Media Q & A – MIX MARCOMM

MIX MARCOMM is Indonesia’s leading marketing communications magazine, published by SWA Media Inc. The magazine is popular among marketing professionals, entrepreneurs as well as students.With a diverse range of readers, MIX MARCOMM’S business continues to flourish in this digital age as it is committed to serving its community of readers.

I recently met up with Lis Hendriani, Vice Editor-in-Chief of MIX MARCOMM to discuss how the digital media has an impact on the print magazine business and how  to take advantage of a strong community of readers.

Many print magazine publications have ceased their operations in the last two years. Is it the end of the print magazine era and the rise of digital media? 

As we can see from the downward trend of print ad expenditure in the last 5 years, it is inevitable to say that that the print magazine business is dwindling. However, the newspaper industry is still going strong as the ad revenue is quite stable. On the other hand, the digital media is doing relatively well as the digital ad spend increases by 20% per year on average.  Even though the value is small as compared to print ad spend, the growth of print ad expenditure has not increased by more than 5% (USD 11 billion). In the U.S., the digital ad spend accounts for 30% out of the total ad spend. The next question is, how can we reach that kind of growth in Indonesia in the coming years?

Does the rise of the digital media have any impact on MIX MARCOMM’S business?

Based on our print ad revenue, our magazine business is quite stable. The ratio of our print and digital (on mix.co.id) ads is 7:3. I think it’s a healthy proportion as it means that we have loyal readers and advertisers. I think it is also helps that our readers, who are from the marketing, advertising, public relations and investor relations fields, are decision makers in print ads.

Despite the rise of digital media where information can be read online, some information may come from unreliable sources. People still view our magazine as a trusted source of marketing news as we pride ourselves in providing reliable and credible information with strict editorial procedure. As a result, we have set industry benchmarks for cover stories and industry awards such as “The Best Advertising Agencies” and “PR Agency of the Year”.

Besides good editorial content, we also try to build a strong community with our readers through our Marketing Club by organizing monthly gatherings, courses and awards events. Our business is also supported by a community of readers. Currently we have more than 6,000 registered members.

Does serving a community of readers a way for magazine publications to survive in this digital age?

Print magazine publications must change their business model. In the recent years, many of them have switched gears and reemerged as community media, where they serve a community of readers. Take Tabloid Nova, a lifestyle tabloid magazine, as an example. Nova has arguably become one of the more popular magazines under Kompas Gramedia Group of Magazine, Indonesia’s media company. This is because they have been engaging their readers based on their interests. Their target audience is mainly mothers from the middle class.

Author:  Afif Maulana is the Audience Development Executive of PR Newswire based in Indonesia.