The right changes for your magazine

Editor's note: Changes in magazine publishing strategies are necessary for survival in today's marketplace, and author Elizabeth Crow's argument is that publishers must define and then select what changes work for their readers. The following insights are excerpted from a speech given by the author at The Folio:Show in New York City last November.

It would be very dull if the way we did business did not evolve. The players would stay the same; all advantage would be to the guys who were already out front; and a static business environment would encourage sloth and self-satisfaction among market leaders, and despair among latecomers.

But accepting change does not mean embracing every change that comes down the pike. If we did that, we'd be lost. One of my most important jobs is to think about the reasons for each change I am told is "revolutionizing the way we do business, now and forever."

The first change message I've given a lot of thought to is this: Everyone's going off the rate card--and so should you.

When you hear the phrase, "everyone's doing it"--reach for your gun. Or your wallet. At the very least, think for a few minutes about the perils of conformity.

When someone goes off the rate card, it's highly desirable for him to assuage the feeling of guilt that ensues by reassuring himself that everyone is doing it. That way, he feels less guilty; he feels he is part of a growing crowd that must be doing something right; and he believes that it will be okay in the end.

Always, before you go along with the gang, decide what message you're giving about your publication and whether you're bowing to expediency. Run a couple of models to see what the effect of, say, doubling your average discount will be on your bottom line.

And what happens if your ad category declines? What happens if your rate base slips? Or if manufacturing and fulfillment costs suddenly surge?

What may be an expedient change one day can suddenly look hopelessly short-sighted the next. And think, always think, about the message you're giving about your magazine and about the people who are buying your pages.

Are you saying that your readers are just part of an undifferentiated crowd who share some common demographic characteristics? Are you selling your audience as just "tonnage"?

Are you saying that your rates reward growth and loyalty, as a traditional rate card does? Or are you saying that you have no "best customers"--just more or less naive ones.

Sell the virtues of print

Message number two: No one reads anymore. Print just doesn't back it.

Think about print. Yes, it's different from radio and TV and video. I know that curling up with a magazine is not the same as watching a rock video. If you're a reader, it's better.

Think about and talk about--and excel in and sell--the virtues of our medium. Magazines don't need to be propped up with every other sort of media vehicle. Where multimedia sales work, great. Where they don't, believe me, you can still get ahead by producing and selling a magazine people simply want to read.

So, don't accept at face value statements like "Print is dead," or "Print is no longer the dominant medium." Ask yourself whether statements like this are true, whether they reflect your experience or the experience of most people you know. They probably don't.

The third message I think of as the "Son of Sam" message. Remember Son of Sam? He went on a killing spree about 15 years ago, sneaking up and shooting long-haired brunettes who were necking with their boyfriends on Lovers' Lanes. Then, one day, he shot a short-haired blonde. And the Post's headlines the next day screamed, "THE PATTERN IS BROKEN--NO ONE IS SAFE!"

But then the police caught the creep, so the world was safe again for both blondes and brunettes.

This, then, is the third message: Even if the pattern is broken, it doesn't mean that we all have to run for our lives.

Next, ask yourself whether you've fallen for the Son of Sam theory's corollary--the "Apocalyptic Fallacy." This is the specious belief that things change--drastically and irrevocably--overnight.

People and marketplaces change slowly. Progress is made, and change occurs, but usually we have time to adapt and to adjust our businesses. Changing our business is not a matter of leaping on a "change train" that's leaving the station, and if you miss it, you're out of luck.

The final message is this: Some modification is great--and should be welcomed with open arms.

Look at some of the wonderful changes magazines are undergoing now. The first is that magazines are getting stronger and better because we are more respectful of the reader today than in the past.

One of the biggest changes of recent years has been the focus on getting more revenue from circulation. Easiest thing in the world, if you know that this means producing magazines that readers are willing to pay more for. And that means better magazines that are worth more to consumers. Radical change? You bet! But simple, commonsensical--something you knew all along.

If you're slashing rates, you'll inevitably have to cut corners somewhere. You may have to cut your paper weight, reduce trim size, or produce fewer pages. Who suffers? The reader, making it harder for you to charge more for your magazine.

The changes I see coming are mostly good. Produce a magazine that people want to read, charge advertisers and readers a reasonable amount for it, and watch what happens. That's radical change. And it's all for the good. In fact, if these changes occur, nothing ever will be the same again. And a good thing, too.

Elizabeth Crow is president and editorial director of Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing, based in New York City.

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