Custom Publishing Review

Custom Publishing Review: Magazine Misses the Healthpoint

December 2, 2008 by dmkalman in Brand Community Media Process, Brand Community Media Strategy, Custom Media, Custom Publishing, Custom Publishing Review, Publishing Strategy | 2 Comments

What good is a branded magazine without the brand?

hpcovsJust last week I received a copy of Healthpoint Magazine, a publication of Mills-Peninsula Health Services (San Mateo, California). Trouble is, by looking at the cover I had no way to know who produced it. It has no Mills branding. Then when I looked inside, it dawned on me. Maybe Mills doesn’t want anyone to know they produced it.

All kidding aside, this is an example of a marketing organization attempting to publish a branded magazine without a publishing professional on board. And the outcome is predictable: the marketing department will spend a ton of cash to produce this magazine and sometime next year a new marketing director will review the results and conclude that branded publications are just not worth the expense or the effort.

Aside from its lackadaisical design, the fundamental shortcoming of Healthpoint is its lack of balance between reader-focused and brand-focused content. It includes ten reader-focused articles that promote good health, but only two pages (out of 24 total) that directly cover Mills programs.

If you’ve read my other articles, you know that in producing branded content I insist on putting readers first. In this case, the producers of Healthpoint go overboard and seem to forget that costly branded content must fulfill clear and compelling marketing objectives. (I describe some typical objectives in my earlier article “Marcomm Integration”).

Overall the feature articles are adequate, but the whole package lacks a coherent voice. Some of the articles include:

  • It’s easy being green
  • These girls have had their mammogram — have you?
  • Planning a family? Say no to cigarettes, caffeine

There’s no column from the Editor or CEO to set the mission. The magazine feels like a grabbag. To its credit, Healthpoint does profile Mills staff, but the blocky layout stifles any sense of personality that might have otherwise come through. There’s a lack of flow and the typography is primitive and confusing to the eye. Healthpoint could do much better after spending just a few hours with a professional designer.

A branded magazine can deliver tremendous value to marketers. In this case, Healthpoint misses the opportunities to:

  • answer frequently asked patient questions (to reduce call center costs);
  • print the Mills logo on the cover and on each page footer (to strengthen branding);
  • print the magazine’s Web site URL on each footer (to engage patients in additional dialogue online). The Table of Contents does mention the magazine’s Web page (http://www.mills-peninsula.org/ healthpoint), and some of the articles mention other Web pages related to the content;
  • include advertising for new Mills services (to reduce external advertising costs);
  • print a call for action for readers to receive the magazine in digital form via email (to reduce costs while expanding reach);

Mills-Peninsula’s Healthpoint Magazine could be improved by making these small changes. If I were working on it, I’d revisit the original marketing objectives, identify which features of the publication address each specific objective, and then redesign from scratch.END

The Healthpoint cover with no Mills-Peninsula branding. (click to zoom)


The Healthpoint Cover

The Healthpoint Cover


The back cover: Here’s a Mills logo! (click to zoom)

Back cover

Back cover

A feature spread. The page footers should be branded. (click to zoom)

A spread

A spread

The Table of Contents. No logo here. (click to zoom)

Table of contents

Table of contents

David M. Kalman is the president of Terrella Media, Inc. and editor of BrandMagnet.

Custom Publishing Review: Healthy Pet Magazine

August 9, 2008 by dmkalman in Brand Community Media Process, Brand Community Media Strategy, Custom Media, Custom Publishing, Custom Publishing Review | Leave a comment

A Perfect Balance

Healthy Pet MagazineHave you seen Healthy Pet magazine, published by Zoasis of Huntington Beach, California? A 36-page full color magazine, Healthy Pet arrived with a personalized half-cover announcing that it’s time for Joey — my cat — to come in for a check-up. I assume I was placed on the Healthy Pet mail list by our veterinary clinic.

The magazine includes several colorful departments and five lively features, including a piece titled “Focus: Dental Health,” which not coincidentally ties in with a cover flap offer to receive “$120 OFF Dental Cleaning.” Other features cover animal behavior, holiday pet safety, and new medical technology for your animal companions.

Overall, healthy pet strikes a perfect balance by delivering useful and interesting content while purveying useful services and products. The editors of this magazine succeed in putting the readers’ interests first, in turn enhancing the magazine’s marketing effectiveness.

If I could change anything in Healthy Pet, it would be to create a Web tie-in. Healthy Pet curiously lacks any prominent mention of a Web site. I would want readers to be able to interact with the content online, which would create opportunities to collect data or generate leadsEND

David M. Kalman is President of Terrella Media, Inc.

