Christine Fettich’s Post

Reader's Digest has been a staple in the publishing industry for nearly a century, providing valuable insights and entertainment to its readers. However, like many print publications, it has faced challenges in adapting to the digital age and competing with online content platforms. The decision to cease publication in Britain reflects the broader trend of declining readership and revenue for traditional print media. Despite efforts to revitalize the magazine, such as cutting staff and diversifying content, it struggled to maintain its audience. This development underscores the evolving landscape of media consumption and the need for publishers to innovate in order to survive.

This was a great interview, but I was rather surprised that one critical point about LLMs was missed. After Lisa Ryan shares how much effort Hearst’s writers put into content like helping runners build a marathon training program, Brian Morrissey mentions he tried asking Perplexity the same thing and “It’s pretty good” (acknowledging he otherwise would have gone to Runner’s World). The conversation then was “What can you do with that type of competition?”, but the key element being missed is “Where are these LLMs getting all their data to train on?” This isn't competition, it's the new corner store down the street sending people into your store to steal all the goods and change the packaging. Given that LLMs without any input would not exist, or be “smart”, and given that most of these LLMs (most notably Perplexity), are taking data without any compensation (and typically no attribution of any kind either), it’s critical for publishers to take action and protect their IP. AI takes other publishers’ content and packages it up. It’s fair to say some will even “improve” their algorithm to “correct” output in cases where it is trained off of a limited bit of specific content and they want to obscure that fact. But all of this ignores the key point that no publisher should be allowing LLMs to access their IP without an agreement, including compensation. Compare LLMs to search. While the relative benefits to publishers from search to the search engines themselves can seem out of whack, the reality is that there is a clear opportunity for the publisher to benefit, and for their own brand to be seen and valued. Search is effectively a distribution platform. LLMs are not. They are about providing answers quickly, using publishers content to do so. So it is clear, I think LLMs will help us all be much more productive. But publishers need to make sure there are clear rules, all bound by contracts, about how their IP can be used and how they will benefit from it. Simply allowing it to happen will lead to many worse problems than publishers already face today. https://lnkd.in/eqgPC_ef

Will Americans see a return to newspapers and magazines in our hands? 📰 Joshua Culling thinks so. “My clients mostly pay me for my contrarianism. Perhaps my most contrarian take: print media will be back with a vengeance, and it will save the world. The Onion, self-described as 'America’s Finest News Source,' is testing that theory by restoring a subscription-based print product to complement its online presence. The Onion – once hilarious, currently pretty boring – pivoted to online and video content over the last decade or so, and the brand lost a lot of its allure as a result. My theory is that once clicks and buzz dictate satire, creativity is lost and the satirist finds himself responding to the whims of the social media news cycle. Much like listening to a vinyl record requires us to encounter art in the way the artist intends, a curated print product is based on proactive content that fits a brand and tells a story. Make no mistake: The Onion at its peak was art. By returning to print, the publication will not only be able to reclaim its voice; it is also betting on the next generation of its readers growing tired of the onslaught of social media content and clickbait. I think it’s a sound bet, and I look forward to adding The Onion to my growing list of print subscriptions.” https://lnkd.in/eh5h_b62 

Overcome AD-versity: How to Put Persuasion Power in Advertising came out today & is now available in the US, Canada & the UK in physical & digital formats. If you ever wanted to know what it takes to put advertising together, give it a read & learn the inside story of the process. Understand the psychology of persuasion through stories & examples from Madison Avenue in the Madmen days. There is a lot under the surface that you may never have seen. Ask your bookstore or library.

The role of advertising in shaping public perception, culture, and identity feels more pressing than ever. This issue of Advertising & Society Quarterly, which includes an interview with AEF Board Member Nicola Grant Histon, explores the profound impact advertising has on our economy, social fabric, and cultural histories, shedding light on its potential to reinforce and challenge existing norms. Read the latest Issue now while it's openly accessible to all. https://lnkd.in/evkuxh89 #LearnWithAEF

Print is NOT dead! Magazines are an antidote to endless scrolling and screen time. 👉🏽 Magazines are a tangible, sensory experience. 👉🏽 You are more likely to comprehend and remember something you read in print versus something on digital. 👉🏽 You can take your time enjoying our content (and our ads are not invasive). 👉🏽No clickbait! 👉🏽 Don’t worry if social media is down, you’ll always have us. We work really hard to curate, research and write our stories. And we’re always interested in what you’d like to read more about. 👉🏽 We’re a keepsake. With six issues a year, we don’t take up much space on your shelf for coffee table but you’ll always have the information inside to refer back to without having to screenshot or bookmark.

Ooh, y'all. It's Friday. Want to know another question our team has run into when talking about information gain? 🧐 Q: Isn’t it the same thing as topical authority? 🤓 A: Topical authority and information gain are NOT the same concept. [Sources included below.] ✅ Information gain is a signal of your content’s uniqueness in comparison to consensus content on the web.  ✅ Topical authority (sometimes referred to as brand authority) is an indicator of your website’s credibility within a topic. There’s plenty of debate on what we all mean by topical authority as SEOs and how you actually measure it. But in theory, the more informative and comprehensive articles you write about a topic, the more search engines and readers will see you as a subject matter expert. 📚 👩🔬 💪 That being said… Info gain signals that your content offers a *unique* contribution to the overall digital conversation on your *target topic.* And that gives your content an edge in a sea of consensus and copycat content. Don’t be a copycat, consensus machine. Create info gain. 🛠️ 🚜 👷🏾♀️

This billboard Ad by Cowrywise is Brilliant 👏 I was reading about The Generational Effect which occurs when users are intentionally left to fill in the blanks, akin to solving a puzzle. This deliberate gap in information piques curiosity, prompting individuals to explore further. For instance, look at this billboard image that reads cowrywise.com this leaves that reader wondering what is cowrywise is and could lead them to investigate and discover its content. If you have an option on this let’s discuss in the comment section

Dr. Rick T. Wilson recently published "Out-of-Home Advertising: A Bibliometric Review." The sources used by scholars say a lot about the quality of their research and how their information is disseminated to others in the field. Dr. Wilson evaluated citation patterns found in 343 academic articles about out-of-home advertising published between 1971 and 2020 and identified the most influential authors, articles, and journals shaping the medium. Two important implications from the research are the need to use appropriate theoretical framing and big data to improve our understanding and utility of out-of-home advertising. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/gBHak4ka