The Effect of Transitioning to Digital Formats - Coursework Example

College: The Effect of Transitioning to Digital Formats on Magazines ment of Problem The media industry is undergoing a major transformation because of the emergence of information and communication technologies especially the internet. These technologies have toppled the balance in the conventional media industry such that the industry is forced to adapt to the new system brought about by ICT. In what Rückriem, Claudia and Johannes (5) refer to as a media revolution; we are seeing a major transition from old media to new media. In deed, we are witnessing many media companies embracing new media platforms. This is a move away from their traditional media platforms that included television, radio, and print media. New media platforms such as social media, blogs, digital newspapers, wikis, and websites are becoming more common and widely used in the media industry. Although old media is still trying to remain relevant, new media is exerting increasing pressure on media companies to abandon their traditional media for the new media. According to Dunlop (Para 1), new media is transforming old media by attacking its credibility. This is just one way in which new media is transforming traditional media. With specific regard to print media including newspapers and magazines, the effect is more pronounced. The presence of new media such as blogs, websites, wikis, and social media is rendering the traditional print media less relevant. For instance, even before media companies can print newspapers and magazines with the latest news, the news will have already been featured in the new media platforms. Therefore, by the time the print newspapers and magazines are released, the public has already gotten the news. However, there is still controversy regarding the effect of new media on old media. According to Bernstein (261), despite the new challenges posed by new media, traditional media is not about to be gone soon. This could be right. Currently, traditional media is still relevant. People are still reading print magazines and newspapers. In fact, according to Anderson (Para 1), revenues from digital platforms only account for a small fraction of the total advertising revenues compared to what print newspapers fetch. This shows that traditional print media is still relevant in the digital era. Moreover, the audience for traditional print media has not vanished completely. Although the audience has shrunk significantly, there is still a sizeable audience comprising mainly of the old generations that are not so used to the new media platforms. Even with this raging debate, it is clearly evident that many newspaper and magazine companies are embracing digital platforms. Although many still maintain their print magazines and newspapers, they are also providing digital contents online because they have realized that there is some potential there. Based on these established aspects, this research paper purposes to investigate how digital technology is affecting the traditional print media. Specifically, the research will focus on one magazine, GQ. The paper hypothesizes that the adoption of digitalization has provided additional benefits to GQ. Extent of Problem Since the emergence of internet technology in the later 20th century, many related technologies have emerged. The concept of ICT refers to these technologies that have emerged as a result of the internet technology. They include technologies such as the mobile phones, smartphones, and new era computers. These technologies have become so dominant that they are influencing almost every aspect of life from the individual level to the organizational level. The internet had major implications for the media industry. Prior to the internet, media was already a big industry. Multinational media companies and conglomerates dominated the news, advertising, and fashion industries using traditional media platforms, which can also be referred to as mass media platforms. These included televisions, radios, and print media such as newspapers and magazines. With the emergence of the internet, the proliferation of some of the traditional media platforms, especially the print media, was challenged. The newspapers and magazines used to draw significant amounts of revenue from carrying advertisements and information (Everett 102). Then, they had no competitor. Without competition, many companies relied on the newspapers and magazines to market their brands, products, and services. This lucrative business environment for traditional media led to emergence of major media companies owned by names such as Bancroft and Sulzberger. Before the internet era, the Times was a household name that dominated the global media industry (Hagan 6). It was one of the largest magazines that its shear size and brand was not match for any small magazine brand. Without any other options, the consumers could only buy print magazines and newspapers. The magazine and newspaper companies adopted a unique business model that relied on distribution or print material to vendors where people could purchase them conveniently. With the growing number of people going to school, literacy levels improved and the audience for the print newspapers and magazines continued to grow exponentially. Competition was only internal among different magazine and newspaper companies. However, this traditional media business model started shaking when the internet brought about new media. New media brought in new competition to the traditional newspaper and magazines. The hitherto dominant magazine and newspaper brands started feeling the heat. At first, the effect of the new media was not significant because internet technology was still in the nascent growth stages. However, when the internet started growing especially during the dot.com era, the potential effects of the internet on traditional media started becoming clearer. As time passed, the internet provided an opportunity for people to share messages via email, which was unheard off before. This acted as an eye opener and more opportunities and technologies