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From the Chairman: Innovation is Alive in Magazines!

Jim Meyers
Chairman, Custom Media Committee

15-Sept-08 —I just returned from my local Borders and found that—despite all the doom and gloom I hear and read about in the print publishing industry—creativity and innovation are not dead!

If you haven’t seen it yet, run out right now and buy the 75th anniversary edition of Esquire magazine. The cover art utilizes the world’s first E-Ink cover. Digital comes to print!

Displayed prominently on the front tables of Borders—real estate normally reserved for the latest best-selling books—the magazine cover flashes with innovative digital impressions, much like we’re all used to seeing on websites. It’s sheer genius on the part of Esquire and I’m sure they had no problem getting the whole thing paid for by Ford who got to share the digital technology on the inside front cover in an ad for its new Flex SUV. The cashier at Borders told me the issue is flying off their shelves.

Some will say it’s a gimmick, but I say that this is innovation in publishing at its finest. And we need a lot more of it. Instead of remembering the good old days, let’s focus on how we can bring innovation to the publishing world for the future.

This kind of innovation is, in large part, driving the success of custom media even when traditional publishing is in decline. The willingness to think differently, to understand the needs of marketers and to come up with innovative content solutions is what custom media is all about.

Every day, my firm, Imagination, spends time thinking about what innovative new content strategy we can bring to our clients that will help them achieve their business objectives. That is not only the key to our 14 years of success, but it is critical to protecting our company from the down cycles that will always occur into the future.

Kudos to Esquire for coming up with an exciting, bold and innovative idea when much of the print publishing industry is running for cover.

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