Moving into new markets through extending the brand

It is becoming essential for magazines to view themselves as complete brands across multiple platforms where they are able to reach a wider audience and create new revenue streams, which was a subject discussed today at FIPP’s Congress in Rome. There are new possibilities emerging constantly that range from advanced advertising to e-commerce platforms where brands are becoming enablers.

Jeff Chang, vice president strategy and business development at Trends Media Group, China (pictured), recommends looking at three things before extending a brand. Brands need to look at who they are, where they are from and where they see themselves going in the future. Once a brand has positioned itself in the market and is able to understand who its customers are, it should focus on finding the right partners who are technologically savvy and can help with driving users to get involved with integrated marketing campaigns.

Tom Bureau, CEO Immediate Media, UK, discussed the importance of having good communication between the editorial and marketing teams in order for them to work together and offer the reader an interactive experience. One example is allowing the editorial content to integrate offers and deals into the core of the brand that will help generate engagement with the audience.

Bureau emphasised that today: “It’s a brand, not just a magazine.”

In the past, content was the core value of magazines. In the future, it is all about the brand as a whole and how the brand is able to expand the boundaries of the media industry and generate new revenue streams. One way to do this is to engage with television content, bringing together innovation, user experience and functionality.

Chang discussed a few things that companies should consider when creating brand extensions. Although it sounds simple, brands should make sure they understand their competitors and how they can do things better. Finding and strengthening the brands core abilities has become very important when deciding what platforms to extend to. The next thing is to apply those core capabilities and strengths, and build partnerships in order to work together and advance in the industry.

Brands are continuously expanding their digital presence and need to focus on reaching their audience across all platforms through brand extensions.

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