Flipping through the latest issue of Time magazine (March 30, 2009), I stopped at a page that read in a nice, thick, satisfying, sans-serify font:
‘mine. My Magazine. My Way.”
I took the path offered to timeinc.com/mine and signed up to receive what was being promised as a “publication made just for (me)”. Clicking through landed me on a page which offered me a few choices, five of which will eventually make it into my MINE magazine. I’ll confess to my choices here: InStyle, Real Simple, Travel & Leisure, Food and Wine and Sports Illustrated. (disclaimer: to have it TRULY be MINE magazine, my choices would have looked more like this: Elle, Lucky, Marie Claire, Velo News and National Geographic Traveler. However, I gladly chose from what they offered: FREE and MINE are always two words that go well togther.)
My first issue of MINE magazine will be delivered in 2 weeks and I will receive 5 issues total. While I’m sorta, kinda looking forward to the magazine, I can’t say that I was in any way compelled to test drive the 2010 Lexus RX. Oh, yeah, by the way: one goal/purpose of the print ad was to drive traffic towards the Lexus RX promotional site, Lexus being the top sponsor of this particular MINE campaign.
With MINE, the effort at personalizing the print experience is ttrying to come close to what’s been happenign online for a while now. It’s a bold experiment in reaching a big audience and having it engage in the personalization process. However, advertisers hoping to reach some target audience by sponsoring these MINE campaigns need to take a close look at wether it translates in visists or sales for them. They did not sell me a Lexus. But, I was sold on the idea of a personalized print product (albeit the limited choices, which I expect will grow if this effort is successful.)
I’m a magazine junkie, I DO recycle, and, NO, I do NOT want to give up print despite my love for the digital. I love the smell of glossy paper, I love the feel of glossy paper, I love being able to sit in bed and grab what I’m reading. And, no, a KINDLE will not do.
Darn. Did I just ‘sound’ like my DAD?
