An interview with DRAFTED magazine

Since DRAFTED magazine first came onto the scene in 2012, its aim has been to fuse print and digital content in an innovative and interactive way as we continue to witness the gradual decline of print.

Through the use of augmented reality app Blippar, the popular culture magazine brings printed content to life at the click of a smartphone button – from fashion and celebrity features, to comment pieces and lifestyle guides – opening up a world of exclusive and interactive digital content that allows readers to purchase off the page.

So, as it enters its third year of publication and prepares to extend its print run from 10,000 to 100,000, Newsline spoke with the magazine’s founder, Kyle Goodwin, to see where DRAFTED is now and what we can expect in 2015.

How are you combining traditional print with digital?

Our entire business model is based around the combination of print and digital. What we’ve created is a print publication which has many of the similar attributes to being on a website – such as being able to open other tabs, and such.

We’re in a position where we can be quite brave and embrace emerging technology that is happening around us and apply it to a traditional platform like we do.

What we’ve created is an instant link between print and digital media, and within seconds you go from the physical world to the digital world in a way that’s easily accessible and very much user-friendly.

What would you say to somebody that says print is a dying medium?

It’s a very sad thought. In a lot of ways it’s our responsibility as publishers to make sure that doesn’t happen and that there is still a value to print.

The levels of engagement are very different between print and digital; there’s an overwhelming amount of options when you’re looking at media digitally, whereas with print you get more of a personal, in-depth connection, with less of the instant gratification that you get with digital media where you flick and flick through different articles.

It’s far more enjoyable to absorb yourself in print media – and particularly with a title or publication that is close to you that you’ve been reading for years. That’s a very important part of how we absorb media and how we obtain our information in life, and there will always be a place for that.

We have a responsibility to look to the future and to be able to apply the digital world to what we know and love already.

How have advertisers responded to DRAFTED?

We’re at a point where a lot of brands are open to moving away from traditional forms of advertising and connecting with readers on a different level.

We see advertising becoming much more of a content-driven industry than it ever has been before and it’s an exciting time for media. At the moment it feels like the playing field is more open than it’s ever been and everyone is very open to new ideas.

For so long print advertising has been about ink on a page and brands are having to almost cross their fingers and hope for the best in terms of readers engaging with the advert, which is so limited by the specifications of the page.

Now we’re at a point where advertisers and brands can strengthen their flat advert campaigns with engaging content and really showcase their personality a lot more and show a more human side to the brand and engage with readers on a far deeper and more personal level.

What are your thoughts on native advertising? Is it something you do/would like to?

I think it’s very different between digital and print media – there’s a lot more value to native advertising in print media, the main reason being that you immediately eliminate the click-bait factor that you get with native advertising in digital media.

It’s something we do, but as a magazine we’re extremely conscious about maintaining editorial integrity; we’re very specific about who we take on in terms of native advertising because, as far as we’re concerned, there has to be an element of engaging content to it and a synergy between the editorial and the brand itself- we wouldn’t take it on purely for the money’s sake.

It’s definitely an area that the industry is very much heading towards – as long as we’re careful that editorial integrity isn’t jeopardised along the way.

What opportunities does your model open up for brands?

It’s predominantly on a user-engagement level; an opportunity to really connect with the reader.

Up until this point brands have a flat page advert and are very limited by the page space and the word count; they have to get their personality across in a very limited space. But now they’re able to really get across elements of their personality within their advertising.

Make-up brands, for instance, can strengthen their campaign with tutorials of how to wear that product in a professional meeting, or on a first date, for example, and it is that deeper level of engagement that you get and also a longer level of engagement with the reader, which, I think particularly in today’s industry where brands are starting to think outside of the box more than ever before, gives them an opportunity to be far more creative with their advertising.

It’s no longer just one-dimensional; there are so many different levels to the advert itself and so many options. Part of our job is to offer creative solutions.

You’re a freemium magazine – do you have any plans to do either a print or digital paid-for model?

It’s not something we’ll ever do. The further we get into the modern world, the more people expect things to be free and people are less willing to pay for things. It’s happening all across the world – whether it’s music or film, each year the level of downloading content increases and that’s the same with print media.

We’re building our future around being free, and being available at stands and hand-distributed across tube stations and heavy traffic points.

Our model is based on advertising and will be free to our consumers. It means we have a large guarantee for readership and it’s far easier for us build up that connection with our readership when we’re not having to compete with shelf space.

With a massive print-run expansion on the horizon, do you have any plans for other city expansions?

Absolutely. Our next step is increasing our London distribution from 10,000 to 100,000 copies, which will be available from stands throughout the city and at major airports and a range of specialist music events and such.

We’ll be going national by the end of the year and have plans to take the magazine abroad next year.

What can we expect from DRAFTED in 2015?

A lot of very compelling content. We’re at the point where the magazine is about 80% interactive, but we’re hoping to get to the point where the majority of our content is exclusive and we have created the Blippable content ourselves.

We’d really like to push augmented reality in print media throughout the year. It’s a very exciting time – not just for us, but for media in general.