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The charm of "Reader"

"Reader", such a seemingly ordinary magazine, has the power to impress millions of readers around the world.

Core Competencies

Initially, "Reader" used the American "Reader's Digest" as its model. Now, it has found a way to communicate between foreign works and Chinese readers: choose When reading foreign works, we adhere to the principles of "broadening horizons" and "reflecting the beauty of human nature", enriching readers' knowledge with practical information, enlightening readers' minds with touching works, and guiding readers to understand various aspects of Western culture with Chinese values. Phenomenon.

Readers commented that "the book is as light as a chrysanthemum". In this noisy era, "Reader" indeed seems indifferent and quiet. As the dramatist Wei Minglun commented: ""Reader" does not rely on 'pillows' or 'fists', but it can surpass the sales of 'two-end' books and periodicals. What does it rely on? Literary appeal, knowledge and information content, viewing interest, Moral education, intellectual education, aesthetic education, multi-vitamins. "No kitsch, no hype, fresh and elegant cover, warm and smooth text, it has been like this for 23 years since its publication.

At a seminar, Peng Changcheng, the editor-in-chief of "Reader", summed up the reasons for the magazine's popularity so far, saying that continuous innovation and focus on "truth, goodness and beauty" are the reasons for the success of "Reader". "The magazine has a slogan, which is gambling at home and abroad, gathering the best, enlightening thoughts, and broadening horizons. The open vision opens a window to the outside world, and at the same time, it also provides a deeper understanding of our own cultural roots. Many columns of the magazine are related to people Real connection, focusing on people’s spiritual life, improvement of literacy and release of emotions.”

Pricing Strategy

This 16-page abstract popular publication was founded in Gansu. Along the way, we have been adhering to the purpose of "learning from China and foreign countries, gathering the best, enlightening thoughts, and broadening horizons". The articles published cover political economy, literature, art, history, science and technology, health, education and other fields.

"Reader" has always been adhering to high quality and low price. It has 64 pages of black and white text and 20 pages of color illustrations. The price is 3 yuan, which is the lowest price among similar publications with the same printing quality. All articles published are recommended by readers, and the names of the recommenders are published when published. Three remunerations are implemented for one manuscript. The original author, the original publishing media, and the recommender all receive remuneration.

The road to civilianization

Some people say that "Reader" seems to have been hiding in a corner, quietly making some kind of voice. That voice is not powerful, but it is very weighty. . What gives this quietness such weight is respect for readers and responsibility to society. Opening an issue of "Reader", among the not-so-heavy trivial matters of ordinary people, what comes to mind is a strong sense of humanity and a genuine concern for life and humanity. This kind of care exudes a kind of lasting magnetism, attracting souls seeking warmth.

Sometimes, this kind of care that directly points to the heart can also get rid of the constraints of different cultural backgrounds. The most true, good and beautiful emotions are the language that can travel freely. Overseas "Readers" has published more than 500,000 copies, with readers in the United States, Japan, Australia, Singapore and other countries and regions.

The "Reader" has a warm heart by donating money during SARS, giving readings on Teachers' Day, expressing condolences to border guards, and participating in social welfare undertakings. In Liujiaxia, Gansu, there is 5,000 acres of forest land called "Readers' Forest". It was built with money raised by Readers from readers across the country. Today, the scale of the "Readers' Forest" has reached 20,000 acres. A middle school principal said that "Readers" has planted for people both flowers that can bloom today and seeds that can sprout tomorrow. (Picture on the right: "The Reader Era—A Magazine and the Life It Influences")

Industrial chain extension

Peng Changcheng, editor-in-chief of "Reader", once said that in the market In the competition, the crisis of magazines exists all the time. To make this special product survive like an evergreen tree, it must be established as a cultural undertaking and managed as a cultural industry.

In order to facilitate more readers, the Braille and Uyghur editions of "Reader" were launched one after another; in order to provide farmers with a magazine of their own, "Reader Rural Edition" was born in 2000; in order to expand Overseas markets - Following the success of "borrowing river boats" to open up the North American market in 2003, on its first anniversary, "Readers" has successfully entered the European and Australian markets. The original version and English version under planning will also be released soon. As the loyal readership of "Reader" is expanding day by day, the business of "Reader" is also "growing bigger and bigger", and the industrial chain of "Reader" brand is constantly lengthening and connecting.

