Trends, Innovations, and Challenges



Ads & Ideas publisher Jim Elliott recently interviewed Folio Vice President Tony Sibler. The mission: Generate an informed discussion about what’s on the horizon for magazine business.

In summary, there’s bad news and good news coming out of this banter between these market watchers. Among the downside conversation components are this regarding what the magazine community should be afraid of:

“Everyone else is just like the polar bear caught on a melting piece of ice. I hear a lot of talk about how strong media brands will retain advertising strength, and while I believe that in concept, publishers would do very well not to be dismissive of the actual facts. Facebook and Google–two companies–have combined revenue of more than $100 billion. That’s at least double the size of the whole magazine industry. “

The good news is that there are still opportunities and innovations:

“Another promising development is a shift in focus. Magazine companies always used to put their print magazine in the center of the wheel–it was the hub, and ancillary products were out on the spokes. Now, the consumer is at the hub, and a variety of products, including the print magazine, are the spokes. “


Avoiding the "Oops!"