Just as a follow-up to my earlier post on the Time, Inc. restructuring — CEO Ann Moore spoke in front of the Audit Bureau of Circulation about the generally dismal state of the magazine publishing industry, which she reckoned is being hit by “an economic tsunami.”
Not all that much new about what Time is doing, although the analysis that “escapist” brands are going to see a short-term spike fits in with the ongoing trends in entertainment … kinda like how during Great Depression I, moviegoers flocked to see Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers movies, so they could escape for a time from the grim reality of unemployment, poverty, Dust Bowl & bread lines.
“By this October it was looking like 1931,†she said. “[Time Inc.] has never had so many advertising clients in trouble at the same time. The declines are stunning.†Moore added that she didn’t care if it technically isn’t a recession. “It is one for us.â€
She also name-checked Maghound, a kind of Netflix for magazines. I’d like to say that I see a significant upside to this, but I really don’t. If I like a magazine, I subscribe to it. If I don’t, I allow the subscription to lapse. I’m not going to be changing up the subscriptions every month the way that I re-order my Netflix queue.
The one money quote that made it to the top of AdAge’s story teaser is this:
One of Ms. Moore’s more cathartic assessments, and one which elicited the most audible response from attendees, was her defense of Time Inc.’s own shake-up, and other reorganization strategies like it, saying that “if you’re still sitting on your five-year plan, you’re delusional.”
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