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PR Because their ads don't convey enough information, IT companies are pushing their way into the editorial sections of industry magazines. The magazines are increasingly giving in to this pressure.
PR Because their advertisements say too little, IT companies are pushing into the editorial space of industry magazines. These magazines often give in. "We only place an advertisement if our product is also (positively) reported on in the editorial section." Eva Mercedes Boll, Head of Marketing at the IT magazine ICT kommunikation, has heard this demand from potential advertising customers time and again over the last two years. "More and more customers are making it clear to us that they no longer want to place advertisements. They say: traditional advertising doesn't do us any good, we do PR," says Boll. One customer even asked in all seriousness what he had to do to have the CEO of his company featured on the front page of ICT kommunikation. "The demand for editorial articles is particularly strong in IT titles," says Boll. She is well aware of this, as she is also responsible for specialist titles such as Architektur & Technik, Hotelier and Wohnrevue at ICT publisher B+L Verlags AG in Schlieren. Boll: "We receive far fewer such requests for our other titles."
Karl-Heinz Müller, Publishing Director of SysData, calls this "tie-in business". These have been "a certain peculiarity of the IT sector for some years now", he says. Müller, like Boll, can make cross-comparisons: Binkert Medien AG in Laufenburg, where he works, also publishes specialist titles from various sectors.
"Many IT customers - especially large companies - are doing less and less image advertising, preferring instead to place editorial reports," Liévin M'Bu, owner of M&F Trend Media GmbH in Basel, has also noticed. "This trend is very pronounced in the IT sector," he says, as his publishing house also publishes a variety of specialist titles, including the Schweizerische Informatik-Revue (SIR).
5 to 10 percent of turnoverBut why are print attempts apparently more frequent in the IT scene than elsewhere? And why do IT customers prefer to place PR texts rather than advertisements? "A service or software in the IT sector requires a lot of explanation, which is why it is no longer enough for IT companies to simply advertise their image," speculates Boll. M'Bu also speaks of "abstract IT solutions that require a lot of explanation". Daniel Meierhans, editor-in-chief of the IT title InfoWeek from the Compress Information Group in Thalwil, brings in another aspect: "The IT sector is heavily PR-driven, and there are also a lot of PR publications in this scene," he says.
There are many publishing strategies for countering this trend and the pressure. "Last year, we introduced the 'public reportage' format at ICT kommunikation in order to achieve a clear differentiation from our editorial contributions," says Eva Mercedes Boll. And she admits that the publisher found it difficult to take this step despite the clear labeling in the magazine. In the meantime, however, the public reports generate around ten percent of the total ICT advertising revenue.
Not so with Compress (IT-Reseller/InfoWeek). "Publicity reports are not compatible with the standards of our magazines," explains publisher Michael von Babo. Concessions to advertisers are therefore out of the question for him.
At SysData, on the other hand, publicity reports have long been one of the "special forms of advertising" listed in the media data. They account for around ten to twenty percent of sales, with a slight upward trend. However, Karl-Heinz Müller considers software tests, so-called case studies, which not only require cooperation with an IT company (comparable to car tests, for example), but are also paid for by them, to be more difficult. In such cases, SysData is walking a "dangerous tightrope", he admits. However, it is always made clear to the companies in advance "that the SysData editorial team determines the implementation in each case", says Müller. He adds: "For some IT companies, that's pretty tough stuff."
Trend doesn't affect everyoneLiévin M'Bu takes a different approach. His SIR not only lives from PR texts, these even make up the majority of the magazine at around 53 percent. According to M'Bu, his own editorial work accounts for only twenty percent. M'Bu calls SIR the "mouthpiece for IT solutions" and the PR articles, for example, "success stories": a two-page text of this kind, always combined with a full-page advertisement, costs CHF 5,500. The texts are provided with the company address. "However, it is not obvious to the reader that these are paid articles," admits M'Bu. They are also listed in the table of contents as editorial contributions. No wonder, then, that the publisher sees zero demand for labeled public reports. "They have too much of an advertising touch," he says.
However, some IT magazines also disagree. "I don't believe that the pressure from customers is greater here than in other sectors," says Heinrich Meyer, co-owner of Netzwoche publisher Netzmedien in Basel. He also does not see a movement towards more PR instead of advertising. He refers to a survey by the US market researcher IDC. According to this, only seven percent of IT companies' marketing budgets are spent on PR, but 36 percent on traditional advertising.
