Brand publishers and disruptive experiences that can live beyond swipes and taps are among the key trends that will continue to transform the omni-channel universe in 2016, according to the second Print in a Digital World report from Toronto’s St. Joseph Communications.
Michael Chase, chief marketing officer for St. Joseph in Toronto, said the content model (“what are my customers interested in?”) has supplanted the marketing model (“I have something I need to tell them”) as one of the key engagement tactics in the digital world.
He said even digital disruptors like Airbnb and Uber are relying on print magazines to cut through the so-called “digital clutter,” though they are just “one of the pieces” in a vast content matrix.
“Very rarely does print live on its own today,” said Chase, citing the myriad digital extensions of St. Joseph’s flagship title Toronto Life.
While magazine brands have moved from “months to moments” in an attempt to find their place in the omni-channel universe, they continue to excel at the storytelling that is so important to engaging consumers, he said.
The report said the rise of so-called “brand publishers” would continue to be a key trend in 2016, giving companies that possess strong editorial capabilities an advantage in a digital environment that Chase said is in danger of becoming a “melee of meh.”
“I don’t think mediocre is ever good enough,” said Chase. “The world of quality, and of interesting and engaging content is the thing that’s upon us. I think people will always migrate to that.
“The vacuum that’s getting created out there is for content,” he added. “But it’s for really good content: Well-researched, well put-together, with a plotline and a purpose. Building things for this new world is about that storytelling.”
He said traditional publishers like St. Joseph’s have moved from selling ad pages to building audience communities, while at the same time incorporating technological acumen that makes its initiatives relevant to contemporary audiences.
St. Joseph’s launched its content marketing division Strategic Content Labs last year, populating it with longtime publishing executives including TC Media’s Jacqueline Loch and Postmedia Network’s Duncan Clark.
“We’re just bringing more people on with a better multi-channel, omni-channel pedigree that know how to build for this,” said Chase. Strategic Content Labs is currently working with clients including jewellery retailer Birks and the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA).
The new division represents a “follow the money” strategy, said Chase. “This is where the market is going, it’s what people are asking for and what people are engaging with, so if that’s the case, who are we to say ‘Let’s not do that.’ This is one degree separated from what we currently do.”
The online report features examples of “print” products that have gone beyond the medium’s accepted capabilities, such as a Brazilian barbeque company called Tramontina that created a physical product called the Biblia Definitiva Do Churrasco (The Bible of Barbeque) whose pages were comprised of usable charcoal, igniter fluid, an apron and knife sharpener.
Elsewhere, the Nescafe brand endeavoured to make reading a newspaper a less lonely experience by inserting two pop-up paper mugs and instant coffee into copies of the free Metro daily.
Chase said there is still a lot of capability for disruptive innovation in the publishing world, and marketers are doing themselves a disservice by regarding it as “traditional.”
“If you look at it and say ‘Oh it’s print and print’s going to die,’ that’s you not being innovative,” he said. “If you really think about your customer and what’s going to engage them, and if you can get them to that emotion, you’ve connected with them. It doesn’t matter what it is.”
