How Do We Get Out of This Mess?

Circulation Management, Nov 1, 2003

Well, they do notice. Look at all the new magazines - Martha Stew-art, Oprah, InStyle. Look at the stock. Look at the size. Production values haven't gone down. Production values for most of the new magazines have gone up, and that is because the consumer expects it.

Another issue is customer service and fulfillment. You have all heard the frustration of customers saying, 'I ordered a book from Amazon.com and, boom, it was there in two days.' Magazines, from close of an order to the subscriber's hands, is what? - two months? It's also a problem at retail. We need to cut the cycle time. It affects circulation economics because the later a person receives a magazine, the less likely that person is to pay.

INVEST IN TALENT AND PRODUCT QUALITY

Looking forward from here, I think money invested in talent, product quality and product development is critical. We have set aside a significant sum for these areas. This is a long-term reap and invest business. By taking the short cuts we've taken over the last five years, and taking advantage of what seemed to be easy opportunities, such as low-cost subscriptions, we are paying the price now.

We've got some catching up to do. The catch up that we have to do is make our magazines better, get them to the consumer more quickly, make them available to the advertiser at the last minute, be able to selectively bind information, be able to selectively tailor information to individual consumers, and try to build that relationship between our two key sources of revenue - the advertiser and the consumer.

The litmus test we have for every dollar we spend is how close can we get that dollar to the consumer - whether it's the advertiser or the reader.

DANIEL B. BREWSTER JR. is president and CEO of G J USA. This article is based on his keynote address at the FMA Day, a Fulfillment Management of America conference.