Go digital to woo advertisers, print magazines advised

Here is a mantra for print magazines to survive the digital onslaught.

A study from University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), led by an Indian-origin researcher Ambarish Chandra, has suggested that if print magazines target advertising both in print and companion websites, they can attract more advertising moolah.

"Targeting consumers is as important as ever. If they (advertisers) can reach you via print and online, it's more likely that they can convince you to buy the product," said Chandra, assistant professor at UTSC's department of management.

"It's very clear that circulation of print magazines in all markets has declined because of competition from the Internet. Magazines have to figure out how to embrace and integrate their print products with digital," added Chandra.

In a study of print magazines in Germany, Chandra and professor Ulrich Kaiser of University of Zurich found that magazines create interest around a specific topic, which attracts readers with similar interests.

The more homogeneous the magazine's audience, the more attractive it is for the advertisers looking to target a specific type of consumer, said the study published in the journal Management Science.

"It turns out that people who get their information from more than one medium - called 'multihomers' in the study - are particularly appealing to advertisers," said Chandra.

Magazines with websites would have the advantage over those that don't, because they would attract a homogeneous, targeted audience getting information via more than one format.

Such magazines can therefore charge more for their advertising space, concluded the study.

News magazines, especially weeklies, in India are waking up to the challenges faced by their global counterparts in the face of 24X7 TV, the Internet, and integrated newsrooms that many newspapers have moved to.