Where Printing Fits into Use of Internet Options

Corporate media buyers want to merge all of the different distribution channels and avenues rather than replace one medium with another. Magazine publishers view their on-line component(s) more as a supplement to their print editions than as media unto themselves, and thus they have tended to find that on-line component to be of limited effectiveness. Some publishers deliberately limit Web access as a way to pursue subscribers. What's perhaps surprising is how well it has worked, as in the case of Time Warner.

For book publishers, the Web is seen as a supplement or complement to a printed book. In computer book publishing, for example, tutorials and other materials can be placed on a publisher's Web site where readers of the book can access them. In many cases, this is in addition to or instead of a bundled CD-ROM.

Textbook publishers have to contend with the fact that the educational market is changing, and that students now get information and conduct research primarily on a computer. Catalog publishers report that, in general, e-mail and Internet marketing have grown to 15% to 20% of catalog publishers' marketing expenditures, but not as a replacement for print. For many catalogers, these alternative media are being used to target "otherwise hard to get" subscribers/customers, especially for low-cost, quick-turnaround customer loyalty promotions.