Paul has been toying around with an idea for Staples, the big office retailer. With mainstream media and direct mail marketing becoming less and less effective, why doesn’t Staple go into the publishing business? It could become a trusted source of information for small business customers and earn its place at the table with the likes of Inc. magazine and Fast Company.
It’s not that easy, David notes. It takes time, money and commitment to become a media entity. Retail businesses don’t have much of any of those things these days.
However, Paul thinks that the times never been better for marketers to become publishers. Laid-off journalists can be had hired for pennies on the dollar compared to a few years ago and the cost of online publishing is vastly cheaper than the alternatives.
Our hosts agree that the bigger challenge may be cultural: Marketers are simply not brought up to think in terms of long-term customer engagements, which is what publishing requires. But it’s never too late to change.
Listen now:
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