14 www.worldnewspublishingfocus.org FOCUS NOVEMBER /DECEMBER 2013 mum digital package, there was an extended digital package… and there was this combination: all digital plus the Sunday edition. We thought the third one is the most compelling, is the most attractive, and it had by far the most significant price advantage. Guess which offer of the three is the least successful? The most attractive one. So that surprised us. But it can be explained by the fact that probably a digital subscriber is only intererested in the digital product. This is something that we have to understand better. In general I think weekends are getting more important. During the week you prefer the fast digital consumption of news, whereas on the weekend it’s the big movie theatre, the big format where you have the visual attractiveness of the print product, which is hard to be replaced by a little screen. Talking about mobile, clearly we’re going to be mobile majority by 2015 or 2016, maybe earlier for news sites. If we get to 55-75 percent mobile use, is this more of an opportunity, or more of a new problem to deal with in terms of transitioning the business? Döpfner: Definitely more of an opportunity. I always believed in mobile devices as the real opportunity for the publishing sector. Desktop is not an attractive way to read newspaper or magazine content. Newspapers and magazines live from their mobility… The tablet is the first device where magazine or newspaper content can be read in a really attractive and convincing way. I would not rule out that in seven or 10 years from now, these tablets will look like paper, something that you can fold or roll, that is very easy to put into your pocket. I think this whole question how much is paper in the sense that as we know it and how much is digital paper is not that important. It’s more important that we have the right number of readers and the quality of readers, and I think mobile devices are a great help for publishers. Miller: Mobile is a great opportunity – it’s not a problem. There are challenges, as the economic model is even worse than desktop, but the opportunity is there and that’s how people are reading and consuming it, so we have to be there. Responsive design helps. One of the biggest concerns, of course, is advertising. Tablets are very different advertising platforms than are smartphones. Can you cater to advertisers well enough on each of those devices? Döpfner: It could be that mid-term the mobile devices are more attractive for the readers and financed more through subscription models, whereas the bigger screens are more attractive for advertisers and financed more through ad revenues. When you heard that Jeff Bezos had done a deal with the Graham family, what was your first thought? Is he going to be a major change agent or is it going to be an overblown story? Döpfner: I don’t believe that this is a kind of private toy that he just bought because he wants to have some political influence. I think it can be part of a very smart strategy. He bought it privately because he didn’t want to have the debate with his shareholders as to why he is buying a print asset. He believed in the power of the brand and in the power of the content, and of course he wants to develop Amazon and particularly his devices into not only content distributors but also content players. In the book publishing world it’s very easy – every author can publish directly and he often wants to avoid the traditional publisher. In the magazine or newspaper model it’s a bit more complicated, and he has taken a first step with one of the most prestigious and powerful news brands in the world. I think it was a very smart move, and at that price, we would have bought the Washington Post immediately – without due diligence. laughter Miller: I think it’s a really exciting opportunity for the industry, on two fronts. One is you’ve got the master of data analytics and consumer insight marrying up with a content company, and two, the clash of cultures between a tech company and a newsroom, so I think it’s going to be interesting to watch. A video of the session and a full transcript, including questions from the audience and answers from the panelists, are available at wan-ifra.org/opening_discussion. Report by WAN-IFRA Managing Editor Anton Jolkovski. Readers are unique! What about your copies? Discover the new dimension to convert your newspaper into a high value product! With Nova Dimension plus Schur offers an effective tool for intelligent high speed inserting. Give the subscriber the freedom of choice to select the supplements of its newspaper. Nova Dimension plus allows to create unique and exclusive reader copies, just reaching the right target group. Find new business opportunities, act cost effective and environmentally friendly by printing only the copies to be read. Schur Packaging Systems provides a complete product portfolio for post press, direct mail and palletising. Our wide product range covers the whole spectra, from folder to loading bay and is designed to meet your requirements and the demands of your customers. With Schur you have a reliable partner with more than 165 years of experience in the market, ensuring a stable and farsighted business relationship. Thank you all visitors who made World Publishing Expo 2013 a great success! Schur Packaging Systems • Telegatan 2 • 575 36 Eksjö • Sweden • Tel. +46 381 66 33 00 • Fax +46 381 66 33 99 • www.schur.com
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