later developed. Today, new media is no push over. This new form of media is growing at a rapid rate. The digital media platform provided a huge potential for small magazines and newspapers to compete against the big names. As a result, there has been an eruption of many internet based content providers that are taking a growing chunk of the market that traditional media had enjoyed for many years. This trend has attracted the attention of traditional media. To avoid the imminent threat of becoming obsolete, these traditional media companies have started embracing the digital platform. However, the digital platform eliminates some of the main competitive advantages that the big media companies enjoyed. It provides a flat playground for all where the big and the small, the old and the new can compete for the same audience. Luckily, the online audience is growing at an exponential rate. For example, data from the UK Great Britain shows that daily internet access increased from 20 million to 36 million adults between 2006 and 2013 (Office for National Statistics 3). Of course this growth is bigger if we consider other parts of the world. The general implication is that the digital platform is growing and becoming a major threat to traditional print media. If the past and current trends are anything to go by, the extent of the problem will continue to grow in the future. We are likely to see more magazines and newspapers using digital platforms. Moreover, the level of usage of the digital platform is likely to increase, which implies that print magazines and newspapers are likely to continue declining. Importance of Problem The digital platform is here to stay. It is causing a major transformation of the media industry (Rückriem, Claudia and Johannes 5). The continued growth of digital content is evidence of this. In fact, going digital is the new wave taking over the world. We are slowly becoming a paperless world. Generation Y and Generation Z are going to drive this trend. This implies that taking note of the potential opportunities and risks in digital media is important for media companies. Print media is more likely to be affected by the digital revolution. The tradition print media including magazines and newspapers are under threat from the digitized magazines and newspapers. The viability of print magazines and newspapers is wearing out each other day. Today, more people can access digitalized content online using their personal computers or smartphones conveniently without the need to go to vendors to buy the magazines and newspapers. Apart from the increased convenience of digitalized content, it is cheaper to read magazines or newspapers online compared to buying them. Additionally, it is easier and faster to access information using the digital platform than using the traditional print platform. In this information age, people want to access information faster and easily. Moreover, the digital platform provides vast amounts of space including cloud space that can contain vast amounts of information that would occupy large spaces if it were contained in print (Singh 238). These advantages of the digital platform will attract more media companies that produce magazines, newspapers, and other print media. Additionally, the digitalization of print media will shift revenue flow. Although the print media still attracts more revenue than the digital media, this is likely to change in the near future. Revenue from digital advertising has been increasing over the years (Anderson Para 2). This means that if media companies can tap the opportunities from the digital platform, they can grown their revenues significantly and avoid declining revenues from the traditional media. Considering that most media companies operate as for-profit companies where revenues from advertisements and selling content are the key sources, the digital era provides a sustainable strategy for growing revenue. Even without abandoning the print media, media companies can adopt digital platforms to diversify their revenue streams. This will be a great risk management strategy. Research Methodology The research primarily relied on secondary data from multiple sources. Considering that the research topic is about the digital media, the internet was the best source of appropriate information. In this regard, the following sources of information were used: i. Company website (www.gq-magazine.co.uk) - the official company website for GQ was used as a source of information. This was an appropriate source of information because the research focused on the company. Therefore, the company website would provide a wide range of information that would be used in the research. ii. Online sources – a variety of online sources were also used. The online platform provides large volumes of data about digital platform, digital magazines, and case studies that are relevant for the research. Some of the online sources included newspaper commentaries. Research Findings The main research findings can be categorised into various sections as presented below. Digital Magazine Editions The ten leading digital magazines in the UK include T3, The Economist (continental Europe), Stuff, The Economist (Asia Pacific), BBC Top Gear, GQ, Total Film, BBC Good Food, and BBC History (Sweney n.p.). Appendix 1 illustrates the relative sizes of these leading digital magazines in terms of their circulation between July and December 2013. From appendix 1, GQ features at position seven in the UK, with its digital edition circulation reaching 12,173. However, this represents only 9.58 per cent of the total magazine circulation for the same period (127,040) (Sweney n.p.). Types of Digital Formats Used by DQ DG’s digital edition is available via several platforms include computers, iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire. Readers can download the digital edition from the company’s website using any of these devices (Condé Nast UK). Apart from the digital GQ edition, the company also uses other digital platforms to interact with customers. These include social media (Twitter, Pin it, You Tube, & Facebook) as