Marketing Extensions in the Digital Age
WebMD is the leading health authority in the US. More than 180 million unique visitors per month. It started in 1996 as Healthscape and has grown to 1,800 employees.
But what is an online behemoth to do to grow and extend its reach. For many, it is start a print magazine. Here are the top magazines in the country. It’s not surprising that the top magazines are from AARP, an organization and not a traditional publisher.
- AARP Bulletin
- AARP Magazine
- Better Homes And Gardens
- Game Informer Magazine
- Good Housekeeping
Organizations and companies are experimenting with publishing magazines, instead of newsletters. Printing costs have come down and newsletters are too internally focused to accomplish marketing goals. By controlling distribution and targeting geographic even digital disruptors are publishing traditional magazines: WebMD, AirBnB and Uber are just three experimenting with the medium.
While magazines provide a nice tangible expression, I’m looking for the TV shows to begin–I’d tune into the The Google Show every week.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
