Are Digital Magazines Taking Off?

Good magazines are being closed down a rapid rate. Many are going to pure online versions or ending entirely like the venerable Police Review.

But some are exploring the digital magazine option and leveraging the iPad zeitgeist.  So far there’s been little reader research published on how these digital magazines are faring. Until now.

An article in Ars Technica reports on a study by the US Association of Magazine Media into the reading habits of 1000 digital magazine readers. A healthy number of these claim that they read more magazine content in the digital format than they did with the physical format. Whether this is simply to do with the novelty of it all isn’t questioned but the survey does point out some areas for improvement that highlight the current shortcomings of the digital magazine movement.

For example, respondents reveal that they would like to be able to make purchases from the display ads featured in the digital magazine. Why this hasn’t before is odd except when you consider how much digital magazines seem to be straightforward flatform PDF copies rather than an actual new form of media.

Nonetheless, this research suggests that the digital magazine format has a greater potential than is currently being exploited and the popularity of iPad and perhaps the new Kindle Fire will fuel new developments.

Google+ for Business: Exploring the opportunities

Google+ now offers a social networking service for brands prompting  thousands of businesses to set up profiles. However, to optimise brand exposure, businesses need to understand what differentiates Google+ from its competitors and tap into its full potential.

Although it looks quite similar to Facebook, there are some features which really set Google+ apart. One of the greatest advantages of the new social networking service is its integration with Google Search. Google Search provides brands with exposure to a search base allowing access to reportedly 50% of global websites. Furthermore Google+ enables brands to streamline social media content easily across multiple platforms including Android, Google Chrome and YouTube. This could offer exciting opportunities to businesses to improve audience engagement and explore innovative ways to create and distribute marketing content.

To make its service more appealing to brands, Google+ launched its Direct Connect feature, which makes it simple for users to find and follow brands on Google+ by just typing a “+” sign in front of the name of the brand on Google Search. Another step towards strengthening the integration with Google’s search engine is the brand verification procedure at the initial registration stage. As Google+ permits the registration of multiple users with one brand name, it allows organisations to appear at the top of the search results by verifying their brand identity and linking their profiles to the company website.

As Google+ is looking to further integrate with the rest of Google’s products, the appearance of the website and its features are going to change. At the CrushIQ conference this week, Google’s spokespeople announced that they were planning to integrate Google+ with AdWords and enable multiple administrators to handle the brand pages on the website.

A further integration with products like Google Shopping and Places could open exciting opportunities for brands and advertisers to deliver micro targeted campaigns based on users’ interests, location and shopping habits. This has huge potential for brands. Furthermore they will be able to tap into Google+ features such as Circles and Hangouts to segment their Google+ followers and create targeted campaigns for engagement.

However, as social networking websites emerge almost on daily basis, a question is beckoning of how many social media profiles users can tolerate? With 40 million users worldwide Google+ is still far behind Facebook and Twitter in terms of popularity among brands and consumers.

To expand its reach, Google+ have to differentiate itself from its competitors and get the most of its integration with Google’s products to create an innovative, intelligent and pervasive social media product.

Is the Blackberry Squashed? Maybe Not (Yet)

I’m not a user but I have been shocked by how badly Blackberry’s reputation has been damaged by recent mistakes (the outage, censorship issues in Middle East) and the consumerization of IT that’s seen the brand overwhelmed by Apple (though not helped by how badly the Playbook’s been received) 

Growth has slowed down to a point where people predict a case of the Nokias or worse, the Palms. 

So, this articlewas a good reality check especially for those who predict Apple is the de facto for mobilising enterprises on a grander scale than previously seen.

Ansd my personal barometer of what my fellow commuters on the 7.12 from Dover  use suggests the battle isn’t lost just yet. Yes, they stroke their Apple devices but – as the City draws closer the Blackberrys come out en masse  for the essential emailing …

So perhaps don’t right them off yet but shouldn’t their PR machine go back to the basics of communicatinf the Blackberry as the best possible  mobile business machine?

Steve Jobs, genuine innovator, visionary, entrepreneur

As the flowers and messages gather at the #Apple flagship store in #Covent Garden near our offices, we cannot let the day go past without noting the sad passing of this creative man who changed and shaped our world forever.   You may not have agreed with everything he said and did but no one can deny that he made a huge impact on our world.

 Barack Obama summed him up best: Steve was among the greatest of American innovators, brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.’

Some of the most notable articles of today:

#Businessweek says “Steve Jobs departs a world he helped transform. Jobs was a total original. He was somehow able to blend iconoclasm, rock-and-roll, and chic industrial design with the nerd sciences, as well as the unseemly profit motive of the corporation.”

#Venturebeat highlighted ten important products Steve Jobs has brought to the world

Moco News – a tribute in links and quotes including “For those of us lucky enough to get to work with Steve, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.”—Bill Gates

And finally some of Steve Jobs own most memorable quotes – an inspiration

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” – Macstories.net.

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful … that’s what matters to me.” – Wall Street Journal 1993, shared by UK Guardian.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Stanford University commencement address, 1995

82 percent of people who have worked in a restaurant or bar own iPods/iPads, compared with 66 percent of people in general.

These figures have been put together by a website called www.correlated.org  Everyday Correlated.org, ask a new question, for example: are you left handed? Then with a clever bit of coding and maths, they work out which set of previous questions can give the biggest discrepancy from people in general and forward you an email with the results.

At this stage the sample groups are only reaching just over 300 so these correlations should be taken as interesting rather than factual and short of combining with a massive social network like Facebook, twitter or LinkedIn, we as communication professionals will not really be able to utilise them.  However, with stats like:

“71 percent of perfume/cologne wearers prefer debit cards over credit cards, compared with 53 percent of people in general” 

you can begin to see the beauty of this site.