This is a perfect week to discuss the transition of print magazines into internet-only outlets, with Meredith remaking Child as a channel within its forthcoming parenthood hub. The WSJ focuses on the topic in a Q&A with magazine veteran Jack Kliger, president-CEO of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S and chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America.
Over the past few weeks, Hachette has ended Premiere’s and ELLEgirl’s existences as print products and shifted them into internet-only properties. Kliger has also been working on using the digital presences of Hachette’s other titles, including magazines such as Elle, Car and Driver and Woman’s Day, to enhance the profitability of those print brand’s identities: “By the end of the year, digital will represent between 7 percent and 10 percent of our revenues and in the next three to five years, I would say that number will triple.”
And don’t read anything into the closings of Premiere and ELLEgirl as print entities with respect to Hachette’s financial stability, Kliger said: “The company is not for sale. Every operating unit we have is profitable. We are actually in the market to buy. I will tell you, I know we’ll make at least one purchase this year. We are going to be looking for either print-digital or digital-only businesses, and we are very focused on building out our brand ‘wheels’ [multiple media outlets for each magazine title] and our brand strategy.”
Kliger discussed the differing values and styles digital magazines have versus their print counterparts. He cited Premiere as an example of maintaining a brand’s voice, while bringing a certain casual relationship to readers who crave immediacy: “ I think the authoritative voice, what’s going on in movies, is still there. However, we are not talking about a feature magazine, the in-depth analysis of what’s going on behind the scenes in the movies that was a ten-page story in Premiere. It’s not going to be replicated on the Web, nor should it be [Hachette says the site will continue to offer fresh coverage of Hollywood news].... What it is, is a compendium of movie information, rather than an in-depth product about the movies.”
Related:
-- Hachette To Shut Down ‘Premiere’; Will Try Online Only
-- ElleGirl Magazine To Fold; Continue Online