An independent publisher has launched a series of new print magazines to complement its existing newspaper titles.
Iliffe Media has launched the new directory-style titles across East Anglia and Kent, which are run under the “I’m” brand.
Iliffe is set to launch “I’m” titles in Ashford, Medway and Newark this weekend, with further launches planned for later this year.
Titles run under the same branding have been launched in Canterbury, Haverhill, King’s Lynn, Maidstone and Newmarket in recent months.
Iliffe editorial director Ian Carter told HTFP: “The I’m series of magazines started in our East Anglia titles and are now running across the Iliffe group.
“We are currently producing I’m in Canterbury, Haverhill, King’s Lynn, Maidstone and Newmarket
“This weekend we launch in Ashford, Medway and Newark while we have launches planned for other areas in the spring.
“All complement our established newspapers and websites in their areas, and have proved really popular with readers and advertisers.”
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In the digital world we live in I just wonder what benefit or usefulness this type of old style printed booklet directory has for the public and where ‘handy numbers’ online which can be found instantly at the press of a few buttons on a keyboard?
The commercial teams used to run these back in the 80s and 90s long before the rise of the internet and the online 24/7 lives most of us live nowadays and when a local guide was a useful tool to have on the phone shelf in the hall ( remember those?)
Times have changed, just ask yourself how many of us have or use a Yellow Pages,BT phone directory or Johnson’s guide these days?
If the reason these are being published is primarily to generate ad revenue then so be it but to me this looks to be a backwards step completely out of sync with the world we live in today and the solution to a problem which no longer exists.
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A printed local directory?
and they say innovation is dead
Welcome back to the 1990s folks!
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Great idea and a fantastic product – I’m all for supporting local businesses and that’s exactly what these directories do.
Nice to see a few keyboard warriors with a difference of opinion – stick to your sad little digital lives.
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Hi Phillip and, er, Annon. We launched one, it was profitable and popular so we launched more. They were also profitable and popular. Sorry if that’s not current enough for you!
Believe it or not, we are aware of the internet and do things there too, including one of the UK’s biggest regional sites.
Serving one audience doesn’t have to come at the expense of another.
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Quite so Ian. Some people seem to think serving both digital and print audiences are mutually exclusive. We will continue to highlight both print and digital innovations on this site.
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Well said, Ian and Paul.
>>And Paul, if you want to see how good local (printed) newspapers can be, take a look at the Bury Free Press. I saw an excellent edition when I was in West Suffolk on holiday last summer.
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In reply to the digital doubters, I and a colleague publish 10 annual, local print directories around the Preston area under the banner of Home Handbook – and they have done fantastically well. Directory entries also go on our Google-friendly website. I have been doing this for 10 years since leaving the Blackpool Gazette. We have a very high repeat rate for adverts and a very warm response from householders. This suggests there is still a lucrative market for print which is done well. Sadly, most of regional journalism’s profit-hungry conglomerates do not grant the resources to do print anywhere near well, though HTFP from time to time suggests that well-run small independent newspapers do rather better. People will always appreciate quality,
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Believe it or not, not everyone has a computer. Not everyone is computer savvy. There are still people, and always will be, who prefer to ‘live in the real world’ as well as those who are unable to work a computer and prefer print. Those who cannot afford a computer, those who believe their online advert gets lost among so many others. tradesmen to whom the job they do is more important than an expensive website. Enough said.
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