Earlier this week, Rogers Communications Inc announced its plan to largely withdraw from the production of print magazines. In an attempt to keep up with the widespread shift from print to digital, they are completely eliminating four of their magazines’ print editions, drastically reducing the number of printed editions for the majority of their magazines, and selling many of their French magazines. In place of these print copies, they are focusing on online and app based magazine distribution. These changes will occur in January 2017.
In the short term, this is a smart move for Rogers to make. As technology holds massive significance in our lives, it is unsurprising that print copies of media have been decreasing in popularity for years. Naturally, there are risks associated with converting to digital media. In some cases, being a digital media delivery service, as opposed to a print one, is still not enough to be successful. Some media publishing apps, such as Apple Newsstand, still haven’t gained popularity despite being digital since their inception. Some have even had to shut down in the last couple of years. However, in order to catch up to the publishing companies that have successfully transitioned, this is a worthwhile investment.
Despite the fact that this changeover is much needed in their company, it is coming quite awhile after traditional printed magazines have lost their popularity. Rogers’ goal is not to solely be on par with other companies, but to be distinguished as a serious competitor. Based on Michael Porter’s explanation of competitive strategy, Rogers’ long term success is dependant on their ability to differentiate themselves from their competition. Converting to digital based distribution is not uncommon. In fact, many other companies have already made this transition years ago. This change merely has the potential to put their service on par with those of their competitors. In the short term, this will help improve the popularity of their magazine service. A few years down the road, when even more companies become digitized, their service will no longer be unique and will be easily replaced by substitutes.
Ultimately, Rogers’ focus on operational effectiveness is essential, but lacks sustainability as a competitive advantage. Instead of trying to create apps or websites that are more effective than the numerous other well-established media viewing apps, they should consider looking at ways to set themselves apart in the market. Rogers Publishing has seen some success in the past, but their magazine distributions have not been hugely profitable for a number of years. With an innovative approach, it is likely that their magazine publishing sector will be successful for many years to come.
Rogers is converting many of its printed magazines to online editions. (1)
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