Even at IDG Switzerland (PCtipp and Computerworld), General Manager Gebhard Osterwalder cannot confirm a trend towards more PR. Publicity reports, he says, were trendy about two years ago. "But that has since died down." And Ingo Rausch, Managing Director of Mediengesellschaft Ulm in Adliswil, speaks of demand remaining roughly the same. At his online PC newspaper, publicity reports account for a constant five percent of sales.
However, what is striking is that the contradiction comes exclusively from publishers that focus exclusively on the IT sector, meaning that cross-comparisons with other sectors are less possible. What's more, the industry has now created other paid text vehicles in addition to publicity reports. They are called company portraits, case studies, project reports, product news, best practice or case studies. Some of these have been around for years.
In other words: Those who have been offering PR vessels for a long time feel less pressure because they can already channel it. A valve is already in place. Two examples should prove this. IDG's Computerworld magazine, for example, only introduced the paid company portrait section in the middle of last year - all identically presented pages about IT consultants. "These portraits are in demand in the magazine format," says Gebhard Osterwalder. That is why it is already clear that Computerworld will take over this advertising route after its relaunch in May (see "Taking small steps" on this page).
Example two: The company portraits and case studies in the six times a year published Netzguide of Netzmedien have also been "well used" for years, as Heinrich Meyer confirms. He doesn't want to name the percentage of sales, but he can give the reason for the demand: "There are companies that don't have advertising templates created. They say that they prefer to show what they do on a one-to-one basis," he says.
Contradiction or not - this closes the circle. Because Meyer's statement is very similar to that of Eva Mercedes Boll in the first section of this article.
Someone who wants to take advantage of the PR trend "Fewer advertisements, more publicity reports." This is how Daniel Frey outlines the most important changes in the IT magazine market. He states this after five years of working as a journalist for an IT title. His reasoning: "IT solutions are becoming increasingly complex and packaging them into an advertising message is becoming more and more difficult."
Based on this, Frey will soon be publishing the title it4kmu with 12,400 copies and eleven issues a year. A piquant fact: it4kmu does not have its own editorial team; its content consists exclusively of paid articles. Nevertheless, Frey does not just want to publish superlatives, pat-on-the-back articles and self-congratulations; the success stories, case studies, company portraits and interviews should contain real information. Frey sees this as a prerequisite for it4kmu to become a "mediator between suppliers and consumers". However, his claim has hit rocky ground with IT companies, as they hardly have any texts in Frey's style in their drawers. That is why he first has to do some educational work. Frey therefore had to postpone the launch from February to May 17. (mk)
IT titles: Advertisers expect more from the editorial text than from the advertisement.
IT-Reseller is a PR denier, Netzwoche and Computerworld offer PR vessels.
Markus Knöpfli
Karl-Heinz Müller, Publishing Director of SysData, calls this "tie-in business". These have been "a certain peculiarity of the IT sector for some years now", he says. Müller, like Boll, can make cross-comparisons: Binkert Medien AG in Laufenburg, where he works, also publishes specialist titles from various sectors.
"Many IT customers - especially large companies - are doing less and less image advertising, preferring instead to place editorial reports," Liévin M'Bu, owner of M&F Trend Media GmbH in Basel, has also noticed. "This trend is very pronounced in the IT sector," he says, as his publishing house also publishes a variety of specialist titles, including the Schweizerische Informatik-Revue (SIR).
5 to 10 percent of turnoverBut why are print attempts apparently more frequent in the IT scene than elsewhere? And why do IT customers prefer to place PR texts rather than advertisements? "A service or software in the IT sector requires a lot of explanation, which is why it is no longer enough for IT companies to simply advertise their image," speculates Boll. M'Bu also speaks of "abstract IT solutions that require a lot of explanation". Daniel Meierhans, editor-in-chief of the IT title InfoWeek from the Compress Information Group in Thalwil, brings in another aspect: "The IT sector is heavily PR-driven, and there are also a lot of PR publications in this scene," he says.
There are many publishing strategies for countering this trend and the pressure. "Last year, we introduced the 'public reportage' format at ICT kommunikation in order to achieve a clear differentiation from our editorial contributions," says Eva Mercedes Boll. And she admits that the publisher found it difficult to take this step despite the clear labeling in the magazine. In the meantime, however, the public reports generate around ten percent of the total ICT advertising revenue.
Not so with Compress (IT-Reseller/InfoWeek). "Publicity reports are not compatible with the standards of our magazines," explains publisher Michael von Babo. Concessions to advertisers are therefore out of the question for him.
