A panel discussion was held today at the Hearst Tower, the beachhead of House Beautiful, to discuss whether shelter magazines can survive the recession.
It’s an interesting question. With our network of local and regional home design magazines, we’ve seen a sharp drop off in advertising since last October, as local retailers and distributors have responded to the pullback by consumer by significantly curtailing advertising.
Folio: has a good summary of the roundtable. The traditional media people on the panel talked about how to follow consumers online while replicating the experience of the print magazine.
The designer Mitchell Gold made the case for multiple media in marketing programs, and cautioned the media members on the panel to not stray too far from what they do well.
Gold, an advertiser in online and print, said both mediums are still evolving. “Print is changing and online is still figuring out what it’s supposed to look like,” he said. “We recognize that people are doing more than just one thing. Even the most tech savvy people are carrying and reading magazines. Either way, media should focus on doing what it does well, and not tchotchke it up when things get bad.”
The Folio: piece is followed by a comment from a designer who was at the panel. It’s striking.
I was at this panel discussion this morning. Stephen Drucker called House Beautiful an “authority.” Apartment Therapy is a community. That is what struck me. I think both publications have a strong and focused niche, each different, each intensely aware of who their audience is, and a niche is good. I think in both situations, whether mostly community oriented or authoritative so to speak, increased value will surely be had and maintained in large part by increased contributions of design professionals as seen within the editorial content…architects, interior designers, kitchen designers (such as myself) and other specialists (key word) have much to offer.
A media brand today can’t afford to position itself solely as an authority. Ultimately, the community is going to disenfranchise your brand if you can’t connect with them.