Custom Publishing Review: REI Gearmail

March 7, 2008 by dmkalman in Brand Community Media Process, Brand Community Media Strategy, Custom Media, Custom Publishing, Custom Publishing Review | Leave a comment

The unrealized potential of content

reiscrapI suppose there’s something to be said for minimalism in marketing communications. Keep it simple. Get to the point. Get out of the way. Case in point: Gearmail, the email bulletin from Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), the outdoor specialty co-op/retailer based in Kent, Washington.

Gearmail seems to arrive about once a week. In a brief HTML format, it includes a few product shots and seasonal offers with links to REI’s online store. Last week’s offer: “REI Expert Gift Picks + 50% Off at REI-Outlet!” In other words, Gearmail is an ad very much in character with REI’s low-key retail, catalog, and online experience.

I have no doubt that Gearmail works well (as far as ads go). The REI team has a record of remarkable success. But at the same time, one would expect more from a membership organization with nearly $1 billion in sales and 2.5 million members. With all of its expertise in outdoor recreation, its retail footprint, and its stellar positioning, REI has the potential to deliver an endless supply of valuable content that:

  • facilitates buying by engaging members at multiple points in the purchase cycle (e.g., buying tips, independent reviews, member reviews, and deeper product information online);
  • keeps REI at top-of-mind (e.g., with newsletters personalized for preferred product categories and tie-ins to local events and workshops);
  • increases profitability by integrating customers’ in-store and on-line experience (e.g., with product customization, inventory access, and improved logistics for delivery and customer service);
  • grows the REI community by helping members promote the brand (via content sharing and word-of-mouth) and by simply increasing the value of membership;
  • enhances performance/lowers cost of the other marketing efforts (e.g., using “flagship” publications that combine and/or align disparate marcomm programs).

Beyond Gearmail, REI content could include member adventure blogs, complete with multimedia from REI Adventures (REI’s adventure travel business); quarterly print and digital magazines segmented by interest such as REI Ski, REI Cycle, and REI Wilderness; enhanced catalog content with feature articles; and mobile content such as ski conditions, weather data, wilderness guides, and retail partner data such as restaurant guides and travel services.

These are just a few examples of the kinds of of content REI could provide to enrich its members’ brand experience. To create an actual content plan first requires asking a few basic questions, which I offer from my own perspective as an REI member: What can I learn from REI? How can REI enhance my enjoyment of the outdoors and bring friends and families together? How can I share my passions with other members? For REI (or any company seeking deeper customer relationships), answering questions like these is the first step to unlocking its content potential.END

David M. Kalman is the president of Terrella Media, Inc. and editor of BrandMagnet.

Related Content: REI GearMail Screenshot

REI Screenshot Click to zoom

Publishing As Branding

June 19, 2007 by dmkalman in Brand Community Media Process, Brand Community Media Strategy, Custom Media, Custom Publishing, Custom Publishing Review | Leave a comment

Magazine brand management 101

MagazinesMy friend and colleague Peter Hutchinson is a great writer (and a renowned writing teacher). So as you might imagine, I jumped at his offer to compose a pitch letter to help me place this very series of articles. As I read his draft, I was struck by his description of me, “brand guru David Kalman.” I wouldn’t have thought to use those words to describe myself. As an editor, publisher, and technology guy, I think of myself as more of a generalist. But I won’t dispute Peter’s observation. As an editor and publisher I’ve been long immersed in brand management, albeit of the magazine kind.

In some respects a magazine is the ultimate expression of branding in that it articulates – literally – brand characteristics that other products only imply. Unlike a bar of soap or a cup of coffee, a magazine’s primary function is to describe itself to its constituents. (Magazine branding is particularly interesting, in part because a magazine is packaged and sold to two distinct groups of customers: readers and advertisers.) The publisher’s job is to align and keep aligned the components of a magazine brand: editorial identity, audience definition, market position, and customer interface. A shift in one component requires adjustments in the others.

The editorial identity consists of subject, style, and tone, and every issue of a magazine becomes an exercise in brand execution. Audience definition mirrors the editorial identity in that the readers of a magazine – its consumers – are attracted to it based on a common information need. By definition, those consumers have interests, habits, and demographic traits in common. The market position alternately dictates and presumes that the combination of editorial identity and audience definition represents a differentiation from competitors and a unique value to advertisers. Finally, the customer interface projects the magazine’s brand values in the context of customer contact, as in selling advertising or subscriptions, or in providing customer service.

