An excellent story in the first edition of the IoIC (Institute of Internal Communication) magazine VOICE on the importance of the printed magazine as tool in your internal communications mix.
Approach, inclusiveness of the readers as contributors, design and measurements are key elements to make a successful print magazine.
Out of my own experience I know also that focusing on the target audience is key as well as the distribution mechanism.
Target Audience
Keep always in mind that the employee is not the only audience to focus on when developing an internal, printed, magazine; also family members and friends will see (and hopefully read) the magazine (or parts of it) when the magazine is taken home or left in the car. The same counts when the magazine is available at the reception area of the company’s affiliates.
Distribution
A magazine delivered at the desk will be seen differently than a magazine delivered at your home address. At the office or shop floor, dominant elements always influence the way how you perceive the magazine; especially when their opinion is negative. As a result you decide not to read the magazine, throw it away or not take it home at all.
When a magazine is delivered at the home address, a few opportunities appear at the horizon. When wrapped in a plastic foil, the front and back cover can already address messages that will be seen, even without unwrapping the magazine; by yourself, your family members, but also by people in the distribution chain.
The magazine received at home will also be red in a total different environment than at the office or at the shop floor; more relaxing, different influencing people and at a more convenient moment of time, including more time to spend reading the magazine.
Apart of that, when received at the home address, family members see the magazine most probably first and based on the outside cover get already interested in one or more stories.
Enjoy reading!
