MINE!

Mine.

The favorite word of two year olds everywhere is now the name of a new magazine and concept from Time Inc and American Express Publishing.

The concept is intriguing. Instead of paying for several magazine subscriptions, readers complete a detailed questionnaire about their likes, dislikes and interests. Content is then pulled from Time Inc.’s suite of publications and assembled into one original magazine that is custom-tailored to the reader.

It’s an intriguing concept, isn’t it? As a consumer, my first response was “I want mine.”  Don’t you think that would make a great slogan?

My second response was “Hmmnnn…..”

I love the idea of a magazine filled with articles and ads I’m interested in.  Cooking is a hobby of mine, and I’ve subscribed to Cooking Light for several years now. Some months, the issue is dog-eared with pages smeared from my cooking attempts; there are more recipes than I can ever try. Other months the magazine just goes right into the pile and elicits only a snort of contempt from me.  Where am I supposed to find all those exotic ingredients out here in rural Virginia? I’m not driving two hours into Richmond just to find panko and crimini mushrooms (okay, Wal-Mart has panko – Japanese bread crumbs – but you get the picture.)  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get a magazine with only those recipes that have what I call normal ingredients, things I can find in our rural area?

But then I thought more about the magazines I subscribe to and their contents. Have you ever had the experience of flipping through a magazine and an ad catches your eye for a new product? That happened just this week. I was flipping through Hobby Farms and saw an ad for a chicken coop for under $300.  We’ve wanted to get some chickens for a long time, but I need to rely upon my long-suffering spouse to build the coop and enclosure, and he’s not terribly enthusiastic about the project or about chickens in general. Suddenly I see a coop that even I with my limited carpentry skills could put together. It was also a very attractive little barn with safety features to keep out predators and little hatches to collect the eggs and clean the coop. Just what I wanted. I’ve now folded down that page for future reference. You know what you can get me for Christmas….

What if this new concept of “Mine” was in place with my magazines? Would the algorithm that drew content for my unique magazine have known my chicken coop dilemma?

What about advertisers? While some will welcome the targeted ads, magazines are going to have to radically rethink ad rates. Ad rates are predicated by circulation rates, and circulation rates are audited by one of the independent firms like the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) which gives marketers confidence that the information reported by the magazine is accurate.  If new magazines have custom content and custom selected ads, there’s no way to accurately predict how many impressions an ad will make. Think about it. What if only 100 of the 30,000+ subscribers to Hobby Farms note on their questionnaire want an inexpensive, small, portable and easy to assemble chicken coop?  I’m not actively shopping for a chicken coop; it wasn’t top of mind when I opened my magazine. The ad in this case inspired me to start thinking again about adding animals to Seven Oaks, our little hobby farm.

It’s a chicken or the egg scenario, pun definitely intended.  If people receive only ads and articles about what they want, advertisers can target ads better and perhaps see higher returns. On the other hand, if you don’t get your ads in front of new customers, you lose an acquisition channel.

Egg-xcellent, my dear friends.  What do you think about such a new magazine and strategy?

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MINE!