How magazines could remain competitive in the transition from print to digital media

Abstract: During the past decades, the world has seen a fast development in information technology. This has led to significant changes in many different industries including the media industry. The transformation is in progress and is unceasingly changing the game rules for media companies. Many magazines are struggling in the new competitive media landscape since existing business models in the print industry are hard to apply to the digital industry. In order for magazines to remain competitive they need to develop their revenue models and adjust to the new game rules in the industry. This thesis is focused on how magazines could develop their businesses in order to remain competitive in the transition from print to digital media. The research methods used were semi-structured interviews and a survey. The interviews were conducted with seven different media experts in order to find possible directions for Swedish magazines in general. The survey was aimed exclusively to the entertainment magazine Nöjesguiden in order to decide what additional revenue models fit them best. The results from the interviews implicate that magazines should continuously evaluate their print business using a holistic perspective, adopt long-term perspectives, initiate cost cutting in the print business and put the cost savings into investments for the future. In addition, they should have four main areas of focus in the digital business – strategy, content, target group and data. Strategy relates to focusing on the digital business, being innovative and trying new things. The results also show that it is beneficial to separate the old business from the new since the old business is linked to outdated industry structures. Regarding content, the direction should be either very broad or very niched. Thereto, magazines should focus on unique content, which refers to content that is not available elsewhere by other content providers. In addition, magazines should evaluate what makes their content unique. This is closely related to the target group, which is going to become more important in the future media climate. For magazines, getting to know their specific target group and focusing on improving the brand recognition are going to be advantageous factors in being competitive in the digital media climate. In conclusion, magazines should use data to continuously evaluate their business and use that knowledge to improve their offer. The results from the survey shows that the best new revenue model for Nöjesguiden at the moment is events.