A much longer time ago than I can comfortably reveal, in a country far, far away, I saw Billy Joel in concert.
Trying
to rev up the crowd, he yelled that a lot of people asked him why he
still played a piano when you can make any sound on a synthesizer.
Heck, he said, you can even walk around stage with a synthesizer.
“Yes,” he said, “but you can’t STAND on a synthesizer!” He then stood
on his piano, thrilling everyone.
I am reminded of this as I call people to discuss the reasons we have increased the frequency of BevNET Innovation from
quarterly to bi-monthly. The conversation isn’t usually so much about
the frequency, but about the medium. Many potential advertisers have
fallen in love with on-line advertising, and they ask me why we’d
bother having a magazine at all, instead of just putting all of our
work online. Well, while it’s true that most magazines are now
simultaneously print and online, and many publishers would love to
ditch the costs of printing and distributing magazines, switching
entirely to online versions, the reason that we continue to put out
this print publication – in fact, the reason we’re stepping it up – is
that it’s not a one-or-the-other proposition. Done right, they
complement each other, offering a variety of ways to read and interact
with stories and sponsors.
See,
the problem with the online revolution is that, as they work in their
offices, most people don’t have time to read the contents of a 60-page
magazine online. They have jobs to do, deadlines to meet, and they
can’t be seen “wasting time” looking at websites. Also, when they look
at online content for too long, their eyes glaze over. The Web has to
have more to it than a one-way transmission. They will, however, take
the time to read a magazine at their leisure, when they sit back from
their computer. In fact, if the magazine is good enough to make them
want to read it, they’ll even make the time. After all, aren’t you
doing that right now?
At
BevNET, we started with a web site providing beverage reviews, and we
grew it into a huge resource that provides reviews, news, blogs,
directory listings, e-newsletters and more. Today we have more unique
visitors and page impressions than our esteemed competitors combined.
Yet we also recognize that our industry wants more information on the
issues that relate directly to what they do: the developments, trends
and innovations that are changing the industry. So to go more in-depth
with our stories about those things, we have a magazine; to help
facilitate interaction with those things, we have the web site. They
work together.
Starting
with the understanding that BevNET.com is already highly visible across
the web (just look for a beverage brand on Google and count the
BevNET.com listings!), we also recognized that people want to consume
information in the method of their choice. That’s why you will find
BevNET Innovation in print and online, so you can access the maximum
amount of information, context and perspective. When you want to know
more about a story in BevNET Innovation, look for the at the foot of
the article and it will indicate that there is more on this story on
www.bevnet.com/innovation.
So
put the blackberry away, lean back in your chair and read. Enjoy the
beverage of your choice while we inform and, hopefully, entertain you
with some first rate stories, insights and more.