At SysData, on the other hand, publicity reports have long been one of the "special forms of advertising" listed in the media data. They account for around ten to twenty percent of sales, with a slight upward trend. However, Karl-Heinz Müller considers software tests, so-called case studies, which not only require cooperation with an IT company (comparable to car tests, for example), but are also paid for by them, to be more difficult. In such cases, SysData is walking a "dangerous tightrope", he admits. However, it is always made clear to the companies in advance "that the SysData editorial team determines the implementation in each case", says Müller. He adds: "For some IT companies, that's pretty tough stuff."
Trend doesn't affect everyoneLiévin M'Bu takes a different approach. His SIR not only lives from PR texts, these even make up the majority of the magazine at around 53 percent. According to M'Bu, his own editorial work accounts for only twenty percent. M'Bu calls SIR the "mouthpiece for IT solutions" and the PR articles, for example, "success stories": a two-page text of this kind, always combined with a full-page advertisement, costs CHF 5,500. The texts are provided with the company address. "However, it is not obvious to the reader that these are paid articles," admits M'Bu. They are also listed in the table of contents as editorial contributions. No wonder, then, that the publisher sees zero demand for labeled public reports. "They have too much of an advertising touch," he says.
However, some IT magazines also disagree. "I don't believe that the pressure from customers is greater here than in other sectors," says Heinrich Meyer, co-owner of Netzwoche publisher Netzmedien in Basel. He also does not see a movement towards more PR instead of advertising. He refers to a survey by the US market researcher IDC. According to this, only seven percent of IT companies' marketing budgets are spent on PR, but 36 percent on traditional advertising.
Even at IDG Switzerland (PCtipp and Computerworld), General Manager Gebhard Osterwalder cannot confirm a trend towards more PR. Publicity reports, he says, were trendy about two years ago. "But that has since died down." And Ingo Rausch, Managing Director of Mediengesellschaft Ulm in Adliswil, speaks of demand remaining roughly the same. At his online PC newspaper, publicity reports account for a constant five percent of sales.
However, what is striking is that the contradiction comes exclusively from publishers that focus exclusively on the IT sector, meaning that cross-comparisons with other sectors are less possible. What's more, the industry has now created other paid text vehicles in addition to publicity reports. They are called company portraits, case studies, project reports, product news, best practice or case studies. Some of these have been around for years.
In other words: Those who have been offering PR vessels for a long time feel less pressure because they can already channel it. A valve is already in place. Two examples should prove this. IDG's Computerworld magazine, for example, only introduced the paid company portrait section in the middle of last year - all identically presented pages about IT consultants. "These portraits are in demand in the magazine format," says Gebhard Osterwalder. That is why it is already clear that Computerworld will take over this advertising route after its relaunch in May (see "Taking small steps" on this page).
Example two: The company portraits and case studies in the six times a year published Netzguide of Netzmedien have also been "well used" for years, as Heinrich Meyer confirms. He doesn't want to name the percentage of sales, but he can give the reason for the demand: "There are companies that don't have advertising templates created. They say that they prefer to show what they do on a one-to-one basis," he says.
Contradiction or not - this closes the circle. Because Meyer's statement is very similar to that of Eva Mercedes Boll in the first section of this article.
Someone who wants to take advantage of the PR trend "Fewer advertisements, more publicity reports." This is how Daniel Frey outlines the most important changes in the IT magazine market. He states this after five years of working as a journalist for an IT title. His reasoning: "IT solutions are becoming increasingly complex and packaging them into an advertising message is becoming more and more difficult."
Based on this, Frey will soon be publishing the title it4kmu with 12,400 copies and eleven issues a year. A piquant fact: it4kmu does not have its own editorial team; its content consists exclusively of paid articles. Nevertheless, Frey does not just want to publish superlatives, pat-on-the-back articles and self-congratulations; the success stories, case studies, company portraits and interviews should contain real information. Frey sees this as a prerequisite for it4kmu to become a "mediator between suppliers and consumers". However, his claim has hit rocky ground with IT companies, as they hardly have any texts in Frey's style in their drawers. That is why he first has to do some educational work. Frey therefore had to postpone the launch from February to May 17. (mk)
IT titles: Advertisers expect more from the editorial text than from the advertisement.
IT-Reseller is a PR denier, Netzwoche and Computerworld offer PR vessels.
Markus Knöpfli
