The printed press needs to reduce its dependency on advertising if it is to maintain its influence in the media marketplace, according to Publishing In The Knowledge Economy, Pira International’s new analysis of the publishing industry.
The report, presented to the
Department Of Trade and Industry (DTI) and
UK Publishing Media (UKPM), does acknowledge the importance of advertising and the media planning process. It is accepted that business and consumer publications have close links with their readers and are regularly used in targeted marketing campaigns.
“TV viewing is becoming increasingly fragmented due to the proliferation of satellite and digital TV channels,” says the report. “An opportunity exists here to promote newspapers and magazines as a valuable, integrated advertising medium.”
However, Pira warns that advertising has been shown to be an unreliable revenue source, especially in difficult economic times. The report advises publishers to switch to a strategy which “gives a more stable source of income and improves cash-flow.”
Citing the Screen Digest/ABN Amro report, UK Mediaphile 2010 (see UK Media Could Be Worth ), Pira recommends that publishing companies follow the example of digital TV, Internet and mobile phone operators and concentrate on attracting more subscribers to their products. According to Screen Digest, by the end of the decade, subscription media will command 50.9% of all consumer spend on media. This compares with just 15.8% for printed matter.
Whilst accepting that online and electronic media represent a threat to print, Pira stresses that publishers will have to embrace technology and use it to their advantage in the coming years. “Using the Internet as a marketing and ordering tool can reduce the cost significantly as well as increasing the number of subscribers,” concludes the report.
