Introduction
Rogers’ Next Issue magazine subscription service and app legitimately changed my life this past year. At first, the transit ads for software that’s essentially ‘Netflix for Magazines’ made the trial tempting, but it wasn’t until I was offered an extended trial as a Klout perk that I recognized its true value.
I’ve always enjoyed reading magazines for the articles, pictures and tips. I’ve always had at least one annual subscription to a print edition (or at least since the days of Teen People and YM!). I’ve always liked reading.
Next Steps
As a digital native who decided to pursue a career in creating digital content, my perspective about content consumption has significantly changed since I graduated Western. Whereas once upon a time I’d read a magazine cover to cover as soon as it arrived in the mail, now a magazine is just another piece of content that I want to read. Sure, the cover has attention-grabbing headlines, but so do all the articles I’ve bookmarked but never read. That’s why senior marketing leaders don’t scroll through RSS feeds anymore. (According to a show of hands at a local networking event.)
Now I see reading magazines as purely a leisure activity. Reading my monthly copy of Elle Canada — the only magazine I currently subscribe to because it’s not available on Next Issue — is something I like to do on Sunday mornings. I make a point of taking my iPad to the salon whenever I get a pedicure. Why read an ‘old’ copy of a magazine when I can flip through a new issue of favourite magazines with the swipe of my finger? Better yet, I can take screenshots to save pages for future reference rather than take iPhone pictures of a print edition that I’ll quickly forget taking.
What are your go-to sources for keeping up with trends?
Editor’s Note: This photo was inspired by Estée Lauder and The Wall Street Journal.