This is a summary of all of the blog posts we have written about Electronic Specifier up to December 2018.
Electronic Specifier Launches New Startups Magazine
April 25th, 2018
Electronic Specifier has announced the launch of their new magazine Startups, a publication that will be aimed at the startup community and will cover the latest project news and stories in the sector.
Following the Hardware Pioneers event held in London, it’s clear to see that an active startup community currently exists within the UK, especially within the technology sector. The event saw startups, entrepreneurs and investors gather to share ideas and to help get tech projects off the ground. With recent research stating that the number of new technology companies launched in the UK last year rose by almost 60%, Electronic Specifier has targeted a sector that is truly thriving and in need of a magazine dedicated to their community.
The Startups magazine will be a quarterly print and digital publication, covering the latest project news and stories in the sector, as well as insight from investors, accelerators, incubators and industry experts, who will be able to offer advice and guidance on how to take an idea and make it a success.
The debut issue of the magazine is now available and gives good insight into the great content we can expect to see in the future.
It’s great to see Electronic Specifier expand their horizon and fill a gap in the industry. We look forward to reading future issues and learning about the startups community and the leaps of faith they take to make their vision of technology a reality.
Electronic Specifier Becomes a Major Stakeholder in Europe’s biggest loT start up Community
October 24th, 2017
Electronic Specifier, the leading digital publisher, has become a major stakeholder in Europe’s biggest loT start up community.
On the 22nd of September it was announced by Electronic Specifier, publisher of information resources on the global electronics industry, that it has attained a 50% stake holding in Hardware Pioneers.
Founded by David and Fabiano Bellisario, their vision is for Hardware Pioneers to connect educate and inspire its members to build a smarter future through the connection of hardware and loT technologies. An assortment of the companies who have supported the community and taken the stage at hardware pioneers conference, include Intel, Texas instruments, NXP, Microchip, Mouser, Avnet and many of the other leading manufacturers and distributors. Both founders expressed their gratitude towards the companies’ collaborations and their long-standing involvement in the startup ecosystem, Electronic Specifier has truly become the center of the loT scene amongst Europe.
This will allow Electronic Specifier to enhance its reach within the global electronics and technology markets by further expanding its relationships within the startup community. They will continue to work with Hardware Pioneers by making contributions to their editing, marketing and sales support network, as well as accessing it’s ever growing database of over 200,000 engineers and developers.
Electronic Specifier’s managing director commented on the announcement saying “We see the agreement with Hardware Pioneers as a fantastic opportunity to accelerate the growth of the company. Our combined vision is to quickly expand the Hardware Pioneer community across the globe, connecting startups with the industry expertise that will help them build a successful businesses.”
CEO David Bellisario from Hardware Pioneers commented “We are extremely excited about our new business partnership with Electronic Specifier. Together, with our complementary strengths we will be able to grow the community beyond the UK and Europe. Together, we will connect, educate and inspire raising startups and pioneering engineers to build a smarter tomorrow through connected hardware and IoT technologies.”
Here at Napier we are pleased to see Electronic Specifier investing in more publications, and it’s interesting to them targeting professional makers, rather than engineers. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for both Electronic Specifier and Hardware Pioneers.
Two industry specific microsites added to Electronic Specifier’s growing portfolio
February 4th, 2017
A favourite publication of ours and our clients, Electronic Specifier, has announced the launch of two new microsites to serve the medical and aerospace and defence industries. Electronics are vital for the future development of these markets – enhancing the development of medicine and disease diagnosis, innovating surgical procedures, protecting armed forces, improving navigation and increasing the speed and efficiency or air travel.
The Medical microsite will cover themes such as nanomedicine, diagnosis, testing and monitoring, surgical robotics, medical wearables, sensors and genetic engineering. The diverse Aerospace & Defence market site will encompass space exploration and astronomy, PPE (personal protection equipment), radar and navigation, components, marine and navy, land vehicles, air force technology, airports and commercial travel.
