Magazines Across Platforms: Print/Web Analysis of Wired Magazine
The mission is simple: to analyze and assess the print publication and Web platform content for the magazine. I'll be taking a close look at everything from cross-promotion, headline writing, multimedia features, interaction with readers and so on. I look forward to examining how such a progressive magazine utilizes its many platforms, including the iPad to promote its content and of course the Wired brand.
Wired's cross-promotion between print and Web content
For the Feb. 2011 issue of Wired, I examined the cross-promotion of the print magazine and Wired.com. I discovered that while Wired.com promotes the current issue's cover and feature through its own 'Magazine' tab on the website, the print version promotes its website and online content merely through a page called 'Wired Insider' – a small section for promotions, special offers and events related to the magazine. I was surprised to see such little Web promotion in the print version. It seems like without a page devoted to the promotion of Wired.com, it seems unlikely that readers will find their more subtle promotions hidden within the 'Wired Insider' section. It seems that what's somewhat more apparent in the print magazine is the promotion of the Wired iPad app. Included at the end of an article in the Feb. 2011 issue (the article was "Most Dangerous Object in the Office This Month: Mushroom Box Mini Growing System") appeared an 'iPad Extra' that read, "To see the system in action, download Wired from the iTunes Store." The iPad promotions on both website and print seem to work well- they're sleek, attractive and engaging, but they do seem to lack promotion of the web in the magazine, or at least in the Feb. 2011 issue, The Underworld Issue. Seeing such little online content promotion in this issue made me wonder if maybe the magazine has shifted gears and decided to devote their promoting to the magazine's iPad app instead. I would be interested to see if this seems to be the case through looking at some back issues from the past few years.
