While the magazine industry struggles to reinvent magazines, magazine consumers are snapping up digital magazine replica editions like hotcakes at a 24/7 IHOP
This reporter has it on good authority that magazine consumers are not as dumb as industry executives had predicted. While some publishers are introducing new video and interactive apps and editions, the digital replica editions are stealing the show.
Said one executive, “We ran an A/B test offer for one of our most popular titles. Half of the group was offered print and the other half our Zinio replica edition. We saw a fifty percent increase in response rate to the digital edition. We were stunned.”
Said one heavy magazine consumer, “I love the digital editions. I can take ten pounds of magazines to the beach without the ten pounds. And I feel good about all the trees that are not dying to feed my magazine obsession.”
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While slightly under nine-percent of the population currently has iPads, the holiday season could see that figure double. Add to that the new Kindle Fire, which industry analysts say could put a tablet device in the hands of another 5M Americans by year end, and it seems certain that tablets will be in the hands of more than 20 percent of Americans by the beginning of 2012.
Add to this the success of the Nook in driving digital magazine replica edition subscriptions, and it’s easy to see why 2012 could be a tipping point for consumer magazine sales.
If you subscribe to one or more digital magazines, tell me about your experience.
If you are hanging tough with print, tell me your story.
All the best,
Don
