Condé Nast president Robert A. Sauerberg, Jr. announced on Wednesday that Condé Nast, Wired.com's parent organization, has a new chief technology officer in former Viacom CTO Joe Simon.
Periodicals of all stripes are staring down plenty of challenges these days, due to the massive proliferation of alternate entertainment and information options in these connected times. But they're also faced with a major opportunity: to expand beyond the paper and website formats. The iPad is clearly a step forward in this regard, and looks fairly innovative now. But it's by no means the final word on digital magazine publishing, according to Sauerberg, Jr., who hopes his new hire will expand the company's reach potentially to dozens of further platforms.
"Our strategy of becoming more brand- and consumer-centric is a very exciting moment for Condé Nast, and we believe that our brands can live on a variety of platforms in a variety of ways," Sauerberg, Jr. told Wired.com. "Technology will be the foundation of much of what our strategy will be long-term. We're coming from a point of real strength, and are very excited about taking the position of strength that we have with our magazines in print and [extending] it using technology in ways that are additive for both our business and for our advertising partners.
Onlookers should not to read too much into the fact that Simon comes from a television and radio background, according to the president of Condé Nast, whose publications include The New Yorker, Vogue, Wired and many others. Rather Simon's leadership experience in global markets and his access to tech companies and talent around the world were behind his hire.
Mr. Simon's first assignment, once he gets acclimated, will be to oversee the expansion of Condé Nast's publications onto new platforms.
"The key project is really to have him make sure that we have a robust, cost-effective platform to be able to publish our magazines and extend our brands into other platforms."
No platforms will be ruled out, so technically, anything with a screen and internet connection is on the table, so to speak.
"I don't see any reason to be restrictive right now," said Sauerberg, Jr. "[However] we're going to be thinking through what's right for each brand. I don't think there's any 'one size fits all' in any of this. We want to make sure that we have the assets in place so that each of our brands can innovate in a way that's right for their brand."
The new CTO in charge of implementing all of this faces challenges that go beyond cost efficiency and branding alignment. Standards do not exist for new publishing platforms, which often feature unique screens and control mechanisms, potentially causing metaphorical wheels to be reinvented each time.
"The challenge at this point is that in the new markets that are emerging, there are no standards, and you have to make bets on technology before proof-of-concepts are all in place," explained Sauerberg, Jr. "And that's the tricky part: having the real instinct on where to start and how to make that better. Clearly, we're in the infancy stage of new reading and multipurpose touch devices. We're at the very beginning. [Simon's] biggest challenge will be to work with what could be dozens of partners to make this work for Condé Nast. In any environment, that would be challenging."
See Also:
- Condé Nast Adds 4 Titles to iPad Initiative
- Wired Magazine's iPad Edition Goes Live
- The Wired Tablet App: A Video Demonstration
- iPad Fuels Magazine Disruption
- iPad Could Boost Interactive Music
- Adobe Unveils Apple-Compliant 'Digital Publishing Platform' for iPad Media Apps
- Can Apple's iPad Save the Media After All?
- New iTunes Rules Complicate iPad Magazine Opportunities
- Clive Thompson on the Future of Reading in a Digital World
