With yesterday’s unveiling of the new iPad mini came an update for another Apple product: iBooks.  It may not have seemed like the best setting for software update news, but the success of iBooks has been squarely attributed to the rise of the tablet.  Mobility has impacted every consumer-driven industry in today’s market, including publishing.

With iBooks, self-publishing takes on new meaning and new functionality, but Apple’s a relative latecomer to this party.  Zinio, dubbed the “Netflix of magazines,” has helped establish a digital marketplace for a suffering print industry with its catalog of publications, all available on demand.  Read on your iPad, Android phone or laptop.  Flip through the pages as you would a real magazine.  Download issues for offline reading, subscribe cheaper than getting a magazine through snail mail, or purchase individual issues.

Zinio’s rekindled my love affair with magazines, a pastime that was all-consuming as a child, with dreams of one day becoming the Editor-in-Chief at Essence.  You can imagine my excitement to speak with Zinio Global EVP and CMO Jeanniey Mullen in today’s Snapshot Series, who shares my passion for magazines and their promising future in the world of digital publishing.

Today Mullen discusses Zinio’s responsibility as a new media platform, the democratization of the publishing industry, its impact on advertising, and the secret to launching a digital magazine for today’s consumers.

What’s Zinio’s responsibility as a platform for new media?

Zinio has a unique responsibility in the new media world. We are the pioneers who must not just bridge the gap between two generations of readers, but we must do so in a manner that is compelling, accountable and innovative. As a partner to the publishing world, we hold tight to traditions and historical strategies that maintain a business model perfected over thousands of years. Yet, we clearly see our responsibility resting on the forefront of consumer fascination with gadgets and gizmos that make our lives easier. We carefully integrate a curated and highly personal reading experience with the fun and entertaining stage of the tablet device, testing the limits of innovation about engagement and business models along the way.

See the entire CEO Series with Kristen Nicole on Pinterest and Springpad!

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Where do you see Zinio and digital publishing 5 years from now?

The short answer is: As the world’s most innovative and successful leader. The longer answer adds a bit more ambiguity. Right now we are seeing significant changes in technology and consumer adoption to technological devices occurring every 9 months. Five years from now is 5 more cycles of change. Five years ago in the publishing world Zinio was releasing a global newsstand, enabling local language shopping and the use of local currency at checkout on your PC/MAC. We were also just launching a cloud based reader. That seems so long ago, and so out-of-date.

My guess is that five years from now the publishing business models as we know them  will have disintegrated (or close to it) and rebuilt themselves through unique integrated interactions that bridge offline and online. And, consumers will cling to their favorite brands and content even more than they do know, but in new and different ways. At Zinio, we will be ready for it, whatever the “it” is.

The web has democratized nearly every consumer industry, providing a platform for anyone to distribute content.  How can Zinio evolve to help the individuals out there looking to start their own online magazine?

We speak with individuals who want to start their own online magazine all of the time, and from all corners of the world. Our first question to them is: Why do you want to build a magazine? Quickly followed by: Who are you trying to target?

Zinio is well equipped to helped the hungry publisher. From design tools and templates to distribution platforms, display support and commerce enablement, we offer a plethora of services and support. That said, we often find that many individuals looking to start their own magazine are also looking for guidance in advertising sales, as well as online content distribution: two fundamental elements of a successful digital magazine. We get excited to see new and niche title concepts and do our best to help these incubated magazines make a positive contribution to the publishing industry.

What’s the most impactful way digital magazines will revolutionize the advertising industry?

Oh wow- I could speak about this forever! There are so many options and they all offer tremendous opportunity and growth. One of the most recent efforts Zinio is pursuing is with a company, Shop Advisor. Shop Advisor scans both ad and edit for products available online. They leverage Price Grabber to enable potential buyers to shop within the pages of the magazines and intelligently wait for the best price. But this is just scratching the service. From the integration of QR codes filled with content onto brick and mortar items to personal and dynamic ad experiences built on the fly, opportunities are endless. I have even seen advertising prototypes where the ads inside a magazine change, based on who in the family is looking at the magazine. I think that the biggest opportunity will lie with the ability for advertisers to integrate their offering in a way that will be customized to consumer consumption patterns. For example, the person who reads in short bursts will see ads that offer headlines and easy ways to engage. The person who sits down to engage in long form content on a weekend will see advertorials with video integrated and so on. Advertisers have a tremendous opportunity in front of them.

Having proven Zinio as a catalyst for the current media revolution, what gives you confidence in the future?
They say that they only thing certain about the future is change. Zinio has mastered success in the face of change. We see steep adoption curves, changes and turns about every nine months. We have built a solid but very flexible infrastructure in which to stay ahead of the curve and integrate consumer needs into product offerings. We will keep innovating as long as consumers keep demanding better experiences.

JEANNIEY MULLEN

DIGI-PUBLISHER

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What would you tell someone looking to launch an online magazine?

Pick a target demographic and focus.

You travel a good bit.  What’s something you take with you on every long-distance trip?

Good and Plenty’s, Milk Duds, socks, my android and iPad.

Favorite book from your college years?

The American Sign Language Dictionary. I <3 ASL.