Traditional News Magazines Need to Change and Hearst Uses Games to attract Magazine Subscribers
Marketing Sherpa has an interesting case study about Hearst using games on its magazine webpages
www.marketingsherpa.com has a case study which I thought was interesting and I have an excerpt at the end of this blog entry.
I just picked up two magazines while I was in Paris and was surprised and disappointed. The titles that I picked up were Business Week and the Economist. The Economist was fine but I was greatly disappointed with Business Week. Not only did I know almost all the information in the magazine from reading internet news, I found the articles to be less informative than the internet news.
What is that saying about this magazine? This magazine's target audience is men and specifically business men. Not housewives or blue collar. Here I was picking up a business magazine and I was bored and annoyed. Nothing new. Why bother picking up the magazine if you are not going to find information that I have not already read on my google news or news alerts.
If you are going to duplicate what is on the internet news in your magazine, you better make it more in depth or give it a different angle. Unfortunately, the articles were shallow and provided very little in depth information. Business men are not going to buy a magazine that does not give them an added value. How can you add value to news that is already a week old?
Anyways, here is the case study of how Hearst is drawing in people to their websites and to their magazines... fifteen percent is a big leap in subscriptions so this information is good to know.
Aug 23, 2007 Case Study #:
How Hearst Grew Subscriptions 15% With Online Games That Complement Their Brand
SUMMARY: If you’re looking for fun ways to drive traffic to your site, try games that match your brand’s image. Hearst Magazines developed exclusive games for its magazines that engage different demographics of its online readers while staying true to each brand.
They found big hits with the likes of Makeup Mah Jongg, Shopdoku and Boy Toy. Some weeks, the gaming area accounts for 20% of site traffic, and consumers stay on the site much longer. Best of all, they've seen double-digit increases in online subscription sales.
CHALLENGE
For years, the marketers at Hearst Magazines watched as the Web evolved and interactive content -- such as quizzes, surveys and online videos -- proved their ability to attract consumers and keep them engaged.
Last year, when the company began migrating their magazine Web properties out of the iVillage network and onto dedicated URLs supported by a new, in-house content management system, they looked for ways to increase their interactive content. Christopher Johnson, Content Director, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, wondered if online games might be a good fit.
“Casual gamers are such a large audience, and it’s something that’s very accessible to people at home or at work looking for a fun time-killer,” he says. “Everything pointed to gaming as a way to amp up our entertainment content, increase time spent online and do it in a branded way.”
If you would like to read the rest just click the link and you should find it at Marketing Sherpa
www.marketingsherpa.com has a case study which I thought was interesting and I have an excerpt at the end of this blog entry.
I just picked up two magazines while I was in Paris and was surprised and disappointed. The titles that I picked up were Business Week and the Economist. The Economist was fine but I was greatly disappointed with Business Week. Not only did I know almost all the information in the magazine from reading internet news, I found the articles to be less informative than the internet news.
What is that saying about this magazine? This magazine's target audience is men and specifically business men. Not housewives or blue collar. Here I was picking up a business magazine and I was bored and annoyed. Nothing new. Why bother picking up the magazine if you are not going to find information that I have not already read on my google news or news alerts.
If you are going to duplicate what is on the internet news in your magazine, you better make it more in depth or give it a different angle. Unfortunately, the articles were shallow and provided very little in depth information. Business men are not going to buy a magazine that does not give them an added value. How can you add value to news that is already a week old?
Anyways, here is the case study of how Hearst is drawing in people to their websites and to their magazines... fifteen percent is a big leap in subscriptions so this information is good to know.
Aug 23, 2007 Case Study #:
How Hearst Grew Subscriptions 15% With Online Games That Complement Their Brand
SUMMARY: If you’re looking for fun ways to drive traffic to your site, try games that match your brand’s image. Hearst Magazines developed exclusive games for its magazines that engage different demographics of its online readers while staying true to each brand.
They found big hits with the likes of Makeup Mah Jongg, Shopdoku and Boy Toy. Some weeks, the gaming area accounts for 20% of site traffic, and consumers stay on the site much longer. Best of all, they've seen double-digit increases in online subscription sales.
CHALLENGE
For years, the marketers at Hearst Magazines watched as the Web evolved and interactive content -- such as quizzes, surveys and online videos -- proved their ability to attract consumers and keep them engaged.
Last year, when the company began migrating their magazine Web properties out of the iVillage network and onto dedicated URLs supported by a new, in-house content management system, they looked for ways to increase their interactive content. Christopher Johnson, Content Director, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, wondered if online games might be a good fit.
“Casual gamers are such a large audience, and it’s something that’s very accessible to people at home or at work looking for a fun time-killer,” he says. “Everything pointed to gaming as a way to amp up our entertainment content, increase time spent online and do it in a branded way.”
If you would like to read the rest just click the link and you should find it at Marketing Sherpa
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