NME’s new model retains army of readers
—Andrew
The ABC figures released this week paint a familiar picture for the music press: year on year, music titles are facing a brick wall as prominent as Pink Floyd’s; their readership being squeezed like Jools Holland on a bad day.
Weekly titles NME and Kerrang! announced falls in circulation of more than 20 per cent, while monthly titles MOJO and Q also posted circulation decreases, albeit on a smaller scale. It poses the question – what must a music publication do to survive?
NME, for example, has evolved and diversified to fit the needs that today’s tech-savvy reader demands. Far from its humble beginnings as a grassroots newspaper nearly 60 years ago, the magazine is now part of a multi-faceted music brand which includes its own TV and radio stations, concerts, awards, merchandise and a website that boasts 3.5 million unique users a month.
The print publication of NME - while still arguably the most iconic aspect of the brand - has simply become just one part of a much bigger remit. Those who interact with NME now do so across multiple platforms, engaging in content that moves far beyond the page.
In establishing a multi-platform offering, NME has not only safeguarded its brand, but enhanced it, too. The brand offers a much more tangible experience: for example, you can read the review of the new Marina and the Diamonds record in the magazine, listen to it on NME Radio, read her interview on the website and watch her live on the NME tour.
There’s a lesson to be learned here in the ongoing debate surrounding newspapers’ attempts to safeguard their existence. In creating a coherent brand across various platforms of which the print magazine is just one part, NME has negated the risk of readers flocking to other publications to consume their music content by effectively creating a ‘one-stop shop’.
The ABC figures may paint a picture that NME will forever struggle to replicate its readership figures of the halcyon days of the 70s and 80s. Then, the magazine regularly shifted a quarter of a million copies a week, compared to just 38,486 now. The truth may be closer to the fact that its readers, like the NME brand, are simply evolving in the way they consume music content.
Could you go a year without reading a newspaper?
—Katie Bawler
Talk has been rife in the media world about the waning importance of print media and whether it is due to have the final nail banged into its coffin. In his blog, the COMMS corner, Adam Vincenzini is undertaking a substantial experiment to put to the test accusations of digital media cannibalising print media.
On January 1st he embarked on a quest to go one year without buying or reading a print newspaper to see how it would affect his role as a PR consultant.
So far, he is discovering a lot - particularly about the ways he consumes digital media. There is flexibility in digital news that allows him to choose which articles he reads, depending on his interests. He’s also become more aware of the rapidity with which he receives news throughout the day by following the Sky News breaking news Twitter feed.
I agree that taking in news digitally allows for immediate consumption. For example, when I get into work in the morning, I scroll my Digsby Twitter feed to get a steer on the stories that are due to be breaking later in the day.
But no matter what, I’ll always enjoy reading the paper. For me, the difference is that I’ll purvey a newspaper leisurely over my bowl of cereal. I look at newspapers almost as magazines now. I use them as leisure material, whereas I log on to actually read the news.
This is personal consumption, though. Professionally, I still can’t beat the feeling of seeing my coverage in the newspaper – it feels more real. The sense of achievement is higher, and it’s something tangible that I can show friends and family. Maybe I hold print coverage in high esteem because I am quite new to social media. But having been encouraged to engage with online communities in my final year at university, I expect this to change.
I like print, I prefer it as I would Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range to Sainsbury’s own brand, but do I really need it? I imagine not. Good luck to Adam with his ‘no newspapers’ challenge.
Location Matters
—Charley
In 2009 we saw the rise of user-friendly location-based services (LBS), but in 2010 location-sharing is set to come into its own.
This year, PRs who are in the know will be actively exploring the opportunities that GPS-aware services can offer, devising new and creative ways to capture consumer attention in a far more tailored and targeted way than ever before.
Last year saw the emergence of LBS and social community integration. South African social network The Grid launched Mobikasi, a 24-episode, location-based documentary about youth culture in Soweto. Content was geo-tagged to the location where it was shot, enabling viewers to explore Sowetan culture by travelling through a mobile street map and watching video clips. This marriage of LBS and crowd-sourcing was hailed as the next generation of mobile social media.
In fact, the recent explosion of mobile applications has brought the advent of location-based app integration. Layar is a great example of this new trend. Winner of the Vodafone Mobile Startup Challenge in September 2009, the Layar browsing application is a mix of location-based technology and augmented reality. Combining a handset’s camera and GPS functionality, the mobile application overlays information relevant to digitally tagged real-world locations or items - from coffee shops to museums.
The advancement of LBS can be seen with the growing popularity of companies such as Foursquare and Gowalla, which enable consumers to tag and share content quickly and easily within social communities. The technology not only enriches existing core services, but also creates a more dynamic and compelling consumer offering.
The delivery of highly personalised brand messages, in the most relevant and creative way possible is the keystone of social media PR and the development of LBS looks set to raise the bar in 2010.
Can PRs do SEO?
—Charley
SEO PR or ‘Search Engine Optimisation Public Relations’ is a term which has been banded around for a number of years, but it is only recently that the PR industry has adopted the practice in earnest.
This is mainly because there’s been a lot of controversy over who should own SEO, but fundamentally, SEO and PR go hand in hand. They work together to dramatically enhance a brand’s online presence and positively influence search.
Specifically, the aim of SEO PR is to increase brand visibility and conversation when consumers search for your products or services. After all, the first few pages of Google should return only the most relevant and positive news, reviews and commentary. You want your brand to be at the top of that list.
Link building is another important area where SEO and PR work together. Incoming quality links are a vital part of success on Google, and the value of these links to a company website cannot be underestimated.
Brands have relationships with a plethora of organisations, and PRs spend much of their time helping to promote and nurture these relationships. To successfully build your brand position on Google, it is essential to encourage relevant and high-ranking sites to link to you. This is where SEO PR again plays a pivotal role.
Whatever you believe about the debate - PR and SEO are working towards the same end goal; to achieve positive brand exposure to future potential customers.
How to be a blogger (even when you’re really really busy)
—Melanie
Whenever people ask me about blogging or social media, they usually say something condescending like, ‘Oh, good for you. I just don’t know how in the world you have time for that… I’m just soooo busy.’
It’s a fair point. Being a blogger does take some effort, but the way that I look at it, the benefits far outweigh any negatives. The way to do it is to find the right balance between your personal and professional life.
I currently have two blogs: one about social media and PR, and one about food and restaurants in London. They’re opposite ends of the spectrum, but they have both helped me in ways I couldn’t have imagined back at the beginning.
My PR and social media site, Fake Plastic Noodles, is the first blog I started, and tends to lean more toward the professional side. I did so because I wanted to find a job in London, wanted to make connections and really establish myself in the UK PR industry. Incidentally, it worked. I firmly believe that a huge reason I’m here right now is because of my blog. This is because many agencies and clients understand that while everyone in PR is talking the social media talk, not all of them can walk the walk. If you interview for a PR position or pitch to prospective clients who you know understand the online space, you need to prove it. Twitter is fabulous for establishing an online presence too, but blogging really helps you expound on your ideas.
My food blog on the other hand is something I do simply for intrinsic value. I finally started om nom London this past summer after months of questioning whether or not I’d have time to start a whole new site.
It’s proved to be the right decision. It keeps me sane to just write about things that *I* like to do. I was a keen food photographer already, so food blogging just seemed a perfect fit. Plus, it’s nice to write about something that’s not my job. Shocking, I know.
I won’t lie, sometimes it’s tough to devote enough time to both, but having a system in place of what I want to post about and when is how I’ve been able to juggle it all. Being a blogger is something that is part of my life that I’m not sure I’d ever want to give up. No matter what, I’ll make time.