Both microsites are now live and can be visited by heading to aerospacedefence.electronicspecifier.com and medical.electronicspecifier.com
Three new journalists at Electronic Specifier
November 9th, 2016
Electronic Specifier has welcomed three new members to their talented team.
Alice Matthews, a graduate from The University of London Institute in Paris, with a 2:1 in French studies is the new editor of Electronic Specifier’s French magazine. Alice speaks both English and French fluently, and will contribute to the research of unique articles, as well as being in charge of the French website and Twitter, including the production and distribution of weekly newsletters.
Alice will be joined by two new editorial assistants, Anna Flockett and Daisy Stapley-Bunten. Anna is a keen journalist who has completed a number of impressive placements, including one for the BBC. She graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a 2:1 BA Honours in Journalism.
Daisy recently graduated from the University of East Anglia Bachelor of Arts, in English Literature with a second-class honour, upper division. She can speak confidently in Italian, and her job role’s will include editing and uploading press releases, researching and writing original content, and attending and reporting on press events and trade shows.
We wish all three of them the best of luck in their new job roles at Electronic Specifier.
Electronic Specifier to print 10,000 copies for electronica
May 23rd, 2016
Electronic Specifier is planning a big presence at electronica. They’re electronica’s official pan-European digital media partner and to celebrate it they are printing 10,000 copies of that month’s Electronic Specifier Product magazine. This circulation is in addition to the normal 65,000 digital readers.
It is great to see that Electronic Specifier is continuing it’s approach of printing copies for trade shows: I saw how interested visitors to their PCIM stand were when they saw the printed magazine, although it does seem strange that the official digital partner for electronica uses the event as an excuse to roll out the print copies!
Joe Bush Will Take Over Editorship at Electronic Specifier Design
October 23rd, 2015
After almost eight years as editor at Electrical Engineering Magazine and CIE Magazine, Joe Bush will join Electronic Specifier Design as editor. He will take over editorship from Phil Ling, who is focusing on his own publication, Enginuity Europe.
Electronic Specifier Design is a monthly digital magazine for the electronics design industry. Nat Bowers will continue as editor of Electronic Specifier and Electronic Specifier Product Magazine.
Congratulations to Joe on his new role, which he will begin on November 16th.
Electronic Specifier to host round-table on security at electronica
October 18th, 2014
The Round-Table will take place on Wednesday 12 in the electronica Forum Area in Hall A3. There will be two 90-minute sessions taking place between 10:00 and 13:00, comprising six industry experts in each session.
The Round-Table offers a chance to question the very people responsible for shaping security solutions from the world’s leading semiconductor and embedded software companies; a unique opportunity for any engineer attending electronica 2014.
This is definitely a must go to for any attendee at electronica 2014!
Electronic Specifier launches German-language website
March 14th, 2014
In Germany, the competition from other publishers is intense: certainly far greater than France, where there are few publications. It will be interesting to see how successful Electronic Specifier will be in Germany. We wish them all the best, and will monitor the progress of the new site and report on it in future issues of Napier News.
ElectronicSpecifier redesigns website
August 8th, 2013
Clearly the summer is the time to redesign publication websites, as there’s a nice new clean look to ElectronicSpecifier.
ElectronicSpecifier launches test and measurement supplements
June 17th, 2013
ElectronicSpecifier continues to grow: they’ve just announced that they will publish quarterly test and measurement supplements. The first of these will focus on microwave and RF test issues, and will be distributed in print and digital format to coincide with the European Microwave Week Conference and Exhibition in Nuremberg. The supplement won’t cover microwave and RF exclusively, although the theme is clearly designed to tie in to the show.
Choosing to launch as both print and digital is an interesting move: clearly ElectronicSpecifier have identified some advertisers still keen to pay for print.
