The results, I'll admit, we're a surprise to some of us, but they shouldn't have been. Last year was the first time in the U.S. that more people turned to the Internet as their primary source of news, and why should the audience for a trade magazine such as Modern Plastics or Injection Molding Magazine be any different?
Well, as our survey revealed, it isn't. Our readers overwhelmingly identified the Internet as their primary source of information about the industry and the first place they turned when they had a question. This was true across the globe and was even more pronounced in the fastest-growing markets. Our magazines were welcomed every month, but it is our daily, weekly and monthly e-newsletters, and our website, to which an increasing number of readers are turning when they seek information.
Our decision, long deliberated, reflects the change we have embraced. This month's is the last printed issue of Modern Plastics, and also for IMM. It's been a great run and a lot of trees were felled and carbon dioxide created to deliver you your monthly magazine, but the decision is not based on envornmental friendliness. It is a business decision in response to reader preferences and habits.
The race continues, but here, online, where we can offer so much more to our readers, more efficiently and much more timely. As a result of the change we've lost fromour staff one writer, my friend Rob Neilley, but have kept all of our other journalists and columnists and are busily adding to them. You'll see soon enough that, if anything, and without the limits of the printed page, we now will offer you more articles, more information, more opinions and more of what has made us a chosen resource of plastics professionals for almost nine decades.
With the globalization of the industry, the growth of emerging markets, and the shifts in business media consumption and preferences, we will shift to a 100% digital strategy under the PlasticsToday brand. It is our position to be clearly focused on the media channels where we can fully empower and engage our audience. These channels are online, mobile, social, and via virtual events.
We are excited about the opportunities the Internet offers us to better meet our mission of providing plastics processors with information they can use to better run their businesses. Without the limitations of the printed page, we can pack more information, in more formats, into every article. PlasticsToday already is a hugely popular storehouse of information about the industry, and we will continue to add resources to it so that it truly remains the preferred one-stop shop for the plastics processing community.
You have never needed to make smart decisions for your business as quickly as you do today. By embracing change we are able to provide you with data and analysis more quickly than ever to help you make those decisions.
As always, your feedback and suggestions are welcome at [email protected].
Best regards,
Matt Defosse
Editor, PlasticsToday.com
