Archive for the ‘content’ Category
Custom Publishing Case Studies Now on Vimeo!
8 Mar 2010
by Herminia Irizarry
Our broadcast team just set up a Vimeo page with our latest video projects and custom publishing case studies. We’ll be adding more videos often, so be sure to visit again!
New Custom Magazine for Senior Marketers to Debut Friday
21 Oct 2009
by Michelle O'Hagan
ORANGE magazine to share insight and opinions about custom publishing, branding and integrated marketing programs.
CHICAGO—Imagination Publishing, a custom publishing agency, on Friday will debut a new custom magazine, ORANGE, to be distributed to senior marketing executives internationally.
The custom magazine, and its companion microsite, will share the magic of why custom content is the most powerful marketing tool for creating audience engagement.
“ORANGE magazine fills a void for CMOs; it goes way beyond the content in most marketing and advertising industry publications, says Jim Meyers, president and CEO of Imagination Publishing. “It covers cutting-edge issues developing around custom content, and positions custom publishing as a critical part of an integrated marketing strategy.”
- ORANGE, a custom published magazine for senior marketers, from Imagination
The inaugural issue of ORANGE includes interviews with leaders at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership; Chris Brogan, co-author of New York Times best-seller “Trust Agents;” Anna Malmhake, VP of global marketing for The Absolut Company; Jeremy Gutsche, founder of Trendhunter; and Martin Lindstrom, author of “Buyology: The Truth & Lies About Why We Buy.”
Online-exclusive content includes interviews with international pollster John Zogby and Ruy Teixeira, senior fellow with The Center for American Progress.
ORANGE’s original content and striking design demonstrate a custom publishing program at its very best. The publication’s masthead describes it as “both inspirational and aspirational, and sometimes confrontational.”
One department, titled “Buy This Idea,” features complete concepts for new custom content packages, along with a suggested ideal sponsor for each.
“Imagination has been a leader in custom publishing for fifteen years,” Meyers says. “With ORANGE, we’ll share our knowledge, insight and opinions with senior marketers around the country through our own ideal custom publishing program.”
To learn more about ORANGE magazine, or to request a subscription, visit www.imaginepub.com/orange
Custom Publishing Special Report
12 Oct 2009
by Michelle O'Hagan
Imagination Publishing’s own Jim Meyers is interviewed in a Custom Publishing Special Report in the October 12, 2009 issue of BtoB Magazine.
Here’s an outtake from the article:
The ecosystem where b-to-b marketers, trade publishers and ad agencies interact is changing. Increasingly, b-to-b marketers are acting like publishers. The Internet has forced marketers to populate their Web sites with white papers, webcasts and other content that will attract the attention of search engines.
Read the complete article:
Survival of the Smartest
7 Jul 2009
by admin
Let’s not bury the lede: the publishing industry is in trouble.
Magazines are struggling to survive as advertising revenue evaporates, and the rules of engagement–literally–change. In the first half of 2009, 279 magazines folded according to a MediaFinder.com survey cited by FOLIO:
Given all of that it would seem logical–nay, imperative–that publishers, CEOs, COOs editors and the rest of content generating masses reach deep into their creative souls to fix the problems that plague the industry.
Alas, a quick read (or even a slow, thorough one) of FOLIO: magazine’s So What Business Are You In feature seems to indicate that the C-suite at most major publishing houses still does not get it. And by “it,” I mean the severity of the situation.
In this series of articles penned by noted magazine professionals (including Hearst’s vice president and general manager, John Loughlin, and New York’s Larry Burstein), we get the same rote recantation of standard operating procedure,i.e the “same ol’, same ol’,” namely:
- We’re platform agnostic
- We’re diversifying our revenue streams
- We’re investing in technology
It’s almost as if each of the interviewees is more concerned with presenting a brave face, instead of taking the conversation in a new direction. In fact, not a single one of these leaders within the industry mentions the one “buzz word” that they actually should: Innovation.
To be fair, there are some good ideas here.
The Atlantic’s president, Justin Long, gets points for talking about a holistic business strategy for creating profitable brands to lessen the dependence on advertising dollars, and Technology Review’s Kathleen Kennedy hits it out of the park with her emphasis on diversifying the content distribution model using new delivery methods, specifically mobile apps and Kindle apps.
