Buy 1 book, get 3

Thomas Nelson, a publisher with a 200 year track record and a strong position in Christian media, announced this month that it will publish content that will be available in a physical book, audiobook and e-book. By buying a printed book, consumers will also be able to download the audioversion and the e-version for the same price. Says Joel Miller of Thomas Nelson: " ...By freeing the book we free the reader to get greater use and enjoyment of titles." The concept called NelsonFree got positive press " ...taking advantage of the internet and cheap distribution methods Nelson has dragged the book world into the 21st century."

Direct mail in transformation

A recent report from the Winterberry Group analysed the Direct Mail trends in the USA. One of the most important conclusions is that, under influence of the recession, the use of mass mailings is shifting to more targeted direct mail. In 2008 direct mail spending declined 3%, this is the first decline in more than 60 years. Two other noticable developments are: most marketers have found that online direct mail campaigns are complementary to hard-copy direct mail and an increasing powerful array of marketing automation technologies permit marketers to be more targeted in their direct mail programs

The future of...

Not so often has 'The future of...' been the title of presentations. The economic downturn is accelerating the need to know in which direction industries will move. The UK Institute for Practioners in Advertising (IPA) released a report on the future of advertising titled: 'Social Media Futures - The future of advertising and agencies in a networked society. A 10-year perspective'. The focus of the report is on social networking, and the way this is transforming society. When social media could take the lead in future brand communication, and the ad industry does not react appropriately, the market face a growth of only 1,2% per year in 2016. With social media growing in importance, the paid-for advertising will represent a decreasing share of all advertising activities. The report includes advice for agencies about to benefit from this shift of channels.

IPA Social Media Report

View more presentations from NigelG. (tags: agencies delphi)



Chris Anderson (Wired): some print is dead

At the Creativity World Forum I asked Chris Anderson about the future of print media. His answer that some print is dead balances the consumer interest on one hand and the print media characteristics on the other. Newspapers deliver news that is at least 10 hours old, the internet brings it instantaneously. Anderson believes that newspapers will therefore die. Weekly magazines will have a difficult time, monthly magazines have a stronger position. They can exploit the fact that readers are interested in analysis and depth and appreciate the general lay out of magazines. Anderson supported this with his own magazine Wired; stories in Wired are up to 8000 words and the design of graphs and pages add to the depth of the articles. Wired has tried to translate the same reading experience to the web but didn't succeed. Finally books offer a total immersion in the subject and therfore they will continue to exists.

Thirty years of Dutch digital natives media consumption

Dutch digital natives display an astonishing shift in media consumption based upon time serie data. The data indicate an increase in total time spent with media, but a decrease of print media, radio and music and television. Time spent with internet is almost the same as with television. These data confirm what we probably have guessed to be the situation. And also calls for an industry-wide reaction.

Traditional and new media winners in Brussels

Today I went to the award ceremony of the Enterprise of the Year of Ernst & Young. The winner of this award and of the Flemish award for the most talented company proved to be two antipoles: CartaMundi was the winner of the serious Enterprise of the Year award and Netlog was chosen the most talented company. CartaMundi is a world leader in the production of all kinds of playing cards, cards used in Las Vegas or Pokemon cards collected by kids. Netlog is the Belgian-based European leader in social networking. Both represent social networking: the traditional and the new way. Social networking for the digital immigrants and for digital natives.

Use less paper - by Xerox

Yesterday Xerox Belgium organised an event titled Paperless Attitude. Almost 400 people representing end users, printers, creative people and service providers attended the session. Xerox presented various ways how their machines can help to manage paper use and paper flows. Pierre Collette, head of communications, told his audience that 80% of all printed documents have a life time of less than 24 hours! Being more conscious about the use of paper should therefore certainly be on everybody's agenda. But a lot more needs to be done to achieve this paperless attitude.

Prima speech in Helsinki

On Tuesday June 5 I will be addressing the audience of the PRIMAPulPaper Conference in Helsinki. This Conference deals with the major developments and opportunities in this industry. This Conference has become the world-leading event in the pulp and paper industry. I will be talking about the changes in the print media world especially from an advertisers point of view. What is the overall outlook and how can media companies and brands anticipate?

A digital future till 2015

The Museum of Media History produced a view of the impact of the internet on newspapers and media consumption in general. The short movie shows in a dramatic way the impact of technology on the gathering, making and distribution of the news.