The editor of the supplement will be the popular, and very experienced test and measurement expert, Mick Elliott. As Mick is already writing about distribution for ElectronicSpecifier, this is a great move. I’m delighted that ElectronicSpecifier continues to invest in great editorial talent, and look forward to the seeing the first issue of this supplement.
ElectronicSpecifier adds another editor
October 12th, 2011
ElectronicSpecifier has strengthened their editorial team with the addition of Phil Ling. He will edit the digitally published electronics engineering title, ElectronicSpecifier Design, and will work closely with John Taylor, who will remain editor of ElectronicSpecifier Product, as well as taking on new duties for the company’s microsite products that target the Wireless, Medical, Automotive, Defence/Avionics, Alternative Energy and Optoelectronics sectors.
Phil’s 15 years of experience in the world of publishing will be a valuable addition to ElectronicSpecifier’s editorial resources, as will his in-depth expertise on embedded design.
I’m really pleased to see a publisher investing in great editors and I’m sure that Phil’s knowledge and writing talent will increase the readership of ElectronicSpecifier Design. Digital magazines still haven’t been embraced by the entire electronics marketing community, but it seems to me that if publishers invest some of the savings they get from not having a print edition in improving their editorial resources, they’re going to produce a great product. As people realise the distribution method isn’t as important as the quality of the content, perhaps we’ll see a move towards digital magazines.
ElectronicSpecifier to launch microsites
January 31st, 2011
ElectronicSpecifier is launching a series of design focused, vertically targeted micro sites. The publication is planning to address an extra vertical market every quarter, with ElectronicSpecifier Automotive scheduled to go live during the week commencing 7th February, ElectronicSpecifier Wireless launching in April 2011, and ElectronicSpecifier Optoelectronics planned for Q3 2011. We’re also promised additional micro sites in the future.
In addition to the micro sites, ElectronicSpecifier will also issue a monthly email newsletter for each market.
It’s good to see ElectronicSpecifier expanding its online activities, and the vertical focus should prove very attractive to suppliers that target specific applications. I’ll be interested to see how the micro sites are integrated within the main ElectronicSpecifier property, and to whether a more focused email newsletter circulation will increase open and click-through rates.
ElectronicSpecifier to launch new publication aimed at designers
December 21st, 2010
I strongly believe that we only seen a fraction of the potential impact of the move from print to digital publishing in the electronics media. Publishing no longer requires a significant financial investment, and distribution moves from high print and postage cost to become an almost insignificant amount. What really matters now is content.
ElectronicSpecifier, who continue to deliver impressive stats for their product-driven website and digital magazines, has seen the opportunity and will launch a publication targeting design engineers in April 2011. The new publication will be branded ElectronicSpecifier Design, and their existing pan-European publication will be rebranded ElectronicSpecifier Product. ElectronicSpecifier France will also continue as normal.
This is an interesting move. I’d expect the content of ElectronicSpecifier Design magazine to be dominated by contributed material, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There is some fabulous contributed material available, and many publications have increased the amount of contributed material they accept as financial pressures have reduced the editorial resources available. As long as the articles are reviewed, and the bar for acceptable quality is set reasonably high, readers will find this new title a valuable resource.
With EDN Europe having moved to all-digital distribution in 2010, and ED Europe having been all-digital for several years, it will be interesting to see how the new publication compares against a couple of the strongest brands in the electronics media. Personally I think there is more than enough room for three strong design books in Europe. Electronics is such a vast industry that having editors curate the best content into a magazine format is hugely valuable to engineers. As the number of pan-European titles available in print dies, I believe that the readership of digital publications will grow, and if this is reflected in increased open rates, I’m sure that advertisers will respond by moving budgets to these titles in 2011.
ElectronicSpecifier launches jobs site
April 30th, 2010
It’s amazing how the internet has changed some businesses. In the past electronics companies looking to hire people had the choice of either spending a couple of thousand dollars on an advert in a magazine or calling in a recruitment agencies. Now online recruitment has dramatically cut the cost of advertising jobs .
