Starter tips for new-media neophytes

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, July 1, 1994 by Barrie J. Atkin

Looking for the entrance ramp to the information superhighway? Follow these directions.

By the end of this decade, most households in the United States will have access via personal computer and/or interactive TV (whether through cable, phone lines, direct broadcast satellite, or a combination of these) to an electronic highway. Imagine virtually unlimited information and entertainment on demand - not just text, but audio, full-motion video, animation and magazine-quality graphics - when you want it and where you want it.

Non-print media are likely to offer significant threats to magazine franchises, but they also represent an opportunity to enter new markets and reach new audiences. You know your company should get moving on the information highway - perhaps your competitors are already revving their engines. Here are some driving tips to help you with your electronic media journey.

Use the new media. The best way to get started is to use the new media, play them, view them. If you are uncomfortable with computers, ask others (colleagues, friends, or computer-savvy children) to demo the CD-ROM titles and online services for you. Visit retailers that sell multimedia software. Talk with the sales staff about their perception of the market. Try out some CD-ROM titles whose content relates to your franchise. You should also explore the online services: CompuServe, Prodigy, America Online, Delphi, Genie and ZiffNet - among others.

Finally, purchase one or more multimedia computers and some CD-ROM software to share with your colleagues leagues and staff.

Find out what's happening. Read industry publications. There are many excellent magazines and newsletters covering multimedia developments. Attend conferences and trade shows such as the New Media Expo, CD-ROM World, Intermedia, New Media Summit, Mac-World, Multimedia Expo and the Consumer Electronics Show. If conferences aren't in your budget, purchase the tapes or transcripts of selected seminars.

Talk with other publishers, consultants and industry experts about what they're doing and their view of the future. Talk with software publishers such as Microsoft and Apple. What do they see as a market for your material?

Spread the knowledge. It's important to develop high levels of knowledge about, and comfort with, multimedia throughout your organization. Create an in-house, cross-department "New Media Watch" group. Because everyone is already pressed for time, members could each take responsibility for reading one or two publications, and then share key developments on a regular basis.

Take a similar approach for conferences and seminars. Spread attendance among key people. Encourage each to spell out the potential implications of what he or she learned for your market and your publications.

Track the competition. in reviewing the competition, be sure to include non-traditional publishers that are producing multimedia content in your fields. Microsoft, for example, is now a major publisher of consumer multimedia CD-ROMs and is developing online services. Software and entertainment companies (such as WordPerfect and LucasArts) and hundreds of smaller start-ups are creating multimedia programs.

Keep in mind that when competitors produce new-media products, they're already ahead of you on the learning curve. And while you work on your first ventures, they are developing new titles as well as improved versions of their earlier works.

Look at the quality of the competition's product, its ease of use, and the relative value versus a print product. Look for titles and services that exploit the new technologies to offer the viewer a truly enhanced experience.

Pricing strategy also bears watching - especially since the cost to develop multimedia products is typically higher than the cost to develop magazines. As the multimedia market expands, price competition is likely to drive retail product prices lower. Consider what sales volume you need to break even at different price points.

Measure customers' multimedia purchases. How soon you get involved will be influenced by your customers' lifestyles. If your customer base is comfortable with technology (e.g., upscale middle managers, college students), you may have a ready audience for new-media products. In contrast, if your customer base includes few computer owners, you will be under less immediate pressure to produce a product. Remember, however, that new media can reach new customers outside your current audience.

Talk to your advertisers about their level of interest in the new media. Ask them what types they're exploring, their levels of investment, and their expectations for interactive advertising.

Evaluate your editorial content. magazines already have the advantages that the new media strive for - ease of access, portability, high-resolution graphics and a targeted audience - all at low cost to the reader. But many print publishers are creating electronic magazines, and some companies are creating CD-ROM periodicals with no print counterpart.