InformationWeek has redesigned in a move to keep readers engaged with its print product.
The IT execs’ publication revealed its new look on Monday, January 19, with a longer-than-usual cover story and more graphs, pictures and charts. The magazine is mailed to 440,000 qualified readers in the information technology industry. VP and publisher John Siefert said that the redesign was based wholly on readers’ demands for deeper analysis and more useful information in print.
“We’ve been working for quite some time to really understand, contextually, what somebody wants through the magazine versus through the Web site or analyst business,” Siefert said, “and what we learned was the people getting the magazine wanted a deeper analytical look at what’s going on in the market.
“I spend about 30% of my time with readers, discussing the issues in the market and what they want from InformationWeek,” he added. “The silver bullet coming through all these discussions was that the audience wanted to use the magazine for a 5-10 mile view of where they were taking their business.”
The redesign is expected to drive more cross-media traffic, with print pushing readers to InformationWeek.com, private community site InformationWeek Reports and InformationWeek Analytics — all of which will push back to the magazine for more in-depth reports.
Rather than launching a specific campaign, Siefert said he is letting the redesign promote itself. His publisher’s letter about the change was featured in print and online. As for longer-term marketing plans, the site features a subscription request form, but, with 100,000 people already on the waiting list to receive InformationWeek, Siefert said wider-spread promotions weren’t on his to-do list.
“We could increase the circulation, but my perspective is to make sure I have the best 440,000 people at any given time,” he explained. “So I work a lot with the audience development team to make sure we have the most senior, relevant individuals within the largest companies out there in the marketplace.”
