Signs of Change in the Traditional Publishing World

I received a notice from one of the product managers for our R&D product lines today. It was from the editors of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)reputable Technology Review (est.1899), announcing a number of MAJOR changes revolving around their print magazine and website:

1. investing a greater percentage of available resources in interactive media.....podcasts, blogs, RSS feeds, and other new technologies
>>>read: evolve or fade away...in the traditionally tight-budgeted world of subscription publishing, a quick response is necessary since fading can happen fast.

2. drastically increasing the number of in-depth stories published online at technologyreview.com
>>>>read: create stickiness to increase loyal customer base, particularly in the face of growing competition that threatens the TR subscriber base.

3. decreasing in the frequency of the print magazine to a biomonthly level
>>>read: give readers what they want/need - fresh content in the format that is most easily personalized and digested.

4. shifting of coverage to the impact of emerging technologies and discontinuing the coverage of business modeels and financing of new technologies
>>>>read: business model coverage is passe since new models are now birthed on a seemingly daily basis; shift coverage to an in in-the-moment, reader-centric viewpoint based on deciphering what the current and future implications are.

For those who haven't put their chips down that revolutionary change is at our doorsteps, then this is surely a sign of what is to come in the world of content.

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P.S. Wonder why this matters for marketers not in the content world? The answer is simple:

(1) Because this is impacting our customers, prospects, and brand evangelists in both B2B and B2C marketing. We either grow with them and help them grow, or risk being outgrown ourselves. It ain't about us anymore.

(2) Content (increasingly long-form content) is king in the marketing world of 2006 and beyond - it is our jobs to dish it up in quantity, quality, and in a multitude of engaging/entertaining/modern ways.