I’m amazed that the question, “Is Print a zero-sum game?” still so frequently pops up in publishing circles, but inevitably it does. (In fact, many major monthly magazines in Asia don’t even have websites because they don’t see value in an online operation.) I don’t believe the two mediums are at odds with each other. More importantly, I believe they complement each other tremendously. 

I was asked to speak about digital publishing and our work building websites that publish magazines at the 2011 Asian Publishing Conference in Bangkok.

Is Print a zero-sum game? Can print co-exist profitably with new media? Traditionally, print magazines precede their dedicated websites. At Ringier Vietnam, we reverse the publishing process with new titles and publish websites first. The result is a loyal subscriber base, affordable content-generation strategies and a robust database of content to creatively use when we take a digital title to print. The magazine becomes a “byproduct of the brand,” a source of revenue and goes on to further market the digital operation. Digital and print are a cycle of mutual support, not a zero-sum game.