Penton has announced that email newsletters branded “Electronic Design Europe NewsLine” will launch in July. The newsletters are design to complement the existing website and digital (PDF) magazine, offering the benefits of pushing information whilst providing a higher frequency than is possible with the magazine. The newsletters will promote the multimedia content on the website – ED Europe’s video content is a real asset and I’m sure that this will help increase the traffic to the videos significantly.
The plans for the magazine are a little less clear. It appears that the frequency will be reduced, which I guess is not surprising in these tough times. Rather than committing to a specific frequency, it appears that Penton will take full advantage of the flexibility of the digital distribution. Paul Whytock, Editor in Chief of ED Europe told me:
“Frequency of Electronic Design Europe NewsLine and the Electronic Design Europe Digital edition will not be set-in-stone like traditional methods of producing B2B publications. Electronic media is by its very nature fast and flexible and Penton Media’s philosophy as it expands its electronic media properties is to fully employ those attributes in the best interests of its readers and advertisers.
The Penton Media Electronic Design Group produces multiple newsletters and digital publications on a regular basis and Electronic Design Europe NewsLine will join Electronic Design UPDATE, Microwaves & RF UPDATE, Mobile Dev & Design, Defense Electronics and Auto Electronics as part of that portfolio.”
I’m not surprised that it appears Penton will cut the frequency of the magazine – with only one advertiser supporting the last three issues, it must be tough. Despite the pressure, ED Europe hasn’t switched to offering traditional advertising formats: whether this proves to be an inspired move to ensure that recipients read more pages because they are not “put off” by advertising and have the high quality ED Europe editorial on every page, or if it simply discourages advertisers is something that only time will tell.
