Adaptability to new market conditions and technology, editorial excellence and a flexible organization are the keys to success in the magazine business, according to Per R. Mortensen, former president and CEO of the International Federation of the Periodical Press.
Mortensen gave the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2001 International Magazine Conference of Taipei yesterday morning.
The senior publisher, with extensive experience in publishing, sales and marketing said that the publishing industry has been flourishing despite repeated predictions from "visionaries" that "print was heading for death -- made extinct by electronic and digital media."
Mortensen said that the economic slowdown inflicted a general weakening of global consumer confidence and the terrorist attacks on the US and their aftermath have inevitably affected the publishing industry, especially advertisement income.
The senior media advisor from Norway pointed out that "publications that have made themselves too dependent on advertising are more vulnerable than publications that have a stronger reliability on circulation revenue to cover their fixed costs."
In a time of widespread uncertainty, Mortensen said that there is still tremendous opportunity for the print media. He said that the successful publisher of the Hearst Group, Cathie Black, has pointed out the advantages of magazines as "affordable," "flexible," "portable," and "rich in content."
Facing an age of changes, Mortensen spoke of the importance of niche building.
"Innovation and creativity are the two most important factors in building success stories in our industry," he said.
Clear concepts with clearly defined target audiences is the key of most successful global brands, such as Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, ELLE, Marie Claire, Vogue, FHM, Playboy and Men's Health, he said.
Referring to the development of electronic and digital media, Mortensen said that "besides creating new threats and opportunities for our industry, new technology has also helped reduce our production costs and made it easier to develop new titles."
He said that new production technologies have made quality improvements possible and desktop publishing has made start-ups less costly.
Moreover, he said, the globalization of the magazine industry has been made possible largely because TV and the Internet have created a global marketplace where trends and fashion travels instantaneously across the world. The same is true of news and features, he added.
While the "giving away everything for free policy" of the Internet has somehow affected the media business as a whole, Mortensen said that profitable sites are adopting a more targeted approach and trying to get readers to pay for what they want.
"Clearly defined audiences must be targeted with valuable content to create loyal visitors that will return," according to Mortensen. He said that the Internet is a significant channel of commerce to enhance the position of the magazine business in the media market.
In order to attract advertisers and sponsors, and to get the readers to pay for what they want, the publisher stressed quality content and services. "Quality is more important than quantity both for publishers and advertisers alike," he said.
A high-level global networker, Mortensen was director of international publishing of the Digital Convergence Corp in London between January and July.
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