In May, a campaign called Magazines, The Power of Print started rolling out in magazines. Have you seen it? We just saw a version of the two-page spread in an August issue of one favorite magazine:
Launched by the five major magazine companies, the campaign is aimed at bolstering the strength of print media and reinforcing the importance of magazines in conjunction with the internet, not opposed to it. We've been sad to see several closings of some of our favorites in recent years, including:
Have you seen the Power of Print campaign when flipping through the pages of a print magazine? What do you think? Are you still a subscriber to print magazines? We find that print media will always offer something the internet simply can't. What about you?
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I love getting print magazines in my mailbox! One of my favorite afternoon relaxation rituals is to lay back on the bench on my veranda and read one of my new home magazines.
I love magazines and print and always will. I keep magazines for a ridiculously long time, and cut out articles to keep in binders. Also, magazines are perfect for the bathtub with a glass of wine and a bunch of bubbles (yes, I have installed a reading rack in the tub. It's bliss, lemme tell ya).
I love these campaigns, but it's a shame they have to do them in the first place! Though I don't think the magazine industry will ever truly die.
You don't have to convince me. I spend a ridiculous amount of money to find LivingEtc in my mailbox every month. Totally worth it.
Magazines are really just going through a consolidation. We are down from 20 good home magazine to about 15. The markets are flooded with too many magazines. The only thing keeping them alive was overpriced and over paid advertising budgets. During the recession advertising was cut and the least profitable fell. I really miss Domino. I miss Gourmet also. I liked Met Home but I would rather read Dwell. When you have Dwell do you need Met Home? The campaigns are good.
The thing with magazine advertising over web and television is if you produce a really good ad, it will hold the consumers interest 10 fold. We can fast forward through commercials and ignore at's sidebar ads, but when you look at a spread in a magazine, it has the power to attract you and get you more interested. Of course Web ads let you click through, which is a huge plus.
I've seen it and I was excited about it. I currently have NO magazine subscriptions, and I miss them. But here's my record so far:
I subscribed to Organic Style (it folded after I got one issue)
Budget Living (I don't think I got any before it went under)
Blueprint (I got three much beloved issues before it's death)
Domino (I got about 9 month before it folded)
Gourmet (I really thought I was safe there. I mean, it had been around HOW long?)
Sigh. I eventually accepted that I kill magazines, merely by subscribing to them. So I have none right now. Superstitious, and ridiculous, I know. Someone convince me that its not my fault!
My magazine subscription (not including my wife's) has whittled down from twelve to five. While some subscriptions were simply lost to untimely deaths (gourmet, domino), others were fallouts from the internet (juxtapoz, dwell). That being said, I will always subscribe to magazines, but perhaps to a lesser degree. The permanence and tangibility of magazines are unmatched, but the timeliness and abundance of information on the web is slowly killing the industry.
I do love the power of print campaign, but in my case, it's just preaching to the choir.
Jesus, cedargr0! Please don't ever subscribe to Dwell.
You can, though, subscribe to Glamour all...you...want.
; )
I was just thinking about this issue yesterday -- asking myself if I will ever fully embrace the online mags. Now that I have my laptop, I can go out on the hammock on a nice day and peruse right? But at one point in the afternoon I saw my chance to steal away from the kids for a bit and I yearned to gather a few magazines. At this point, I have to settle for rereading my old Dominos & Blueprints. I still have one subscription, but it was my least favorite of all that I used to have.
For me, the worst part about a magazine I subscribe to folding (besides not getting the magazine) is the terrible substitute I get in its place. I'm not sure which magazine departure resulted in my subscription to Glamour, but it is of absolutely no interest or use to me. I think Domino was replaced with SELF in my mailbox? Hatehatehate.
When my magazines fold and get replaced with crap, I always call to get the balance of my subscription fee back. I'm still mourning the loss of Budget Living. I did buy their book, Home Cheap Home, for a dollar on Amazon last year, even though I had already received every magazine they published.