Despite the greatly reduced cost, it’s arguable that there is more competition for job adverts. i recently wrote about the upgrade to the Electronics Weekly jobs service, and now there is a new entrant to the market: Electronic Engineering Jobs. The new site, from the same publishers as Electronic Specifier, allows you to list jobs, have them emailed to prospective candidates and even bundles in adverts in Electronic Specifier digital magazine. Let’s just hope that the economic recovery proves strong, and that there are more than enough new jobs to support all the recruitment services in Europe!
ElectronicSpecifier recruits editor
April 26th, 2010
Having taken the unusual approach of launching a new publication without an editor in place (we are told they’ve had some freelance help), ElectronicSpecifier has announced the appointment of John Taylor as editor of their Digital Magazine.
John has a long history in the electronics industry, having previously been Editor of What’s new in Electronics and Managing Editor of Electronics Times, Editor of Electronics Manufacturing Products (EMP) and most recently freelance Editor of Electronics magazine. John has also had a spell working in PR, allowing him to see the industry from both sides of the fence.
With a circulation of 66,000 ElectronicSpecifier Digital Magazine has one of the largest distributions of any title in the European electronics media. It was also one of the first to make use of video content inside the publication. The appointment of a recognised editor is another step forward as this new title tries to disrupt the more established publications in our industry.
ElectronicSpecifier launches two new digital magazines
December 23rd, 2009
2009 has been a dreadful year for publishers, and so I’m delighted that I’m going to end the year with a post about the launch of two new titles. ElectronicSpecifier will launch a monthly pan-European digital magazine in January and a French language title in February. There hasn’t been an announcement about a French website, but I’d confidently predict that unless the magazine is a failure, the site will follow fairly early in 2010.
Unsurprisingly both titles are planned to be “product books”, although I understand that the magazines will also include some industry news.
The launch of a pan-European digital title is easy to understand. ElectronicSpecifier has a strong pan-European list that will provide a circulation of more than 45,000 and a partnership with Hearst that could add another 20,000 readers. Their French list is just over 8500, which could increase to over 10,000 with Hearst’s data. And of course once you have an editor for the website and a good database, the incremental cost of publishing a digital magazine is very low.
After the recent decisions by Reed and Groupe Tests that left the French market with just one magazine, the launch of a French title isn’t surprising. In fact I know of at least one other publisher with pretty advanced plans for a French print title.
The ElectronicSpecifier titles will use NxtBook as their technology platform. Although not quite matching Ceros, who I think is the industry leader in terms of the reader experience, NxtBook should provide a great platform for the magazines. Unsurprisingly multimedia adverts, including video, animation and sound will all be offered from the first issues.
I’m confident that these titles will prove successful. Firstly these titles are fundamentally low-cost, and I would expect advertising rates to be aggressive. The database has also proven itself to be effective, generating good open and response rates, even though the demographics are not as comprehensive as some other titles. And clearly the French title is entering a market desperate for more publications: in fact I’d say that this launch represents ElectronicSpecifier winning a race to announce a new French title.
ElectronicSpecifier has a clear advantage over digital versions of print titles: the magazine can be designed for on-screen reading and to work synergistically with the web. Replicating a print magazine digitally just doesn’t work, even on large high-resolution screens. Better layout will improve open rates: just look at the “designed for digital” Electronic Design Europe, which has outstanding open rates despite using a simple PDF format for distribution. We’ve not yet seen a product book specifically designed for digital, but I hope that ElectronicSpecifier have the confidence to get away from the format of product news in print titles. This format was designed to drive enquiries through the old bingo card system. In digital titles you just don’t need all the detail: if I’m looking for a product in a digital title all I need is a couple of sentences giving me the main facts about the product, and I’ll know immediately if I want to click through to the full story and datasheet.
