Digital Branding

We are living in transformational times and the storyline is clear: the world has gone digital. Media consumption patterns have changed forever, as more than 50% of adults go online daily; 90 million read the news on the Internet each week; 79% research products; 75% buy online and 92% check email.1

For marketers heavily invested in print, this means rethinking the very fundamentals of their business in order to survive and thrive in this new age — print strategies must be augmented with an online alternative. There's no other choice.

• Magazine and newspaper readership is in record decline, as consumers increasingly migrate online. Over 600 magazines folded from January '08 to February '09 and the average newspaper circulation dropped by over 7%.
• Advertising dollars have shifted to digital channels, as advertisers continually demand transparency in targeting and reporting. US newspaper ad revenues fell a record 17.7% in 2008 and magazine ad revenues dropped a staggering 21% in 1H 2009 vs. 1H 2008.
• The costs of printing, paper and postage have spiked, serving an additional challenge to marketers. For the first time ever, spending on direct mail declined in 2008 and is expected to continue in 2009.

And adoption is no longer the issue, as consumers are not only ready for digital publications, but they'll soon demand them. In fact, by 2009 it's projected that there will be 8,000 digital magazine editions with over 31,500,000 subscriptions.