Discussion

By Dov Isaacs on Jul 31, 2015

There are really two issues here.

The first issue is print versus electronic media and which is more effective. There is no simple answer to that, but it is fairly obvious that the younger generation is simply not subscribing to newspapers and printed magazines in percentages anywhere near those of the older generations. That fact in and of itself may define the long term game.

The second issue is that of the effectiveness of electronic media. That may also be debated, but I will contend that what is not particularly effective is taking a print-oriented layout (typically portrait orientation 8"x10" or larger physical dimensions with 10pt text, and without any reformatting, distributing it for on-line reading either as a PDF file or even much worse, via one of the browser-based proprietary reader programs. Unless you have a 27" screen, neither the editorial nor the advertising content of such “on-line publications” are reasonably readable. If a publisher wishes to have a single layout for both print and on-line display, they need to be more creative and design new layouts that are amenable to both print and display!

- Dov

By Gordon Pritchard on Jul 31, 2015

The key reason for electronic advertising over print is not budgetary. It's that electronic provides deep data about the viewer and the viewer's interaction with, and the effectiveness of, the advertisement in a way that print cannot. In the past, the advertising media was all about delivering eyeballs for the advertiser. But in today's advertising it's not just about eyeballs, it's all about data gathering and measured responses.