Digital Driver - Gregg Hano

Gregg Hano, Pop Sci

May 7, 2009

DIGITAL DRIVER
This is another in a series of exclusive interviews with magazine executives responsible for leveraging their brands on digital platforms.

Gregg Hano, Publisher of Popular Science, Science Illustrated, and PopSci.com

Gregg Hano oversees the sales and marketing of the Popular Science Media Group. He’s the publisher of Popular Science, Science Illustrated, and Popsci.com. Under his direction, Popular Science has reached financial milestones including the most profitable year in history (2003), the largest issue ever (December 2003’s Best of What’s New issue) and web revenue reaching an all-time high (2006). PopSci has also achieved consistent year over year growth in advertising revenue and bottom line profit, as well as adding dozens of new endemic and non-endemic advertisers to its pages. He also oversees PopSci’s new multimedia magazine, Instructables.com, and Toolmonger.com, and the print and online components of the new "Popular Science: The Future Of" TV show.

“Never in my career have I felt so much support to be entrepreneurial, to power through these difficult fiscal times,” said Hano about working at Bonnier. “Jonas Bonnier told me early along, “Try many new things, Gregg, but know that sometimes you will fail – and when you do, please fail inexpensively and quickly.” 

As a publisher, when did you realize that the web was another outlet for your brand? When did that shift take place?

I realized in the mid-late 90’s that the web was an amazing and powerful form of media and communication, as well as a way to grow awareness for a brand. I was lucky to work with an associate publisher of marketing who was a big advocate for the web and helped me begin to understand what the web could do for magazine brands then and the role it would play in the future.

How do you adjust to publishing for a magazine to publishing for a website? What are the differences in how you leverage your brand online compared to print?

Publishing a magazine in print and/or online is a process that requires continual evolution and adjustment. Editor-in-Chief Mark Jannot and I believe that our website and our magazine are read by different audiences who come to the products for different reasons.  As a result we have had to adjust our content development, voice, and structure to appeal to a digital audience while continuing to morph our print product to appeal to our 7 million readers. 

What are the ways you're currently leveraging your brands online?

We are constantly challenging ourselves to make popsci.com more compelling, relevant and engaging for the audience as the things evolve.  We build strong editorial packages out of themes like "The Future of Energy" or "The Best of What’s New."  We’ve developed a series of 5 Minute Project Videos and are working on several new focused sites (and/or deeper channels on PopSci.com, which can stand alone as their own enthusiast-driven mini-sites) built around core subject areas that we know have strong ad bases. The launch of new features on the site to develop PopSci.com around a stronger brand-appropriate model that delivers users tools, games, and databases that dovetail with the things that people actually come to the Web to do—and thus generate real community.

How does your company look at the future?

We believe that digital readers will be optimized for magazines with beautiful color screens, touch screen technology, wireless interfaces and video/sound capabilities.  As a brand that delivers “The Future Now,” we have already launched an interactive digital magazine – the PopSci Genius Guide – with our partners Zinio.  In 2009 we will be producing four of these special interest digital publications focusing on: Home Entertainment (already out), Greening Your Home, Getting more MPG’s out of your car, and Gear and Gadgets.  Producing the PopSci Genius Guide is another way for us to deliver readers a best in class magazine while allowing them to choose how and when they will get the content. The publication is also a great benefit to us, serving as a testing ground for the future of digital publications. We’re learning so much about producing, distributing and monetizing digital magazines that we will be in an amazing position when digital readers are available to all consumers.  Now, however, people can enjoy this content on their computer screens.  (www.popsci.com/geniusguide)

What challenges do you face?

The biggest challenge is continuing to ensure consumers will pay for content. We are clearly also challenged with the old publishing model, but perhaps not as much as some others in the field.  Popular Science has an amazingly loyal circulation willing to pay for our products.  As a result, the revenue we generate from consumer marketing helps cushion us during weaker economic times in the ad market. We are also lucky to be a large men’s magazine that can efficiently reach target audiences for advertisers in so many categories – from automotive and technology to pharma and corporate image.  This gives us a huge universe of advertisers to go after and sell on the buying power and engagement of our audience.  Like many we need to work harder today than ever before for the advertising dollars but we look at that challenge as an opportunity to be creative and bring new ideas to our customers.

How do you think publishers need to readjust their thinking or their approach in the current economic climate?

In my opinion, publishers need to be more customer-focused now than ever before. We need to understand what our customers want. In the ad sales and marketing arena, deeply understanding the marketing objectives and strategies of clients is key.  Listening, learning, sharing, and collaborating are the best routes to success.  We certainly aren’t the only ones facing challenges -- our agency and client friends are also challenged with less staff, more media options, conflicting research, and consumers with many issues on their minds. I believe deeply in constant improvement, focus and enjoying what we do every day. It’s big a responsibility, but a ton of fun.

Interview by Dara Pettinelli