China’s periodical industry: a difficult chess game

The success of readers is a miracle in China’s periodical industry, but it is only a miracle! While we are overjoyed, there are many things that we should not ignore:

In an article titled "Magazines on the Left, Degeneration on the Right - How did my reading taste degenerate?" "In the article, there is such a passage that very truly describes the current situation in the journal industry, "Newsstands of all sizes are filled with colorful fashion magazines, super models, movie stars, pop singers, all posing. Occupying their covers; information on fashionable clothing, classic introductions to European and American home furnishings, strong launches of weird and famous cars, and passionate recommendations of fine wines and coffees are all crowded in their hearts. ”

On the other hand, the United States. Time Warner of China has established its theater system in Shanghai, Bertelsmann of Germany has established book clubs across the country, and News Corporation has established its presence in Guangdong... These cultural and media giants with a turnover of more than 10 billion US dollars, Came across borders with a variety of media. They are eyeing not only our newspaper industry, but also periodicals, the “cake” that has the most generous returns and can even be said to be huge profits. How will the relatively isolated Chinese periodical industry compete with them? (Picture on the left: The cover of "Reader" has also become the collection of many people)

In the face of internal and external diseases, how will our country's journals speed up the pace of development and catch up? Perhaps we can get a glimpse of it by comparing the Chinese and American periodical industries:

News periodicals respect each other

Compared with the three major news magazines in the United States, which are at the forefront of the entire magazine industry In terms of circulation and advertising revenue, China does not yet have a truly influential news weekly. Women's magazines, digest magazines, entertainment magazines and health magazines still occupy a major position in the Chinese magazine market.

In the mid-to-late 1990s, a number of "new generation" news weeklies emerged in our country. In addition to "Sanlian Life Weekly", "Shenzhen Weekly", "Xinmin Weekly", "New Weekly" and "China News Weekly" all appeared during this period. But 10 years have passed, and these news weeklies are still in the stage of continuous growth. They are still in an awkward and weak position in the entire Chinese media environment. At best, they are only a "semi-mainstream" or "quasi-mainstream media". ".

From a vertical perspective, currently there are only three books that are outstanding in current political news, commentary and financial news: "Nanfengchuang", "Luan Wangfangfang Weekly" and "Caijing" (of course, "Caijing" (not yet a current affairs news journal in the strict sense); in terms of social news and cultural reports, China's "News Weekly" and "Sanlian Life Weekly" have their own characteristics; in terms of regionalization, "Xinmin Weekly" and "Shenzhen Weekly" each have their own characteristics. Hegemony; "New Weekly" wanders between these fields without a clear positioning.

The price disparity under different profit models

From the experience of "Reader", we can see that a large part of his success is due to low prices. Especially now that the overall prices of Chinese journals are generally on the high side. Nas, who lives in the United States and was a columnist for Sanlian Life Weekly, vividly described the huge difference in magazine prices between China and the United States in his collection of essays "Looking East and West": "When it comes to magazines, I have a deep appreciation for Chinese magazines. The first feeling is: it’s expensive. American magazines make money from advertising and rely on the number of readers to attract advertisers, so subscribing to magazines itself is an extremely cheap purchase.

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The huge price difference between Chinese and American journals is related to their different profit models: Chinese journals rely on distribution to maintain balance of payments, while the United States basically relies on a large amount of advertising to make profits, and does not solely rely on the magazine’s sales. In terms of distribution income, we adopt a strategy of simultaneous distribution and advertising operations to enable magazines to achieve all-round and comprehensive growth. In China, most magazines currently rely more on advertising because magazines are not yet mainstream media. The number of advertising pages is far less than the number of editorial pages. Currently, Chinese journals still mainly rely on distribution to make money.

The high prices of Chinese journals have restricted the number of readers, and magazines with small readers naturally cannot. It will attract the attention of investors and advertisers. When advertising is scarce, the journal can only maintain its own economic balance with a relatively high listing price, and so on, a vicious cycle of industrialization.

, the huge difference in the degree of conglomeration

Let us take a look at this set of figures: At present, there are 39 newspaper groups in our country, but there is only one periodical group, "Family"; more than three publications are published in the United States There are 500 journal groups in China. China’s 9,000 journals are scattered among more than 5,000 magazine companies, with each magazine operating an average of 1.6 types of magazines. The journal company with the most publications in China has 12 types of publications, while the large Western journal groups have 60 to 80 publications. (Picture on the right: The cover of each issue of "Time" has become the focus of people's attention)

The most typical example is "Time" magazine, which has been continuously successful since its founding in 1923. It launched a series of best-selling magazines such as "Life", "Sports Illustrated", and "People", and published international editions in dozens of countries around the world. From the 1960s to the present, Time Company has successively entered film entertainment, cable TV, music and the Internet. In other fields, it has developed into the famous Time Warner Media Group.

