Media Analysis: Publishers follow teens online

Hits. But the burgeoning market for their online equivalents has
received less attention.

A number of advertisers - from cosmetics brands to charities including
the NSPCC - are quietly embracing the internet as a vital way to
interact with a hard-to-reach young audience.

But while the web may yet prove to be the salvation of traditional
magazine publishers trying to combat their titles' declining
circulations, they have been slow to invest in online channels,
according to Ben Wood, head of digital at Carat.

'The likes of Emap, NatMags and Hachette have all had a march stolen on
them by the pure-play digital companies,' he says, pointing to the lack
of a coherent digital strategy at major publishers - crediting IPC for
having great websites for its men's titles, but little else.

Charlie Redmayne, managing director of Mykindaplace, one of the biggest
websites in its sector, says the majority of big publishing houses
burned by the dotcom crash are now seeking to reinvest in online.
'Advertising revenues are rising rapidly and I have no doubt that
websites will overtake their print counterparts,' he says.

Hachette Filipacchi's Sugar, for example, relaunched its website last
month. It is a key focus for the publisher this year, according to Julie
Harris, general manager of Hachette's Women's Group, who adds that there
is a clear demand from advertisers.

There is a downside, though. 'The frustration we suffer is that when the
ABCs come out it's difficult to quantify the overall use of the brand
because they don't include the web universe,' she says. It is early
days, though, and the lion's share of Sugar's online advertising is
still sold as a package with the magazine.

However, Alex Miller, who handles the COI's account at online planning
agency i-level, says the era of online ads being added to a big print
deal as a bonus are receding.

'Gone are the days where online is just an add-on. Websites are
completely separate profit centres' he says.

Another area increasing in popularity is that of community sites, says
Julian Smith, insight and research director at MEC Interaction. As a
result, traditional magazine sites are creating their own community
forums to compete with the likes of MySpace and Habbo Hotel. Hachette,
for example, is looking to add a community element to its Sugar
website.

Broadcasters of youth and children's channels are also making strides
into the arena, with buyers pointing to Jetix, Cartoon Network and
Trouble as key players to watch. The latter, which is owned by Flextech,
recently lauched its own user-generated content network, Homegrown,
which allows users to upload content and add their own profiles.

However, while technology such as video on demand and online communities
offer huge potential, many traditional broadcasters seem baffled by
them, says Celia Taylor, Trouble's channel controller. 'It feels almost
like the birth of the internet again,' she adds. 'There is all this
content and it is fresh, authentic, free and unmediated.'

But it may be more than just the novelty of the technology that is
holding them back. Headlines focusing on the potential risks children
can face when participating in online communities, including MySpace and
BeBo, are making many brands hesitant to venture into their territory. A
$30m lawsuit filed in Texas this summer by the mother of a
14-year-old girl who says she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old
she met through MySpace has heightened this media attention.

Careful targeting

Wood says community sites will always be a potentially treacherous place
for brands. 'The internet is an increasingly democratised space and
brands need to think carefully about how they engage with young people,'
he warns.

The NSPCC's recent 'Don't hide it' campaign, which encouraged sufferers
of sexual abuse to speak out, demonstrates the huge potential of online
communities for brands or organisations looking to connect with a
hard-to-reach young audience. The activity, which ran on various
community sites, involved events such as 'Speak out Sunday' and the
creation of a virtual 'infobus' inside Habbo Hotel.

Stephanie Hughes, head of new media at the NSPCC, says that because the
sites create such a strong sense of community, they can provide a
supportive, yet confidential, environment where young people feel able
to ask questions and listen. 'Unlike a (print) magazine, an online
campaign is not static - it is constantly evolving,' she says.

The campaign attracted 440,000 unique users in a six-week period and is
widely cited as a example of online communities' huge potential as
places to successfully interact with young people.

Elsewhere, a recent campaign by the COI to encourage young people to use
condoms appeared across a range of urban music sites, including those
for pirate radio stations.

Looking ahead, online buyers say they are expanding the number and
variety of sites they are using to reach young people. But it seems
traditional publishers and broadcasters have a lot to learn if they are
to tap into this growth.

DATA FILE - TEEN WEBSITES



Website Market

share (%)

1 MySpace.com 46.41

2 Bebo 39.08

3 Habbo Hotel UK 2.62

4 Mykindaplace 0.13

5 blissmag.co.uk 0.12

6 More Magazine 0.05

7 ElleGirl.com 0.03

8 CosmoGIRL! 0.03

9 Seventeen.com 0.02



Source: Hitwise.com