The Future is Digital

Costa Life Magazine was the first English language publication in Spain to publish online, a digital copy. We started in February 2007.

We now have over 5000 readers per month online in addition to our hard copy. This figure has doubled in less than six ,months and our goal is to have 10,000 readers online by the end of 2009.For more details on advertising with Costa Life either in our hard copy issue or in our digital online copy or to have a banner please email sales@costalifemagazine.com

The article below explains in brief the future of digital publishing.

Digital magazines are changing the face of publishing. We are in the midst of nothing short of a publishing revolution.

Digital Buzz
In the old fashioned paper pages of the publishing industry trade magazines, the digital buzz is humming ever louder. No matter how much you try to ignore it, no matter how much you close your ears, eventually you will succumb. The noise is just too deafening. Digital magazines are not a flash in the pan; they are revolutionizing the publishing industry. And the clamour digital magazines are causing is being debated by industry experts across the world.

Digital Magazines – Succeeding on the Web
The action at the FIPP Magazine Media 2.0 conference was reported in the April 2008 edition of Magazine World. And it was clear that digital magazines were in the thoughts of head honchos from France, Germany, Turkey, the UK and America. Didier Quillot, CEO of Lagardere Active Media in France, told delegates: "Our industry has strong assets to succeed on the web: reader communities, trusted brands, in-depth content, specific segment expertise and unique relationships with advertisers. The internet allows us to leverage those assets, extend or stretch our brand and generate revenue."

Digital Platforms
It's a no-brainer. If you have a paper and glue magazine in the real world, a digital platform can only extend your readership, build on your brand and attract advertisers.

Enhance your Brand
One of the biggest fears is that having a website will kill the magazine – who will pick it up it if it's available online? But evidence points to the fact that if you do a good job, digital magazines will in fact enhance the brand. And it isn't just the media giants who benefit. Small localized or specialized publications can reach literally the whole world. No longer are magazines victim to the market whims of supermarkets and newsagent chains, battling for shelf space. Online, the world is your oyster; a Fishing Today magazine produced and distributed in the UK might reach a small, targeted audience, but the digital magazine version could reach fishermen from Florida to France.

Digital magazines – Amenable to Sales
Niche publishers can sidestep the power of supermarkets and enjoy a new audience through digital replicas of their print editions. Digital magazines are not just more accessible, they are more amenable to sales as they are more clickable – with instant email addresses and phone numbers.

Zinio
One company showing significant growth as the digital evolution of magazines continues is Zinio. Zinio is the leading global online publishing and distribution services company with divisions focusing on digital magazine and book publishing. This enables consumers, regardless of geographic location, to search, purchase and immediately access digital publications.

Zinio has converted tens of thousands of print books to digital and interactive versions. These interactive versions can be “paged” through like their print versions but with the addition of interactive content on the “pages,” they will allow the reader to follow links from articles to websites. The company has recently teamed up with Barnes & Noble and its website, www.bn.com to sell digital magazine subscriptions alongside the print formats. The deal covers 1,000 magazine titles offering discounts up to 90% off the newsstand price.

Zinio has also conducted research to learn more about the reader of a digital magazine versus its printed reader. The study indicated that repurposing print magazines for the web increases user engagement with and affinity towards the ads.

Other research findings include:

• - 37% of people who have purchase at least one digital magazine said they were more likely to read an ad in digital format than in print
• - Almost half said that they found ads on the screen more appealing in the digital format
• - 59% said they found the digital ads easier to engage with
• - 84% said the ads were more beneficial because of the ability to click through