I subscribe to Real Simple, Better Homes & Garden, NewsWeek and then some trade publications for my husband (he's a home builder). I love getting new magazines in the mail and reading them at my leisure. I'm overwhelmed with the amount of information available on the internet sometimes and a magazine puts a small sampling of what's available every month into a format that is easier for me to process. I already stare at a computer for 9 hours a day at work. I hardly want to then go home and spend another 4 of my leisure time.
I just can't curl up with a computer! I need some separation of work and my life!
The 'Power of Print' campaign is interesting. As much as I love print magazines, although it does strike me as a little desperate coming from a bunch of companies that are dying for profit.
Currently I don't have any magazine subscriptions, but I buy magazines off the news stand all the time, and keep meaning to sign up for maghound.com. Very upset about Domino and Blueprint going kaput - I have old issues that I still read occasionally, but I'm moving soon and will most likely be recycling them.
i can't tell you how many times i've gone back to past issues of the best design magazines. over and over they have supplied me with hours of inspiration. laptop views just don't do it for me and never will. i fully support their ad campaign and hope they can successfully revive H&G, MetHome, and Dominoe. for now i won't throw any issues to the recycling bin!
Remember the time when musicians went on tour to promote records.... now is the other way around, they produce records to promote tours...
The same is happening with the print industry... not just magazines, but books, comics, catalogs... you name it....
Why in my right mind (or yours), would i have to leave the COMFORT of my home to SPEND 5 bucks in any magazine when i can get that same info, UPDATED to the last second!! (the mag was printed at least 2 weeks ago).
That's what is happening with mags and other print material....it is all an evolution, eventually magazines and books willl be replaced by brochures and flyers giving you the name of the website to go to...
I did see that ad campaign, and found it very interesting. I hope maybe it helps. It probably won't, though, and was just something to waste money the print mags don't have.
I have every issue of Domino and I'll never let them go. I really miss Budget Living, too, as somebody mentioned.
I'll never give up on magazines!
@BetterBombshell, when Domino folded, they sent me Architectural Digest in its place. Ugh!
I receive sooo many print magazines that my husband may have to move out! Kidding! But I love them, save them, use images as inspiration for art & design projects, recycle them and when I can bear to part with them, I pass them on to someone else who will appreciate them!
@BetterBombshell & Jeff C - you should have gotten something in the mail saying you had a choice to switch to another magazine....otherwise you would get either Glamour or Architectural Digest. Nothing holds a candle to Domino....I have carried all of their past issues with me on several moves, it costed a pretty penny to ship them but I just couldn't bear to part with them.
I'm a huge supporter of magazines! I will support this cause. I subscribe to all the major home decor magazines, because that is the line of work that I am in...
I subscribed to Domino (because of the comments on this blog, actually) and was bummed when it folded. They sent me Glamour. Yeech. I get it, I give it away to a younger gal I know..... I should have asked for a refund. Why couldn't they send me Vanity Fair or something good???
I *did* phone to ask for a refund -- twice, from Switzerland. And I still keep getting that stupid Allure in my mailbox...
But yes, this campaign is preaching to the choir -- I mean, I subscribe to Living Etc., and have never let my MSL lapse...
My magazine stash is what gives me the biggest worries for when we move back to North America... I still can't bring myself to tear and file Marie Claire Maison (and will never be able to do that to Living Etc.)...
There was Domino, Wondertime, Cookie, Met Home...
I think magazines need to get better content wise. I just don't see things that inspire me anymore so I've definitely been buying less and less of them over the years.They just don't take very many chances anymore. I thought what happened to Readymade was a tragedy.
The truth of the matter...and it stings...is that people on a consistent whole don't wanna ante up to support and industry that is now available for free online.
Most people think free when it comes to content but content is laborious and costs to produce.....yet droves of people simply do not care....
i think the only thing that'll stop print media bleeding is if the Internet forces consumers to subscribe to an across the board paywall....
But I doubt if that will ever happen....people will find a way to not come out of pocket...
Or, if advertisers pull their support from online vehicles the way they've pulled it from print.
That's why magazines succeed or fail: ad page sales.
Not subscriptions.