We’ve launched a wellbeing print magazine. Our publication has been born into a world where all its siblings are digital. We’ve combined and blended the old and new. Written in July 2020 and published on Linked-in, here’s part one on why we launched a print magazine.
Since March we’ve witnessed an accelerated death of the current model for newsstand magazines, with the demise of leading titles across the board, and other titles quickly pivoting to digital (Stylist and Balance). The swathe of magazines hit include titles from publishers such as Bauer and Dennis publishing, with the latest casualty including just last week, quality music publication, Q Magazine.
The death of the print magazine on the newsstand
The old way of reaching people with print magazines, i.e. the newsstand, is acknowledged as reaching the end of its current existence by those who are in the business. Jane Wolfson, chief commercial officer at publishing company Hearst, recently told the Drum. The pandemic has “accelerated existing trends that were already challenging the publishing business model,” she says. “On the commercial side, changing the conversation from ad sales to marketing services will be vital. Things we’ve spoken about for a number of years will now happen in a matter of months.”
Print as an antidote to screen fatigue
As the old commercial model dies, the joy of experiencing print has been reborn with a renewed focus on self and wellbeing. During lockdown, and as a consequence of the pandemic, health is under the spotlight, and there has been a collective reflection with many of us now valuing taking time out and living an overall more mindful existence. This includes relaxing and absorbing the experience of turning the pages of a magazine, feeling the paper in your hands, admiring the gloss, even smelling the pages… a direct contrast to scrolling for snippets, on the commute to work, and magnifying the reading experience, on yet another screen.
Print is to words what vinyl is to music, and i-wellbeing are leading the way for the new pathway for print, providing bespoke publications born in the digital landscape. It is not separate from digital – it’s part of it. And as we enter the ‘new normal’, businesses need to ensure that the virtual and physical are blended in a mindful way.
Employee engagement
As a business owner when you choose to subscribe to the zone, a high-quality, bespoke, branded print magazine and gift it to your WFH employees, you demonstrate you care about them. As we revealed in our recent White Paper “employees are more likely to be engaged with their work and are more likely to ‘go the extra mile’ when they felt that their bosses cared about their wellbeing”. And the zone goes the extra mile, too, allowing you to share wellbeing stories from your staff, plan your wellbeing goals and strategy and list a diary of events, all housed in a quality publication alongside articles you would expect to read in the best newsstand publications.
The zone magazine is also available on this website with your online subscription, where you’ll get all the bespoke sections, plus premium subscriber-only content and coming next year interactive tools, such as webinars and video.
