The best restaurants and shops evolve by both bringing in new clients and continuing to cater to their longstanding base. Look at Neiman-Marcus, for example. Despite a plethora of mall and urban stores across the nation, the fashion forward retailer will still gladly go an extra mile for its most devoted customers at its flagship store in downtown Dallas. Although all of its stores offer personal shopping, only store number one continues to serve its legions of faithful in their homes.
As media professionals, we can do the same – even if what we’re selling isn’t quite as easy to quantify as a high-end dress or suit. Over the last decade, online and, lately, social media have taken center stage. Undeniably, we need to cater heavily to these rapidly growing influential sources, but we can’t forget about our traditional outlets.
Newspapers and magazines have seen circulation drop off, but they are still trusted by millions every day – both in print and online. Research indicates that print publications still command more respect and attention from the public in their online editions than most Internet-only publications, although the gap is admittedly dwindling. As a result, traditional media are evolving in the face of potential extinction.
Evolve or die
Online versions of print publications are quickly taking new shape online and in downloadable forms. Their websites often mimic online-only sites with opinion and short news-oriented blogs, while the extra outlet offers them an additional upsell for advertisers.
Perhaps the biggest change is yet to come, however. Tablets might be making big headlines, but their heyday is still on the horizon as traditional media works to create its own formats. Wired, a tech-oriented magazine, is the undisputed tablet leader, with unique content only available for download. Its digital editions offer built-in videos and animations that go way beyond what print could ever do.
But fashion magazines are also getting into these areas in order to satiate their tech and trend-oriented readers. Some magazines provide readers with more than just news and features; they can digitally mix and match apparel items, makeup and accessories to create a look of their own – without ever visiting a closet or a store.
Don’t get lost
Forgetting or intentionally circumventing traditional outlets is an easy mistake to make. Between online media’s impressive ability to assert itself and traditional media’s often slow reaction times, losing print outlets is all too easy.
Make sure your media list doesn’t forget about the veterans. As long as they are still relevant to your product, they need to be informed and, when possible, they need to experience what you have to offer. Sometimes, you have to make cuts, which means that the veterans no longer get an invite to a product event or even simply a phone call pitch. Instead, a new website or social media guru takes the veteran’s place. But you have to be extremely careful with where you trim – don’t alienate traditional media.
And don’t ignore your base, either!
An automaker recently unveiled a new car at a glamorous gathering at a major national landmark. With a star-studded cast, the company touted its new product to bloggers, Tweeters and members of the lifestyle media – but only a handful of car-oriented publications were around.
As a result, coverage was less than impressive. The automaker won’t admit it, of course, but a quick perusal of automotive media outlets – magazines (the so-called “buff books”) and even well respected online media sites were practically devoid of any extended coverage beyond simply an announcement with information gleaned from the press release offered by the automaker.
Expanding or reshaping the invite list to include more traditional media and the automaker’s industry base could have significantly changed coverage for the better.