But by and large, the majority of these folks put innovation and R&D below the fold. Not a single mention of trying to harness the power of social networks (though everyone talks about community), and working to create new ways to engage the audience with new forms of content. In addition, there’s very little mention of organizational changes to get away from the highly-inefficient publishing process that soaks up time and resources.
Now, I’m not saying I have all the answers, but it just seems a tad disturbing that the level of this conversation hasn’t moved much in the past year. Perhaps that’s just being in shock. Or maybe it’s simply nature’s way of showing us who will and won’t survive, because at the end of the day it’s not about who gets it right, it’s about who gets it right first. Call it an imposition of Darwinian logic, call it a reckoning, but in the end the magazines left standing will the ones who took a risk and tried to do something new.
Rebecca Rolfes in “Association Publishing”
6 Apr 2009
by Michelle O'Hagan
Rebecca Rolfes, Imagination’s EVP of association strategy, was a major source in an article in the Jan/Feb edition of SNAP’s Association Publishing. “Piloting through Publication Politics” is a feature story that covers association leaders’ understanding of product development. Check it out at: SNAP online.
Newspaper Bailout?
6 Jan 2009
by Sarah Wunder
According to this post, newspapers might be next in line for a government bailout.
I’d hate to think about a world without newspapers, and as many in the industry have pointed out, the future of the medium isn’t too bright. There have been predictions of the death of newspapers for years, and it always seemed like something that could never really happen. However, over the last few weeks on a journalism school alumni listserve I belong to, there have been tons of posts from recently laid-off journalists. Alternative weeklies have eliminated positions, or sometimes, whole departments. Daily newspapers have done away with certain beats. Some international papers have eliminated coverage of entire countries.
But, is a government bailout the answer? I’d argue that most journalists, even the ones who just lost their jobs, would rather be unemployed than witness government-controlled media in America.
The Changing Role of Editors
9 Dec 2008
by James Meyers
I had dinner last week with President of leading global trade association for business professionals. For nearly two hours, we debated the changing role of editors in today’s digital world and whether in the future, editors will be replaced by user-generated content?
Let me start by saying that years ago, before I started my custom media company, I was a senior executive for a major daily newspaper. Many things troubled me about the newspaper business at that time. One was the dismissive attitude of editors toward this new newspaper start-up called USA Today. Who would ever read this “Mac-lite” newspaper filled with short stories, colorful graphics and reader commentary, and never ending surveys and polls? Surely, it would never last! Yet today, twenty years later, nearly every daily and business newspaper has copied their tactics.
However the most disturbing comment I ever heard at the newspaper was the editor-in-chief ranting on in a meeting that readers didn’t know what they wanted or needed to read, that was the job of the editor, to tell them what they needed to read. It seemed arrogant at the time and today it seems like an absolute indictment of what’s wrong with many newspapers and magazines today. Too much of that attitude is still ingrained in editors today even as a digital tidal wave of user-generated content, opinions and community is sweeping over the world.
The role of editors is changing rapidly and forever, but I’m convinced that editors can still be the heart and soul of any print or digital publication. The difference in the future is that editors must be aggregators of information balancing reader-generated content with expert editorial and providing context and space for both. Reaching out to readers, and more importantly to potential readers, through all available media channels will be a critical skill that every editor will need to master. Listening to readers and participating in online communities will provide insight and content ideas that yesterday’s editors never could have imagined.
I applaud journalism schools like Northwestern and Missouri who have taken bold steps to integrate print, digital and business courses as a mandatory requirement for their degrees in the face of angry traditionalists. The world is changing at incomprehensible speed and the lines of journalism, communication and business are blurring, but editors can and will remain as essential navigators of content in this increasingly digital world.
Custom Publishing Success Story
7 Nov 2008
by James Meyers
It was fourteen years ago today that I set up an eight foot gate leg folding table in a four room office above a pizza kitchen in downtown Chicago and opened the doors of Imagination Publishing. As I sat alone in that first office, excited about my first custom publishing project, I was also overwhelmed by all the emotions that every small business owner knows all too well. I’d invested all of my savings in an idea that companies would be interested in using custom publishing to add value to their existing customer relationships in a medium that they could control.
