Branding research

After reading the article Brand Identity Is The Key For Magazines I learned that magazines arent on the decline as a matter of fact. According to Samir Husni, director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi, there are around 4 times as many magazine titles now than there were in 1978. If the magazine was on the decline then why would that occur? The magazines that are disappearing are the ones that don't give you any useful information, meaning the gossip magazines. People are getting away with buying subscriptions for 5 dollars for an entire year when a single issue at a newsstand costs around the same. If they were to get rid of the subscription then they would have no choice but to buy the hard copy or even an e-book version for the same price. Aside from the subscription people are willing to pay for things that grant them knowledge. People are buying what are known as "bookazines" because they give them more knowledge. People also will buy things on the brand identity alone. Look at shoes, you'll pay 150 dollars for a pair of shoes that are no better than a 40 dollar pair. So if you get your notoriety up then people will most certainly pay money for your product.

So for my magazine I will focus on getting by brand notoriety up as well as focus more on content than flashy eye catchers. That doesn't mean I will do away with all things flashy, it just means I will try to grant as much knowledge on my readers as I possibly can without interfering with the branding as well.