents have played a key role in providing publishers with a means through which they can showcase titles to shoppers. in our businesses, shoppers can freely browse titles and try before they buy. US publishers don;t have this opportunity and this is why they are leading the charge to embrace digital platforms in pursuit of a more economical route to market.