I had approached traditional publishers, business associates and friends about investing in my new company but each of them chose not to after expressing varying degrees of skepticism and doubt. But as a successful marketer for nearly 20 years, I rarely listened to what others around me had to say because marketing is about having a vision and a focus on doing whatever is necessary to make that vision a reality. If you listen to the naysayers, you’ll never accomplish anything.
For years I had plaque on my wall with the Albert Einstein quote, “Imagination is more Important than Knowledge”. I always believed passionately that Einstein was right and that belief that served me well for so many years in the corporate world is still right on target today. You see it’s not about what you know, or what you’ve done. Success comes from having the imagination, the passion, the curiosity and the focus to make your dreams real. So it seemed only natural to name my company Imagination Publishing.
But now the stakes were different. I was playing with my own money, my home, my family’s livelihood! And often during those early years I’d lie awake at night with the “monster over my bed”. I’m sure that every small business owner knows that same monster.
Small Business Monster
After working six and seven days a week with 12-14 hour days that monster would always being there reminding me of everything that could go wrong. Learning to live with that monster by beating it down with an even stronger sense of confidence and purpose is part of the secret to building a successful small business.
Luckily, I had two other things going for me. A great wife and family who supported my crazy dream through all the tough times, never once questioning my resolution to succeed. And my first two hires who set up their folding tables a week after me. Rebecca Rolfes and Doug Kelly shared my dream and passion and have been huge part of the success of Imagination Publishing. Without Rebecca’s endless sense of optimism and Doug’s rock-solid work ethic and stability, we would never have reached the success that we now enjoy.
Today, fourteen years later, Imagination Publishing has more than 50 full time Imagineers and more than 20 fantastic clients. Many of our clients are Fortune 100 companies and leading trade associations who all have found custom publishing to be an effective means of communicating and engaging with their customers. Print custom publishing is still more than 60% of our business but the explosion of digital continues to grow at a breakneck pace even in the current economic recession. Today, we’ve become experts in rich media, community management, SEO and analytics, and strategic integration as well as custom magazines in order to meet all of the custom media needs of our clients. Custom content continues to grow while traditional media continues to decline because it works.
It’s been a fabulous ride but I have a vision that the next fourteen years will be even better. While some only see risk and peril in today’s economy, I see nothing but opportunity. I have to, it’s all I know.
Things Google won’t teach you
11 Mar 2010
by Riley Bandy
With the growth of “instant” communication technology there has become a preference in fast information instead of intelligent information.
When I was young, I learned that imagination is very important and received praise from my parents and friends for drawing detailed pictures of comic book characters and mythical creatures in action sequences. Then, through grade school and junior high school there was a shift toward following direction; for staying “within the lines.” Cursive letters had to be written again and again for perfection, and any sense of style should only be shown in art class. In high school, there was an opportunity for individual pursuits and interests, but still the requirement of staying on topic and keeping activities “within the lines.” Any encouragement of individual interest bowed to the ultimate SAT score and individuality was only worthy of praise if it got you into college.
Fortunately, a liberal arts education provides the opportunity to develop the skill to think critically, the ultimate quality of an intelligent person. There is little merit in the ability to quote facts or be a huge resource of knowledge. But it is forming an opinion that sets people apart. If you don’t have an opinion about a book or a Google SRP then what’s your role in the project? In the process?
I regularly receive forwarded articles and retweeted blog posts without any added comment or opinion. Twitter even updated the retweet function to automatically add someone else’s tweet to your stream without even giving you an opportunity to comment. What then, does your role become in this information sharing, in social media, except to be a researcher, feeling admiration for finding and sharing quickest.
Does a comment field even suggest intelligent response? Does 140 characters provide encouragement for content or for rapid reply? There are smart comments in 140 characters by those who recognize the limited space as a challenge. Those are the ones who understand how to react, how to question.
But in the massive amounts of communication occurring all over the world at any given second, and the incredible growth of short, rapid communication—the comment, the tweet, the text, the ping—what is the future of the book, the essay, the song? Will these devices fall to the popularity of speed as well? Will the intelligence that was once in an essay and now a blog post fall upon deaf ears, or go without comment?
How will we educate future generations about the importance of quality content over fast information? How can we speak in the language of speed to communicate the goal of depth? Try looking that up on Google.
Tags: comment, education, Google, social media, twitter
Posted in Innovation, content, digital media | No Comments »