For example, through its editorial identity a business magazine may project authority, knowledge, and perhaps innovation or even nonconformity. In contrast, another business magazine may emphasize trust, heritage, and tradition. For either magazine, the grade level of the writing, the choice of words, colors, and illustration style all reflect the desired brand characteristics. Conversely, the audience development effort mirrors those characteristics, using promotions – with appropriate design cues and messages – that target either a younger or older reader, a male or female reader, and so on. The customer interface follows suit in terms of personal presentation, selling style, and marketing collaterals. You know what they say about making a first impression…

Even though it’s the publisher’s job to align the brand components, not many publishers think of themselves as brand managers first. (They’re too busy with budgets, forecasts, and H.R. issues.) At the same time, the branding trade pays scant attention to magazines as branding cases. That’s unfortunate, because every magazine serves as a kind of brand laboratory. The processes for defining and aligning a magazine’s brand components are robust and instructive. For example, if a market position becomes untenable – as when a market matures and consolidates – repositioning, redesigning, and/or rebranding becomes imperative. In some cases, the best option may be to shut down or divest the business. Ultimately, a magazine itself can be thought of as a comprehensive and dynamic branding program. So I’ll accept the name Peter has applied to me – “brand guru David Kalman.” That has a nice ring to it. (Now get back to work Dave!) END

David M. Kalman is the president of Terrella Media, Inc.

Sidebar: A Case of Magazine Rebranding

Brand Echo: Transmitting Brand Preferences

May 3, 2007 by dmkalman in Brand Community Media Process, Brand Community Media Strategy, Custom Media, Custom Publishing, Custom Publishing Review, Email and Social Media Marketing, Publishing Strategy | Leave a comment

Transmitting brand preferences through the ages

Man and babyDespite my mother’s insistence, I could not for the life of me find a significant difference between Heinz ketchup and generic house brand ketchup (or is it CATSUP?!), except for the price. Even today the 64 oz. Heinz bottle costs $4.75 while the same sized ShopRite bottle costs $3.85 (I just checked on NetGrocer.com). That’s a 23.3 percent premium for brand loyalty. I think I’ll stick with the generic brand, thank you.

Yet if you call my two sisters and ask them about ketchup, they’ll tell you that they prefer and buy only Heinz. Therein rests the power of generational branding. My parents transmitted their brand preference to two out of three children. And if each subsequent generation transmits that preference to two children and to at least one spouse each (not counting divorces and remarriages), then in theory my parents will have transmitted their Heinz preference to something like 28 individuals in three subsequent generations (children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren).

The ketchup example shows that brand preferences can be transmitted from person to person. Even when my parents and my sisters could agree on little else, ketchup remained sacrosanct. And we can deduce some of the primary mechanisms for transmitting this brand preference, namely, the emotional association of a brand with a beloved parent, the habituation to the physical characteristics of the product such as its taste, texture, or smell; a socio-economic preference, perhaps as an expression of status or social class; or simply the force of habit. It’s obvious that the mechanisms don’t operate at a rational level, but instead convey the brand’s emotional content through a complex web of associations.

For every possible means of transmitting a brand preference, perhaps the most important variable is time, and in generational branding time is on your side. The opposite is true of transmitting brand preferences outside a family, especially if you consider author James B. Twitchell’s claim that a consumer sees between 2,500 and 3,000 advertising messages every day. To approximate the power of generational branding outside the family requires branding programs that embed a brand into a consumer’s daily routine.

Some marketers have taken a tactical approach to insinuating brands into social interactions. In buzz marketing, for example, marketers inject brand messages into consumers’ everyday discourse, often by stealth. They employ attractive models who engage in public consumption, as well as “thought leaders,” celebrities, and putative journalists who endorse brands for money. Buzz marketing is tactical in that it delivers a short-term sales blip (making it fine for a product launch), but it doesn’t build brand value in a systematic way. It’s a variation on classical, top-down marketing in that the endorsers are not genuine members of the brand community.

In contrast, achieving the kind of effect we see in generational branding requires a bottom-up approach that cultivates relationships with true brand devotees who, in turn, can transmit their brand preferences to others. As in generational branding, this takes both time and social interaction: time exposed to the brand and social interaction in which to impress the brand preference on others. The challenge for marketers is twofold. First you must earn the consumer’s attention by providing useful and enlightening content outside the context of the purchase or use of the product. Then you need programs that support social interactions with and among consumers, whether through Web sites, events, clubs, or other promotions. Given enough time and enough social interaction, your best customers may eventually become the best promoters for your brand. “Anticipation…. is keeping me waiting.” END

David M. Kalman is the president of Terrella Media, Inc.

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