What comes to your mind when you think about huge brands such as Airbnb, ASOS, Dollar Shave Club, Google, Net-a-Porter and now Facebook. The majority of people would say digital and disrupters. However, each one of these digital disrupters has one thing in common. All of them now have their own print publication.
Facebook has introduced “Grow”, a quarterly magazine for business leaders. In spite of having all the features of a print publication, the Facebook PR team still refuse to call it a printed publication. It is simply a piece of marketing collateral.
So why now?
A recent PrintWeek study shows that print sales continue to decline. It is true that overall print sales are declining, but that same PrintWeek study interestingly shows that the demand for news and current affairs magazines are increasing. The major reason for the attraction of digital disrupters to print is due to the desire of digital disrupters to build trust, authority and credibility. The digital space is crowded with marketers, bloggers, influencers and bots. Print magazines help build a powerful trusted connection with readers. A report, published by A Matter of Trust, revealed that around 70% of the people trust print magazines, while only 30% of the people trust social media posts.
Facebook print publication objectives…
Unlike traditional magazines who publish ads to generate revenue, Facebook has a different objective. Leila Woordlington, Facebook’s Head of Business Marketing, explains that Grow by Facebook is for sharing thought leadership content directly with current and future clients. Grow by Facebook is primarily for business-marketing. There are no ads and they do not charge for its content. Facebook is following a similar strategy pioneered by Google. Google has been producing a print publication for the last two years to build a relationship with a certain type of audience that likes print and then transfer them into digital.
Some other brands see the value in their printed products…
Net-a-Porter’s magazine and Asos’s magazine directly sell their magazines and according to sales’ reports are doing well. The next question though is can Net a Porter and ASOS match Vogue and Marie Clarie in terms of reach and circulation. Both magazines are making great strides in terms of quality and all projections suggest they will.
What other big digital disrupters will turn to print, only time will tell!