well as the company website (Condé Nast UK). Benefits of Using Digital Transition Time magazine has benefitted immensely from taking advantage of the digital transition. Since 2012, the company redesigned its Time.com digital platform to increase responsiveness. This redesigning effort increased mobile device traffic by 10 per cent, PPP (pages per visit) increased significantly, and time spent on the Time.com platform increased by 7.5 per cent (Moth n.p.). Additionally, since they introduced the digital edition at T3, it had grown significantly. For example, it emerged that the digital edition of the T3 magazine now comprises over 40 per cent of the total magazine sales. Apart from this, going digital provided other benefits include increased revenue flaws from advertising and cost reductions. Transition to digital has increased the magazines coverage. The company’s You Tube page has over 200,000 subscribers (see appendix 2). The over 200,000 subscribers provide a large digital platform through which the magazine’s digital edition can be widely distributed. Analysis Benefits of Digital Transition From the findings, it is clear that GQ is using the transition to digital formats. Currently, the magazine’s digital edition comprises about 10 per cent of the total sales. This means that the company is still in the testing phase of the digital transition. The 10 per cent digital edition sales is only a small fraction of the magazine’s revenues. Based on this, we can deduce that the transition to digital is yet to benefit the company in terms of increased revenue. However, the transition to digital has benefited the magazine in other ways. First, it has enabled the company to expand its coverage beyond the UK market. With the digital edition, customers from across the world can download the magazine. Second, the transition to digital format has benefitted the company by increasing revenues sources and reducing costs. Based on the research findings, it is highly likely that GQ is also benefitting from caring digital advertisements as well as reduced costs. In fact, the GQ’s website contains advertisements of various fashion items. Carrying all these advertisements in the print version of the magazine would be impossible because of the limited space and cost implications. Digital Platforms Used It is also clear from the findings that GQ uses a variety of digital platforms including the company website and social media networks. Customers can access the digital magazine and other digital content from these platforms using their smartphones, personal computers, and iPads. To illustrate the effectiveness of this digital media strategy, CQ can reach out to over 200,000 people via its You Tube page. This presented a huge potential that the company can actually maximize on. For example, the magazine can popularise the You Tube to increase the number of subscriptions. Considering the wide use of You Tube as a popular social media site, this would not be difficult to achieve. Digital Transition Fit with GQ’s Goals and Mission Overall, the transition to digital format fits well with the magazine’s strategy. As a men’s fashion magazine, the mission of the magazine is to reach out to as many men as possible and convert them into customers to enable the company realize its vision of becoming a leading men’s fashion magazine. The transition to digital format does not deter these. In fact, it enhances the mission because it enables the magazine to reach out to a wider audience than before. The digital transformation is also helping the magazine to realize new opportunities such as digital advertisement that lead to the realization of the company vision. Conclusion This research has shown that the transition to digital framework has potential benefits to the media especially print media. It has also shown that companies can combine both the print and digital formats successfully. However, the digital transition is not yet at the same level with the print/analogue format. But there are indications that this may happen in the near future. The main implication from the research is that media companies need to embrace digital transition because the benefits outweigh the risks. Works Cited Moth, David. “Five Brand that Reaped Rewards After Adopting Responsive Design.” 2013. Web. 17 March 2015. Sweney, Mark. “Gadge magazine T3 is UK’s most popular digital title.” The Guardian, 13 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 March 2015. Singh, Gurdev. Information Sources, Services and Systems. India, New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd,., 2013. Web. 17 March 2015. Anderson, Kevin. “WAN-IFRA: Challenge for Newspapers in Digital Age is Income Not Audience.” 2012. Web. 17 March 2015. Rückriem, Goerge, Claudia Ang-Stein and Johannes W Erdmann.“Understanding Media Revolution: How Digitalization is to be Considered.” 2011. Web. 17 March 2015. Dunlop, Tim. “A Brief History of How New Media is Transforming Old Media.” THE DRUM, 2010.Web. 17 March 2015. Office for National Statistics.“Internet Access – Households and Individuals, 2013.”Statistical Bulletin, 2013.Web. 17 March 2015. Bernstein, Joanne Scheff. Standing Room Only: Marketing Insights for Engaging Performing Arts Audiences.2nd Ed. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Web. 17 March 2015. Everett, Elizabeth C. “Transformation of Newspapers in the Technology Era.” The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications 2.2 (2011): 102-115. Hagan, Joe. “Bleeding ‘Times’ Blood.” New York Times, Oct. 5, 2008. Web. 17 March 2015. YouTube.“CQ Magazine.”N.p. 2015. Web. 17 March 2015. Condé Nast UK. “Magazine/GQ Apps.” 2015. Web. 17 March 2015. Appendix Appendix 1: Top Digital Magazines in the UK (July –Dec 2013) Position Digital Edition Circulation 1 T3 22,319 2 The Economist (continental Europe) 17,057 3 Stuff 14,949 4 The Economist (Asia Pacific) 14, 924 5 BBC Top Gear 13,402 6 The Economist (UK) 12,642 7 GQ 12,173 8 Total Film 12,134 9 BBC Good Food 11,420 10 BBC History 11,139 Source: (Sweney n.p.). Appendix 2: Screenshot of GQ Magazine You Tube Channel Source: (You Tube, n.p.) Read More