They Want A New Revolution - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

The British import focusing on Internet marketing hopes to conquer the already crowded new economy category

* A little over two centuries ago, American colonists staged a revolution to throw off the shackles of the British. Now the U.K.'s Haymarket Group seeks to return the favor with a Revolution of its own. Hoping to export the success it had as the leading Internet marketing title in the United Kingdom, Haymarket launched the U.S. version of Revolution in March. A monthly, the title targets sales and marketing professionals who want to take advantage of the digital economy.

Launched three years ago in England, the original Revolution quickly became the largest title covering the digital economy in the United Kingdom. And last October it increased its frequency from monthly to weekly. But according to publisher Vicky Browning, requests from British companies with American parents to spin off a U.S. edition were initially met with cautious reserve.

"We frankly didn't imagine there could possibly be a gap in the U.S. for our kind of title, as we assumed the American market, being so much larger, would already be too crowded," Browning says. "But after analyzing the situation, we found--to our astonishment--that there really wasn't any title specifically focused on the importance of marketing in this economy. And marketing is a tremendous part of this boom. When we learned that, we felt bold enough to see if the success we had in England would translate here."

Meeting the cultural challenge

With an initial controlled circulation of 75,000 and an average of 30 to 50 ad pages per issue, Browning feels the title has started off on the right foot. "There are significant challenges, both personally and professionally, with a launch of this size, and trying to translate something that worked in one country and culture to another," Browning says. "But I think we've found that those challenges are not quite as significant as some might expect. People involved in the digital economy are really a culture all their own, and it can probably be said that Internet entrepreneurs in the U.K or the U.S. or Singapore or anywhere else probably have more in common with one another than they do with their own countrymen, in many cases.

For Browning, the next step in moving the title forward will be overseeing Haymarket's plan to convert from controlled to paid circulation, a process the company predicts will take one to two years. Annual subscriptions will begin at $24.

Finding a place in the market

Coming over from the original Revolution, along with Browning, is editor in chief Stovin Hayter, who agrees with Browning that the cultural differences have not posed an insurmountable challenge. "You spell things differently here, but thankfully that might be the most significant change," Hayter says. "What's the same both there and here is that the deluge of data and information about the Internet does little more than add to people's anxiety about it. Our job is to calm those nerves and to cut through the nonsense.

The magazine is entering an area that American titles like The Industry Standard, Business 2.0 and Red Herring have found fruitful, primarily targeting dot.com b-to-b advertisers with an emphasis on sales and promotional products. Initial advertisers include Hoover's Online, Engage, DoubleClick and Promotions.com.

William Cargill, president of Hoover's Online, says he has been a reader of the original title since its inception, and predicts it will translate well in the United States. "The greatest advantage is that we know what we are getting with this--which isn't true with a lot of start-ups," Cargill says. "We're getting the target audience we are looking for, but the best thing about this magazine is that it's a solid editorial product. A lot of these magazines, once you open them up, are nothing but advertising. Revolution actually provides articles people will want to read."

Not all industry insiders predict unqualified success for the title, however. Steven Thompson, publisher of San Francisco-based The Industry Standard, says the biggest challenge Revolution will face is adapting to the size of the U.S. digital market. "It's a truism that we live in a global marketplace--and that's all well and good. But the fact remains that the American Internet economy, and in particular Silicon Valley, is really unlike anywhere else in the world," Thompson says. "I'm a fan of their magazine, and I do wish them well. But we find it pretty common for guys even from New York to have trouble adjusting to or really understanding the Valley. To come in from England, and to adjust to the shear breadth of it--I imagine that would be quite a challenge."

One of Revolution's initial advertisers, who preferred to remain unidentified, also questions whether the editorial niche the title seeks to fill is unique enough to ensure long-term success. "We like the look and feel of the book, which is important, and we hope they succeed and reach their target audience. But whether what they are doing is significantly different--that is yet to be seen," says the source. "They are probably the only title specifically devoted to Internet marketing. But the Internet has become such a crucial marketing tool that that may not matter very much now. All the other marketing titles devote the bulk of their copy to the subject of the Internet--and most of the Internet and Web titles devote the bulk of their copy to the subject of sales and marketing. So, do they stand out? We'll see."

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