the times they are a changing

By Jason Day

I interviewed a branding expert recently who laments that just when you want a word to work to its full potential, it’s been diluted through overuse. The word is change.

He says that through big changes in business, technology, retail, marketing and media over the past decade, companies must transform their approach to business.

Today, people interact with brands in a different way to 5, 10 or 30 years ago. New brand thinking that puts a company and its people front and centre can allow it to lead rather than be led by its market.

Why? Well products and advertising have taken us to a point of diminishing returns, saturated, commoditised marketplaces where quality is no longer the differentiator.

How to differentiate? Corporations themselves must be the final point of differentiation; nobody can copy that.

He consults on philosophy-led branding; where companies work out who they are, what they do, where they are going and what they stand for. It’s about putting meaning into companies and helping companies discover their own meaning.

Sounds soft? It’s not. At a time when companies find it harder to brand consumers as they once did – in fact, consumers now often do it for them – companies must look to brand themselves by what they stand for and do, not just by what they say or sell.


UK boom

By Carlton Boyse
Image courtsey of Tony&Guy UK

As a custom magazine publisher for over 10 years, I envy the continued growth of the industry in the UK, even post credit crunch.

The Association of Publishing Agencies (APA) boasts that the UK industry will be worth more than one billion pounds sterling per annum by 2011, a 33 per cent increase in the last 5 years. And this growth isn’t from new magazine launches.

On the contrary, first time clients are becoming rarer. The past 18 months have seen numerous title closures and industry business failures. A reliance on third-party advertising to win and launch customer titles didn’t stand up to an economy going south.

Instead, much of the growth is due to a stronger relationship between publisher and the client/brand. Custom publishers are increasingly valued beyond their ability to encapsulate a brand and messages in print.

Toni & Guy UK is a good example. Asked to create multi-platform content to improve all areas of their business – customer loyalty, staff education and sales – the publishers’ integrated solution involves magazine, 12/7 TV channel and online presence.

The results are impressive with product sales in magazine and TV channels increasing by 26 per cent. Tony & Guy UK was voted a Superbrand 08–09 by www.superbrands.org

In time, I hope that we in Australia can also break down barriers to move beyond print. It’s in our hands. We must begin to re-define ourselves to clients, away from the confines of ‘publisher’ to something more 21st century such as ‘creative brand communications’.

View from the inside: Interview with Sam Smith, Publishing Director, Melbourne Office.

How long have you worked in the custom industry?
 In custom for nine years but in publishing for 16.

What is a Publishing Directors role in custom? 
I work directly with clients as an account manager to ensure their projects meet their communication expectations and budget.

What is a typical day at the office? 
Anything from project conception, logistics and scheduling through to quoting on new business.

Why you and not an in house resource? 
We only employ highly skilled and experienced publishing professionals. In many cases, they have worked across very successful consumer publications.  We ensure all facets of a project support our client’s branding message and deliver a compelling read for their customers. We provide clients with an end to end solution from project conception through to customer delivery.

What does custom offer the media recipient? 
Many things; I think that's the beauty of custom. It’s a product education, sell, loyalty reward and entertainment medium.

Your biggest success in custom publishing? 
 I can't pick just one! But there is nothing better than seeing a project evolve from a speck of an idea through to a completed product.

What do you love about it? 
The magazine medium. From a very young age I've loved them.

What’s the future of custom? 
Customers are bombarded by messages. It's becoming even more crucial for organisations who want lasting and beneficial relationships with customers to have a custom component in their marketing plans for a value offering beyond discounted offers. With media and social networking space changing, custom will also evolve for delivery across emerging platforms.

Gold wins for Pacific+
Weight Watchers and Monument magazines have taken out Gold at the 2009 Folio: Awards. Weight Watchers won the Gold Eddie award for Best Full Issue, Consumer Health/Fitness, while Monument received the Gold Ozzie for Best Use of Photography. The Folio: Awards are hosted by Folio: magazine and are the largest awards competition in magazine publishing and the only competition for all magazines and are a prestigious designation bestowed to only the best magazine editorial and creative teams.

Survival of the fittest
Pacific+’s long term working relationship with FMCG giant Nestle has heralded another piece of outstanding creative work; we recently produced the fourth edition of Survival for the Active Family cookbook. Working in conjunction with sports dieticians at the Australian Institute of Sport, and with help from the athletes themselves and Nestle, the cookbook is perfect for busy families who want healthy, tasty food without spending hours in the kitchen. Survival for the Active Family is another custom feather in Pacific+’s portfolio. It continues to show the creative strength and strong working relationships we have with our clients.

Monument Re-booted
Monument Rebooted means a new editorial approach, new design and new direction. From issue 95, Monument magazine will be committed to telling architecture and design stories from more than one point of view.  Not only will you hear from the architect, but you’ll also hear from their peers, as well as from the client and builder. The new issue is on sale from 3 February 2010.