How can magazines keep and grow advertising revenue during the biggest economic hiccup in generations? In this issue of Engage, Neil Williams, senior media planner at Greenfield Belser, talks about what publishers need to do right now. Take a look at our video interview and the new Engage blog for even more. If you get even one idea, we'd like to think Engage is worth reading and watching!

industry buzz

Give Print A Chance
This month's issue of FOLIO magazine features a column by TMG's Jane Ottenberg titled "Give Print a Chance." The piece explains how hype, not reality, is hurting the print business. Jane also used the space in FOLIO to launch a campaign to fight back against the "print-is-dead" naysayers. Check it out.

The New Print-to-Web Codes
QR Code technology instantly links magazine content to web content using a barcode-like image read by cell phone cameras. It's already being used in Japanese and European publications and is making its way to the U.S. Editors can use it to track what's important to readers; and advertisers can track print response rates and offer buying information or special offers.

Kindle Me This, Kindle Me That
When Amazon released its new big-screen Kindle, the DX, publishers raised their eyebrows: Will it change the print industry? Will people really pay $489? Will Amazon really swipe 70% of bloggers' revenue? The answer to all is maybe, but Amazon will benefit because of it: it was reported that Amazon's Kindle will rake in $300 million in revenue this year and $70 million in profit.

Magazines Go 3-D
Publishers are pushing print boundaries and turning their magazines into useful 3-D manifestations, which makes reader interaction deeper, reports the Wall Street Journal. For example, T-Post magazine is a t-shirt with a story written inside of it, and Freestyle is a magazine that publishes in a Frisbee.

Subscription Prices Rising
Valuable magazine content is becoming, well, valuable. In the belief that people will pay more for great content, magazines are upping their newsstand and subscription prices to help replace what's gone missing in advertising revenue, Newsweek reports. According to Mr. Magazine, the average price of a magazine on the newsstand is now $8.10, compared with $5.37 in 2000.

iPhone Cover Art
The New Yorker went high-tech this week. Artist Jorge Colombo drew this week's New Yorker magazine cover on his iPhone, using a $5 application called Brushes. He stood outside Madame Tussaud's in Times Square and cranked it out in an hour. Check out the video of the cover being created, step by step.

diamond in the rough

How to Grow Ad Revenue in a Tough Economy

The trek through the first quarter of 2009 was a rough and bumpy ride for magazine publishers. It was full of obstacles (budget cuts!), and surprises (postage increase!), and advertising dollars became harder and harder to snag. The publications that did succeed and build revenue were savvy—they focused on quality editorial, bundled their magazines with new media options, and worked closely with advertisers.

Neil Williams, senior media planner at Greenfield Belser, a leading D.C.-based advertising agency and marketing firm, admits the economic downturn "really hit home at the start of 2009" for his clients, but he advised them not to scale back advertising because of it. Instead, he told them, "take advantage of all the new and exciting opportunities that are out there."

Take a look at what else Neil Williams has to say.

Indeed, the opportunities are plentiful. Magazine publishers are getting creative to keep advertising and bring in new clients. They're offering more incentives, aggressive rates, and deeply integrated packages. They're dreaming up high-impact editorial units that grab readers' attention and bring more impact to advertisers' messages. Look at the May issue of Esquire, featuring a "mix-and-match" cover with a History Channel ad on the back; or the recent issue of Time magazine that published an entire section in 3-D, complete with 3-D glasses, sponsored by the new movie Monsters vs. Aliens.

Last month, when advertising figures for this year's first quarter were announced—consumer magazine ad pages dropped 25.9 percent and ad revenue fell 20.2 percent, according to the Publishers Information Bureau—the print-is-dead crowd started crowing. But the same week those stats were announced, a McPheters & Company study was released that found that magazines effectively deliver more than twice the number of ad impressions as TV and more than 6 times those delivered online. Those numbers confirmed a Dynamic Logic/Milward Brown 2007 study that analyzed what drives purchase intent. It found that magazines are 52.2% more effective than TV and 600% more effective than online.

So how do magazines get this value across and retain advertisers during the biggest economic hiccup in generations? When Besler talks to his clients about advertising in the recession, he looks to history to make his point. In the Great Depression, says Belser, "the people who either stayed their course or ramped it up a bit really came out light years ahead when things turned and got back to normal."

Connect    Best Practices for Keeping and Growing Ad Revenue During A Recession.

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