MPA Speeches--John Q. Griffin, AMC 2007

October 29, 2007

John Griffin
President, Magazine Group
National Geographic Society

Incoming Chairman
Magazine Publishers of America

American Magazine Conference
October 29, 2007
Boca Raton, FL

Thank you Jack. 

You have been a terrific leader of the MPA, pushing us all to work together to increase magazine advertising sales and to create new audience measurement tools. 

Your clarity and focus was exactly what we needed during this time of change.

The past year was a good year for magazines:

- Postal reform was passed

- Magazine advertising revenue was up more than any other medium except the internet and many of us shared in those gains as well

- Multiple studies showed that magazines have the most engaged audience of any medium and that this engagement extends to both editorial and advertising

- Verified circulation was accepted as a valuable part of magazine circulation

- And single copy efficiency was up over 6%.

Yet I think we all believe that the power of our medium and our brands should allow us to do much better.

That power comes from editorial excellence: the credibility and authority that engages readers in an environment of trust.

Magazines inform people about important issues, entertain them, inspire them, and help them to reach their personal goals whether it’s building a deck, running a faster 10k, keeping up with the latest movies and music, discovering fashion trends, planning for retirement, or perfecting a golf swing. 

The best of our magazines also delight readers by engaging them with stories they never thought they’d be interested in.

All of our power comes from that trust:

- Our ability to attract high quality paid circulation and audience

- Our ability to creat communities of people with a common interest

- Our ability to provide a positive environment for advertisers

- Our ability to carry that trust beyond the printed magazine and create great brands that serve our communities in other media and events.

The unique relationship magazines create between editorial and reader offers us a tremendous opportunity in a world of unlimited media options--perhaps even more than we realize. The Internet offers us new ways to expand our services to our present customers and to attract new audiences with video, audio, and searchable databases.  Best of all, the digital world offers a way to make our communities more interactive and let our readers talk directly to each other.  If we commit to it, we can leverage our brands, our customers and our base of trusted editorial content into powerful digital businesses.

And because our sales people are selling an environment of trust and not just an audience with a demographic, print sales people are the most creative in the business.

We sell not only pages and advertorials but also sponsorships and events of all kinds like trade shows, food tastings, wine samplings, business forums, design idea apartments, celebrity parties, fashion shows, craft fairs, concerts, cooking schools, races.   Programs like these have made magazines the leaders in creating true marketing partnerships.

In advertising sales we must continue making it easy for advertisers to measure and buy magazines whether they are interested in circulation or audience, making both measures transparent, timely and credible. 

We must be prepared to prove our effectiveness in whatever ways buyers demand reaching beyond pages to bring advertisers and readers together in innovative ways.

Our story from engagement to purchase intent is a good one, and we must continue to do the research and evangelical work necessary to get the word out.

In circulation we need to develop new ways to work with retailers and direct marketers to make it easier for people to sample and buy our magazines.

We face critical challenges and opportunities in this age of accelerated media change. 

It is a difficult time without a clear road map:

- How do we incorporate new media and new technologies into our business?

- How do we respond to changing consumer demographics and changing consumer demands and expectations?

- How do we reduce our environmental impact while keeping our distribution and production quality intact?

- How do we succeed at maintaining editorial quality and brand integrity under the intense pressure to achieve short term profit goals?

- How can we expand our marketing partnerships and share our brand promise in ways that do not compromise our credibility?

This last question is, I believe, the most important one.  We cannot compromise our promise to readers because what power we have comes from their trust.  Magazines play a critical role in helping people be informed, inspired, productive and fulfilled--that is the reason for our existence, and the reason we will continue to thrive in the future. 

As we lead our brands and our industry through this time of change, I challenge us all to celebrate and protect the trust and credibility of our editorial. Without that trust we have no power, with it we have the power to continue to prosper and grow, taking advantage of new technology.

Thank you for your support. 

As chairman, I will do my best to help the MPA provide leadership as we look to insure a profitable future for our industry.