Is print media dead? There are still some creative ways to save it

Although print media has become a sunset industry, there are still editors and publishers who use various means to create new points of interest. This article gives detailed examples of several influential print media innovations, and I hope it will be helpful to you.

Some time ago, due to the impact of the typhoon, the news that China Library Network suffered a devastating blow in 25 years spread on various platforms, and more than 4 million books were scrapped. Everyone felt very distressed and regretful. While netizens were cheering for the book industry to be in a state of distress, some people sincerely asked: Are there still many people who read paper books?

This sentence not only directly points out the difficult situation of the current publishing industry, but also brings out everyone's ancient memories of paper works, including paper media.

Although it is not an overnight thing that print media has become a sunset industry, there are still some editors and publishers who have deep feelings for print media and are still trying hard to save it. They not only seek breakthroughs in content and form, but also use various means to create new points of interest and refocus people's attention on publications.

Next, A Guang will show you how hard these print media work to "survive."

1. Japanese pop culture magazine "BRUTUS": AI-synthesized creative short films warm up the new issue

BRUTUS, a magazine focusing on Japanese men's lifestyle founded in 1980, has released a short film to preview the theme of each new issue before it goes on sale, starting from the June issue this year.

On August 1, BRUTUS released the 990th issue of the newspaper "Dara Golf is good", and the pre-release video for this issue was a collaboration with French director Fabrice Hebert to jointly launch an AI creative short film with the same name as the publication , "This is why I like golf" . The video uses AI animation to create many virtual tourist attractions, turning the entire Japan into a golf course, and shuttles through these picturesque attractions from the first-person perspective of golf, presenting the fun that golf brings to people one by one.

This animation changes the previous image of golf as a symbol of wealth and aristocracy, and instead uses a lighthearted and lively style and rhythm to explore the reasons why people are addicted to golf from interesting culture, eliminating the pressure of empiricism for golf beginners and enthusiasts, allowing them to fully enjoy the sport. At the same time, it also brought a lot of attention to the new golf issue of "BRUTUS" magazine.

2. The New York Times, a long-established newspaper, finds a new way out

Make a children's newspaper that adults will also read.

The New York Times For Kids is a special edition of The New York Times, mainly for children aged 8-13. The overall content is based on the columns of The New York Times magazine itself, with sections such as country, art, travel, sports, food and opinion. Under the masthead, there is an editor's note: Not suitable for adults.

This children's edition of the newspaper received a great response after its first launch on May 14, 2017, and it has since been transformed from an experimental content into a regular column. While ensuring the amount of information and educational content, the design and illustrations of the newspaper are more rich and beautiful. The exquisite design and interesting content not only allow children to put down their phones and begin to recognize and understand the things around them, but also make adults enjoy following it.

This children's newspaper has been published in paper form for 7 years. It has not only found innovative ways to think about news reporting from a child's perspective, but also allows the new generation to recognize and accept paper media as their own responsibility. It provides a medium that parents can share with their children, allowing the old brand to continue to have new readers.

3. 21st Century Business Herald published a full-page Gucci advertisement

A 3-yuan newspaper can produce the effect of 30,000 yuan.

On March 24 this year, 21st Century Business Herald published a Gucci advertisement on its front page to promote the Gucci Valigeria travel series of bags. As soon as the newspaper was published, it aroused heated discussions among netizens. As this creative advertisement was widely circulated, more and more people started to think and join in the discussion, and the ways of playing became more and more fancy.

Netizens have transformed newspapers into Gucci bags and posted photos on the Internet. Some added two straps to turn them into backpacks, some carried them over their shoulders as tote bags, some tucked them under their armpits as briefcases, and some stuck them on suitcases to instantly increase their value. In this way, a newspaper worth 3 yuan was "carried" to look like it cost 30,000 yuan.

If you can’t afford a bag, can you afford a newspaper? Thanks to the imagination of netizens, 21st Century Business Herald was out of stock, creating a sales legend in the era of declining paper media and bringing vitality to this newspaper.

4. Shinano Mainichi Shimbun

A headshot of Tatsuya Fujiwara was published, and a strange request was made: he must use it to wrap lettuce.

On the June 17th issue of the Japanese newspaper Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, a photo of actor Fujiwara Tatsuya took up the entire page of the newspaper. On the far right side of the newspaper, it was written in large characters: "Newspaper for keeping lettuce fresh." Another line of small characters carefully reminded: Please use this newspaper to wrap lettuce. You read that right. You are asked to use Fujiwara Tatsuya's face to wrap lettuce.

Wrapping vegetables in paper to keep them fresh is commonplace in the eyes of the Japanese people, but this is the first time that such a weird way of packaging has been used. Since the government is making such a strange request, the public will certainly like it. For a time, many kinds of "Fujiwara Tatsuya's face lettuce wraps" appeared on the Internet. The popularity of this interesting packaging was so great that the Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, which published the advertisement, was quickly sold out.

In fact, this newspaper advertisement was for the Japanese brand Ajinomoto to promote their product, Cook Do Chinese oyster sauce, which has a unique selling point: oyster sauce that can eat up lettuce in an instant. So this time, the newspaper, product, and spokesperson teamed up to not only sell out Ajinomoto products, but also brought Shinano Mainichi Shimbun back into the eyes of consumers.

5. Budweiser and Rolling Stone jointly publish monthly magazine "BudMag"

Using creativity to save endangered music magazines.

In the Internet age where everything is accessible, does anyone still buy music magazines to get music information? The answer is obvious. In order to save music magazines, Budweiser and Rolling Stone magazine jointly published a monthly music magazine "BudMag". The unique feature of this magazine is that the content of the magazine is printed on the packaging box of 12 cans of beer.

The first monthly issue of BudMag plans to issue 100,000 copies, introducing four emerging musicians: Nath, Kapo, Benú and Sai. Each artist's Spotify code is printed on the magazine, guiding fans to visit the artist's related page. Consumers do not need to pay extra for these magazines. The only thing to do is to buy a dozen Budweiser and absorb new music information with beer. In order to prevent consumers from tearing the outer packaging, Budweiser has also designed a special opening so that everyone can see this page of the magazine smoothly.

In this way, Budweiser guides consumers to learn more about artists and helps artists expand their personal influence. At the same time, this idea also extends a helping hand to print media, expands the audience of magazines, and allows music magazines, an "endangered species", to reappear around people and arouse their attention.

VI. Conclusion

As a post-90s generation, Guang has witnessed the rise and fall of many publications. When I was a child, I read evening papers from roadside newsstands, leisure publications that my classmates passed around secretly, and elementary school newspapers that I subscribed to at school... In that era when the Internet had not yet matured, paper media was a transit station for us to obtain information, a good friend in our broken times, and accompanied us as we grew up.

In today's era of information explosion and Internet dominance, people no longer rely on paper media to obtain information. Paper media has declined, but it has not died out. Because any medium has its own irreplaceable charm, the real touch of paper can establish a more real emotional bond with readers and stimulate resonance, which is difficult to replicate with digital media.

Different eras have their own characteristics. Media people may not be able to replicate the golden age of print media, but they can still discover new spaces and gaps and make the latest attempts and challenges. This is what print media should strive for in today's era.

Author: Nanzai

Source: WeChat official account: Creative Advertising (ID: creativead)