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“Dead” Publications Reborn Online in Apps and eZines

I often come across stories about how publishers are failing to maximize their content online while searching through stories tied to the future of publishing. Still wedded to print traditions, many publishers have yet to make the most of opportunities offered by the digital platforms.

Thus, I was happy to discover two recent stories of publications, which had (gasp!) died in print form, but have begun to successfully reinvent themselves in the digital arena.

Earlier this year the demise of Gourmet was bemoaned by foodies everyhwere. This week however, it was announced that Gourmet was being kept “alive” as a brand, as Conde Nast revives the magazine as an iPad app called (appropriately) Gourmet Live.

This is a striking example of a publisher harnessing the power of branded content in the digital space and, more specifically, on a new platform. The iPad is forcing publishers to rethink their digital approach, as evidenced by the statement Conde Nast’s Chief Executive made to the New York Times, “It’s not a magazine and it’s not a digital version of a magazine. It’s a whole new way to engage with consumers.”

One question: why are publisher’s willing to invest in re-purposing their content for users of new platforms like the iPad but not for search driven users? They have awoken to the necessity of optimizing for the “app economy,” so why not optimize for the “search economy” as well?

Similarly, the New York Times reported on the efforts of two former Domino employees who are finding success with a new interior-design web magazine, not too dissimilar from the tone and voice of the defunct Domino.

The site, Lonny, takes a unique approach to presenting its content in an online format.

“Lonny looks and acts like a print magazine, not a Web site or a blog,” according to New York Times’ Claire Caine Miller. “It has pages to turn, a table of contents and full-page ads. But it offers Web-only benefits like zoomable, clickable images, so readers can inspect a lamp displayed in a photograph of someone’s living room and then click to buy it. ”

Lonny demonstrates the power of designing content to fit its context. As with Gourmet Live this lesson can and should be extrapolated out to other areas in the digital sphere.

Publishers are beginning to experiment, and take risks with their content. In the process, however, they should not overlook the power of less “trendy” platforms, such as search engines, as vehicles for disseminating and monetizing their content.

— Lee Glandorf

On Twitter: @LeeGlandorf

Tags: domino, lonny, gourmet, lee glandorf, new york times, future of publishing, conde nast, lonny mag, gourmet live,