Also digitally ingenious
Today, companies communicate across all channels—print, online, and mobile. However, only those who take key success factors into account and fully leverage the potential of the various media formats can achieve lasting success in their communications.
We then put it online - or even better: we make a flip page magazine for the Internet. That's what you sometimes hear from communication managers in creative meetings. This idea is anything but absurd. Why not use content multiple times, as a print version and on the Internet? This increases the output, synergies can be used - and even costs can be saved.
However, things are not quite that simple. The use of new media formats can quickly turn into a communicative boomerang. If not adapted to the special laws and potential of digital media, some 1:1 content degenerates into a bore, difficult to read on screen and far too static. A missed opportunity.
Playing to strengths
Only when print and new media can play to their respective strengths and complement each other intelligently can they achieve the desired effect. Optimally orchestrating different communication tools - this task is now part of the core business of successful corporate publishers. They no longer just produce professionally designed publications for their corporate clients, but are increasingly taking on the role of media conductor and innovation-conscious solution provider.
The innovation engine is already running at full speed: new solutions are constantly being developed and implemented that go far beyond the creation of conventional websites and scrollable PDF documents: E-journals, topic portals, microsites, corporate TV, vodcasts and podcasts for cell phones open up completely new worlds of experience and enable unprecedented forms of customer dialog.
Full interaction
Print magazines, corporate books and printed annual reports do not lose their outstanding importance in the digital world - they remain sustainable, valuable media for corporate communication. If anything, they gain additional weight as a push instrument that draws attention to all the additional online media and puts them in the spotlight in the first place. Conversely, digital media expand the performance spectrum of print communication by creating full interaction between reader and medium. They are dialog-oriented, individual and available everywhere. No less important for clients: their success is verifiable. Sophisticated response mechanisms ensure the measurability of the channels used.
The cross-media commitment of communications professionals has long been paying off, even and especially in times of general crisis. According to the CP Barometer of the European Institute for Corporate Publishing, more than two thirds of marketing and communications managers of corporations and large companies see corporate publishing as one of the top instruments in the marketing mix in the future. Media budgets are being reallocated across the board in favor of innovative CP strategies. This is no coincidence, as modern customer media are not only cheaper, but also more targeted than many advertising campaigns with their sometimes immense wastage. Corporate publishing benefits in particular from the fact that many areas of marketing have come to realize that the respective target groups - customers, partners, employees - need to be provided with more content, added value and service. This leads directly to the three success factors of media orchestration:
Success factor 1: Addressing communities
Addressing customers in an even more targeted manner leads to a clear segmentation of communication media. Diversifying existing or new target groups ("communities") in this way is one of the most important advantages in corporate publishing. Long gone are the days when one magazine had to suffice for all and sundry. Today, customers can no longer be lumped together. Instead, corporate messages are now adapted to the requirements, habits and wishes of a wide variety of communities and sent out in targeted communication cascades so that they no longer get lost in the flood of information.
This also applies to employee communication: in addition to the employee magazine, which is aimed at all employees, managers who are often on the move are also reached quickly and specifically with mobile communication via cell phone. And the web is used to address employees directly - for example with a vodcast in which the CEO explains important changes.
Success factor 2: Journalistic storytelling
Content is central to all communication: only those who manage to interest and inspire their customers and employees on all channels do a good job - and this is done most effectively with "good stories". Corporate publishers provide valuable support here. After all, they are professionals at generating strategically relevant content from the corporate world and systematically preparing it for specific target groups. They are the storytellers and know the success factors for effective interaction between print, online and mobile.
The quality of the content ultimately determines success or failure - across all media formats. It is usually no longer enough to simply put a story from the printed magazine online. Online is faster and more up-to-date than print - and the "style" of the articles, the dramaturgy of the presentation, must also be faster. This is where tools such as vodcasts and podcasts come into their own. Without qualified content, internet solutions and mobile communication simply come to nothing. Corporate publishing has an enormous competitive advantage in this field. The leading providers have extensive journalistic expertise, have mastered the media formats and thus successfully build credibility for their clients. Anyone who reads a report on the experiences of a jogging beginner in a customer magazine, for example, wants to receive added value on the web, such as a vodcast in which the runner's progress is commented on by an expert. There must also be an opportunity to enter into a dialog with the expert to ask for personal tips, etc.
Success factor 3: A coherent overall concept
Mastering the new diversity in the media universe - in terms of content and technology - is the basis of the business and therefore indispensable. However, any media solution is only as good as the underlying strategy that helps to implement it. In other words, the first step is to define which marketing or communication objective a medium is intended to achieve in practice. If it is more about image, sophisticated corporate publishing media work out what a company stands for. Executive magazines for top decision-makers in particular, but increasingly also annual reports, are becoming a platform for image-driven storytelling - both in print and online. If the focus is on selling products, intelligent media concepts can provide companies with more turnover in a very concrete way.
Last but not least, multimedia-loaded e-journals can be used to initiate communication that embeds products in emotional worlds of desire and conveys the value of the goods in a completely new, unobtrusive way. Ultimately, this leads to a purchase decision that is simple and convenient for the customer. In turn, meaningful messages are required to strengthen brands - another case for customer magazines or story sites on the Internet. They help to promote branding through journalistic content and thus emotionalize it in the long term.
Elmar zur Bonsen
However, things are not quite that simple. The use of new media formats can quickly turn into a communicative boomerang. If not adapted to the special laws and potential of digital media, some 1:1 content degenerates into a bore, difficult to read on screen and far too static. A missed opportunity.