In fact, a large number of periodicals with group management capabilities have developed in my country's periodical market, such as "Reader", "Zhiyin", "Fashion", etc. The groupization of periodicals is a historical necessity. It is increasingly unprofitable for a publisher or magazine to publish only one magazine, and it is even almost unrealistic, especially in terms of distribution, advertising, publicity, etc. The continuous increase in management costs will make it difficult for publications with only one publication to survive in the competition.

Reorganization of newspaper management

How to make this move

The 2003 rectification of China’s newspapers and periodicals management was the most extensive and influential change in newspaper and periodical work since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. As far as periodicals are concerned, it mainly stems from the purpose, direction and direction of the journals brought about by the “transfer” initiative. A series of related issues.

Transfer, as the name suggests, is to transfer the sponsor of the journal from the original party and government agency to other units or groups. The second is to transfer the reporting purpose of the journal. , direction, from the original pure guidance to the market. In both cases, it is necessary to study how to attract readers and develop the market. What to do with the transferred journal? The business philosophy of famous foreign journals is worth reading:

Implement strict separation of editing and management

Famous foreign journals generally regard the quality of content editing as the core competitiveness of the publication and pay attention to maintenance own brand. In order to ensure that the content is not affected by advertisers and business operations, most publications strictly separate the editorial department from the advertising and business departments. If there is any relationship between the editorial and advertising reports, the advertising and business departments have no right to interfere with the affairs of the editorial department. This system ensures the positioning of the publication and the realization of the editorial policy to a certain extent. (Picture on the left: my country’s periodical market is a mixed bag)

Focus on brand strategy and extend brand effect

Famous foreign journals attach great importance to developing brand resources and gradually create media with the journal brand as the core group. "National Geographic" magazine promotes its brand to books, photo libraries, educational products, maps, TV programs, websites, etc., giving full play to the strong influence of the brand. "TV Guide" magazine has a series of sub-magazines such as "TV Guide - Celebrity Anecdotes" and "Cable TV Guide", and has successively developed TV Guide channels and TV Guide online websites.

"Reader's Digest" and "Newsweek" also use their respective brands as links to integrate different media resources to form a multimedia group.

Make full use of high and new technologies and actively develop new media

The promotion and application of high and new technologies can often bring new growth points to the development of the media industry. In the 1920s and 1930s, Time Inc. seized the opportunity of the emergence of photography technology and became a pioneer in photo journalism and a leader in the publishing industry; in the 1950s, when television impacted the publishing industry, it invested in broadcast television and cable television networks. Warner took off based on new film technology. America Online (AOL) uses Internet technology to develop into the world's largest ISP service provider. The merger between Time Warner and AOL is an example of media integration under the "big media view". Journals such as Reader's Digest, Newsweek, and Time have all developed their own portals. The portal website of "Times" not only moves the publication content online, but also provides more complete reports, updated angles, and more thorough analysis of issues. It can also roll out releases, continuous reports, and follow-up interviews, giving full play to the strong timeliness of the online content and rich content. advantages.

On the basis of maintaining the traditional editorial policy of the publication, continuous innovation is combined with the needs of the times

Famous foreign journals attach great importance to focusing on the reading needs of readers and constantly innovating in content to maintain the publication's of everlasting prosperity. The American "People" magazine was originally mainly a movie fan magazine. In the 1980s, the magazine expanded its reporting scope and strengthened in-depth coverage of major emergencies of concern to the general public, such as the assassination of Ronald Reagan and the San Francisco earthquake, and the social news became more and more intense. In the 1990s, while reporting on real-time news, the magazine also focused on reporting on medium- and long-term social issues such as cancer, early pregnancy, hunger, child abuse, and racial discrimination, striving to guide readers to fully understand society.

Adapting to the reading needs of different reader groups, the content style tends to be refined

Famous foreign journals attach great importance to market research and study the age structure, gender ratio, professional income, and reading of different reader groups. Habits, in order to determine the magazine’s ideas and content orientation. "Business Week", "Fortune", and "Forbes" are all three famous business and finance journals in the United States, but their content styles are significantly different. "Business Weekly" has the strongest news and is the only weekly among the three. "Fortune" emphasizes the influence of enterprises on society and economy, and focuses more on reporting on enterprises, especially large companies. "Forbes" praises the influence of elite groups on society and the economy, and always spares no effort to introduce entrepreneurs and the methods of corporate success.