Print Magazines Getting the Ax

Child Magazine is a popular child-rearing advice periodical that draws nearly five million readers each month. After over 20 years, Meredith Corporation, the parent company which purchased the magazine in 2005, recently decided to pull the offline publication of the magazine after ad sales dropped over 14% in 2007 year to date and subscription base for the family magazine dropped over 18% in the second half of 2006. They will now offer the magazine exclusively online. What will happen, I wonder, for the estimated 37% of readers who have six or more children and rely on the magazine as a source of advice, outreach, and sanity?

Child Magazine, and its loyal readers, is not alone. Consumers have more choices, and as such, they no longer have to wait to get what they want. As more consumers are using the Internet to find information on demand, waiting around for a magazine to arrive in the mail or show up in their grocery store has become less of a priority for them. Information can be shared not only from expert to user, but now from user to user.

Twenty years ago, magazines ran rampant. They were an effective way to supply fresh news and new available products to consumers. Twenty years from now, will we be hard pressed to find something decent to read in our dentist’s office waiting room? Will our kids have to print images off the computer in order to make scrapbook collages and school projects? Will flipping through a glossy, colorful magazine and stopping at every page that contains a subscription card be only a fond memory for those of us who love our magazines? What will we find to pile in our living rooms and stuff in our beach bags? In twenty years, will ‘magazine’ be a retro term that shows up in “you know you’re a parent of the 90’s if” email forwards?

Personally, I enjoy reading through magazines in the grocery store. I love the bright colors and creative page layouts. I love the headlines, “six quick ways to organize your closets,” and “make a great meal in 10 minutes or less.” If I find myself buying two or three issues a year, I figure it must be good enough for a subscription and I am much more likely to order it for a year or two. Like many other shoppers, you would be hard pressed to get me to buy into a commitment if I can’t first sample the wares. Even as a student of marketing, I still find myself drawn in to the design of the cover and the promise of a read “jam packed with tips for toned abs.”

Unfortunately, sacrificing the print magazine for the almighty dollar will leave some people behind. For those who have Internet access, we’ll continue to find what we’re looking for. We’ll find it quicker, we’ll get instant feedback from other readers, and we'll use Del.icio.us to share it with our coworkers. But we won't be soaking in a tub with it, using it to swat a pesky housefly, or grinning with excitement as we find it as our only non-bill smail mail. What will taking magazines online do for brand loyalty? I guess only time will tell. For now, though, I'm holding on to my "fast, cheap, and easy ways with chicken."