I don’t, however, think that the recent flurry of digital titles means it’s all over for print – at least not yet. Open rates for digital titles are low, and few advertisers values a digital reader as highly as a print reader.
Over the next few years, however, e-book readers are going to improve dramatically from the pretty shambolic offerings that we have available in Europe. We’ll then have the standards fight – similar to Betamax against VHS. Eventually there will be one great e-book platform that frankly is better than carrying round a big pile of books and magazines. When this happens, the reading experience will be great, magazines will be delivered direct to your e-book reader, and open rates will rocket. It’s even possible that in the future a digital subscriber will be seen as more valuable than a print reader, although this is a long way off.
Electronic Specifier rolls out video section
November 24th, 2009
Electronic Specifier has launched a “Tech Videos” channel on their website, becoming the latest online publication to add short movies to its content. Although the site isn’t creating any videos itself, with the ever-increasing quality and quantity of videos produced by manufacturers and distributors, the site is unlikely to be short of content. Clearly video continues to be more and more important in our sector, and at Napier we’re working hard to help clients generate and promote online video. Next week I’m attending a showing of videos we’ve commissioned for a client that aim to show that it is possible to produce fun videos about electronics that have the potential to go viral: keep checking Napier News for more details of this project!
Hearst buys Electronic Specifier
November 16th, 2008
Hearst Electronics Group, has announced that they have acquired ElectronicSpecifier.com. I think this is a pretty obvious move for both parties – Hearst gets a stronger presence in Europe and Electronic Specifier gets a stronger sales team in the US and can be included in packages that cover sites in Europe, the US and China.
Other benefits include Electronic Specifier selling advertising all the Hearst Electronics properties in Europe, greatly improving their representation in Europe and presumably a nice cheque to the owners of Electronic Specifier!
Electronicstalk guarantees article publication
July 20th, 2007
ElectronicsTalk is offering guaranteed coverage in their email newsletter and promotions that include “a special highlight on the front page” for any original articles exclusively published on the site. The site, which has much of its traffic driven from online searches appears to have fallen in the search rankings recently, and has also seen competition from a number of similar sites, such as Electronicspecifier. Presumably they hope to increase the value of their content, and some search results with this exclusive content.
We’re not so sure how well this will work in practice. Would companies really not have the article published anywhere else online (i.e. not even on their own websites)? Also there are likely to be companies producing articles that are only slightly modified versions of the ElectronicsTalk “exclusive” and publishing them widely, reducing the value of the content provided to Electronicstalk. Not sure what to do about this opportunity? Email us and we’ll be happy to discuss the options in detail.
EngineeringSpecifier to launch
May 1st, 2007
In a completely unsurprising move, the owners of ElectronicsSpecifier, Specifier Partnership have announced they will be launching EngineeringSpecifier. Topics covered include design; control systems; electrical and electronic equipment; drives and motors; mechanical components; T&M and measurement; valves and pumps; capital equipment; and industry news.
This is a logical move to expand the Specifier family. The Specifier website, and several others, accept pretty much all the content they are sent, driving impressive traffic figures with email newsletters and search engine results. With their huge content, these will often appear ahead of the manufacturers’ sites and editorial-driven magazine sites in many search results. At Napier, we don’t think it will be long until we see some major publishers trying to boost their traffic by adopting the “accept everything” model for online product news, rather than using valuable editorial resources filtering and re-writing releases. If this happens, it will be interesting to see whether the magazine site – with its additional editorial content – can out-perform the independent product listing sites.
Another new online title for electronics
February 3rd, 2006
Almost ready for the launch, ElectronicSpecifier offers another home for product and industry news. Promising to include picture and illustrations as well as text, the site will also rate one story as “Best of the day”. Do we need another product-driven site? At Napier we actually think it is a good thing: more chances for engineers (and Google!) to find your latest product news, although the publishers of the site will have to work hard to catch sites like Electronicstalk, which is a similar publication with a huge archive of legacy releases.
