CPL has launched a completely revised edition of its client report What can digital publishing do for you?, which is written for organisations that use publishing to support their core business, but are not dedicated publishers.
Key developments since the report was first published in late 2010 by the Cambridge-based editorial and design agency include:
- A massive surge in ownership of tablets and e-readers, which has seen three in 10 American adults now owning at least one such device
- Newspapers and magazines have added hundreds of thousands of paid digital subscriptions to their print circulations
- The number of apps downloaded from iTunes has passed the 25,000,000,000 mark – that’s more than three apps for every man, woman and child on the planet
- Revenues from digital advertising are forecast to outstrip print advertising revenues during 2012
- Half of magazine readers like to access both the print and digital editions of their favourite titles.
Mark Rosselli, CPL’s chairman and author of the report, commented: ‘Back in 2010, digital publishing was mostly hype and hope – and not much real change on the ground for most publishing sectors.
‘Our advice then to clients was to wait and watch how things were panning out, and to make carefully planned investments in new forms of digital publishing as and when it became clear that readers were demanding access using mobile devices.
‘However, the pace of change has quickened in recent months, and on Christmas Day ownership of iPads and Kindles effectively doubled in key markets like the USA. At the same time, pioneering consumer publishers have proved beyond any doubt that many people want to read magazines and other publications on their mobile devices, and are prepared to pay serious money for digital subscriptions.
‘The opportunity today is to win extra readers or revenues for your publishing, or to engage your current target readers more effectively. The future threat is that digital publishing channels may sweep away or fatally undermine some traditional publishing models.
‘I would say that right now digital publishing presents an opportunity for many publishers, rather than posing a threat to most publishers. However, that balance might well change in the coming year or so, as we get more concrete information about people’s changing reading habits. You can rely on CPL to keep you in touch with developments in this area as they happen.’
The report deals with publishing via tablets, smartphones, e-readers, email, websites and social networks. You can download the report for free here: http://www.cpl.co.uk/cpl-launches-fully-revised-guide-to-digital-publishing_1772
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