Playing to strengths
Only when print and new media can play to their respective strengths and complement each other intelligently can they achieve the desired effect. Optimally orchestrating different communication tools - this task is now part of the core business of successful corporate publishers. They no longer just produce professionally designed publications for their corporate clients, but are increasingly taking on the role of media conductor and innovation-conscious solution provider.
The innovation engine is already running at full speed: new solutions are constantly being developed and implemented that go far beyond the creation of conventional websites and scrollable PDF documents: E-journals, topic portals, microsites, corporate TV, vodcasts and podcasts for cell phones open up completely new worlds of experience and enable unprecedented forms of customer dialog.
Full interaction
Print magazines, corporate books and printed annual reports do not lose their outstanding importance in the digital world - they remain sustainable, valuable media for corporate communication. If anything, they gain additional weight as a push instrument that draws attention to all the additional online media and puts them in the spotlight in the first place. Conversely, digital media expand the performance spectrum of print communication by creating full interaction between reader and medium. They are dialog-oriented, individual and available everywhere. No less important for clients: their success is verifiable. Sophisticated response mechanisms ensure the measurability of the channels used.
The cross-media commitment of communications professionals has long been paying off, even and especially in times of general crisis. According to the CP Barometer of the European Institute for Corporate Publishing, more than two thirds of marketing and communications managers of corporations and large companies see corporate publishing as one of the top instruments in the marketing mix in the future. Media budgets are being reallocated across the board in favor of innovative CP strategies. This is no coincidence, as modern customer media are not only cheaper, but also more targeted than many advertising campaigns with their sometimes immense wastage. Corporate publishing benefits in particular from the fact that many areas of marketing have come to realize that the respective target groups - customers, partners, employees - need to be provided with more content, added value and service. This leads directly to the three success factors of media orchestration:
Success factor 1: Addressing communities
Addressing customers in an even more targeted manner leads to a clear segmentation of communication media. Diversifying existing or new target groups ("communities") in this way is one of the most important advantages in corporate publishing. Long gone are the days when one magazine had to suffice for all and sundry. Today, customers can no longer be lumped together. Instead, corporate messages are now adapted to the requirements, habits and wishes of a wide variety of communities and sent out in targeted communication cascades so that they no longer get lost in the flood of information.
This also applies to employee communication: in addition to the employee magazine, which is aimed at all employees, managers who are often on the move are also reached quickly and specifically with mobile communication via cell phone. And the web is used to address employees directly - for example with a vodcast in which the CEO explains important changes.
Success factor 2: Journalistic storytelling
Content is central to all communication: only those who manage to interest and inspire their customers and employees on all channels do a good job - and this is done most effectively with "good stories". Corporate publishers provide valuable support here. After all, they are professionals at generating strategically relevant content from the corporate world and systematically preparing it for specific target groups. They are the storytellers and know the success factors for effective interaction between print, online and mobile.
The quality of the content ultimately determines success or failure - across all media formats. It is usually no longer enough to simply put a story from the printed magazine online. Online is faster and more up-to-date than print - and the "style" of the articles, the dramaturgy of the presentation, must also be faster. This is where tools such as vodcasts and podcasts come into their own. Without qualified content, internet solutions and mobile communication simply come to nothing. Corporate publishing has an enormous competitive advantage in this field. The leading providers have extensive journalistic expertise, have mastered the media formats and thus successfully build credibility for their clients. Anyone who reads a report on the experiences of a jogging beginner in a customer magazine, for example, wants to receive added value on the web, such as a vodcast in which the runner's progress is commented on by an expert. There must also be an opportunity to enter into a dialog with the expert to ask for personal tips, etc.
Success factor 3: A coherent overall concept
Mastering the new diversity in the media universe - in terms of content and technology - is the basis of the business and therefore indispensable. However, any media solution is only as good as the underlying strategy that helps to implement it. In other words, the first step is to define which marketing or communication objective a medium is intended to achieve in practice. If it is more about image, sophisticated corporate publishing media work out what a company stands for. Executive magazines for top decision-makers in particular, but increasingly also annual reports, are becoming a platform for image-driven storytelling - both in print and online. If the focus is on selling products, intelligent media concepts can provide companies with more turnover in a very concrete way.
Last but not least, multimedia-loaded e-journals can be used to initiate communication that embeds products in emotional worlds of desire and conveys the value of the goods in a completely new, unobtrusive way. Ultimately, this leads to a purchase decision that is simple and convenient for the customer. In turn, meaningful messages are required to strengthen brands - another case for customer magazines or story sites on the Internet. They help to promote branding through journalistic content and thus emotionalize it in the long term.
Elmar zur Bonsen
New Creative Director Editorial Design at Infel
Michael Adams, 44, is responsible for the graphic creation and further development of corporate publishing publications at Infel. After studying communication design, he worked as a graphic designer for advertising agencies and publishing houses before moving into the media industry as a designer and art director (Zeitung zum Sonntag, Freiburg i. Br., Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, and Basler Zeitung). With the Basler Zeitung he won the "Best Designed Regional Newspaper in Europe" award at the 10th European Newspaper Congress in 2009. Adams is a board member of the Society for News Design/DACH (Regional Director Switzerland), a jury member for "Worlds Best Designed Newspaper" and the "dpa infografik award", Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
Even though companies are increasingly under cost pressure in times of crisis such as these, they prefer to communicate efficiently rather than not at all. And they are relying more than ever on the diverse media offerings of corporate publishing. Figures confirm this trend: as the recently published CP Barometer of the European Institute for Corporate Publishing (EICP) revealed, almost 70 percent of the communication managers surveyed see corporate publishing as an outstanding marketing tool, and a further fifth of company representatives even expect it to become even more important than other communication activities. Over 85 percent of those surveyed also consider corporate publishing to be a very suitable instrument for communicating successfully in times of crisis.
