Just when the advertising market was beginning to recover from an economic crisis and confidence was creeping back into the economy, along came September 11 and it was back to square one. It has been a roller-coaster ride. The economy is still slow, resulting in a good deal of caution from advertisers.
Some analysts believe that key ad-producing markets, such as Hong Kong, will not start to really start firing until the first quarter of 2004.
That is, of course, dependent on whether the world remains a stable place and the spectre of terrorism does not again affect everyone's lives.
Speculation has been rife, with analysts eager to throw their two cents into the conversation about when it will all be a little rosier. This seems to be part of the problem, as it is all based on gut feel rather than on tangible evidence.
"Opinions are mixed on an economic recovery and there is still insufficient and inconsistent data that points to a significant improvement, says associate publisher of Reader's Digest, Peter Jeffery.
"In this environment, advertisers are reluctant to commit to aggressive or long-term advertising campaigns."
Across the board, it is short-term thinking as competition for ad dollars is reaching epidemic proportions. Typically, media owners are offering value adds such as website activity, a free mailing or space upgrades, all of which have limited value and is evidence of how tight things are.
The most successful and popular initiatives are bottom-line oriented.
"In this climate, clients are more interested in sales promotions and seeing a return on their investments, says Jeffery.
Readers Digest is one of the few success stories in the doom and gloom of the consumer publishing sector, with ad revenues increasing by 34 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2001, according to CMR. This compares to an 18 per cent increase over the whole of last year from 2000.
Along with sales-driven initiatives, titles are offering advertisers greater reach. Jessica magazine in Hong Kong, for example, is leveraging its portfolio of glossy titles in both the Jessica Publications Group and South China Media.
The wildly popular Next Magazine in Taiwan is doing much the same, offering similar rate-card prices as competitors, but almost triple the amount of readers than their nearest competitor. Even the more conservative advertisers, who shied away from Next Magazine's controversial image, are running ads in the magazine.
"They have heard more and more by word of mouth about our powerful media impact, says Tsai Mei Ping, assistant marketing director of Next Magazine Taiwan.
Of the first 38 issues to be published, Next achieved average circulation sales of 177,348 copies.
Next's approach has been ground breaking. Rarely has it been seen in any country for a mass-circulation consumer weekly take a market by storm since its launch in May last year. And their secret - outstanding content that appealed to the young generation. The magazine quickly became the must-read title among key consumer groups.
"The content is the king, enthuses Tsai. "In the past, a limited number of readers consumed magazines and, when they did, it was mostly for education purposes, such as language teaching or PC magazines.
"Each sold less than 30,000 copies per issue and the topic could not tap into the trends of young people."
While advertising deals, sales promotions and value add-ons have had limited success for titles, there has been a return to building a closer relationship with consumers, which has led to more targeted and appealing content.
This leads to greater demand for the product, greater circulation, issues selling out and advertisers left with little choice but to spend their ad dollars with the title.
The experience of Next Magazine in Taiwan would appear to bear this out.
"Our cover story is the key selling point for most readers to decide if they want to buy the issue, explains Tsai.
"Although Next is a weekly magazine, we dig out the exclusive news faster than any other media. So, when Next arrives at stores on Wednesday night, the TV news at night broadcasts our cover story right away and that leads to sales."
Red-hot, tailored content that speaks to a targeted audience in their own language appears to be at the heart of Next's success.
"Next is a controversial magazine in Taiwan because it always touches very sensitive issues such controversies and scandals involving the upper echelons of society, including politicians and celebrities.
"Some consumers applaud us and the others hate us. The customer relationship is based on their belief in us doing the right thing. If our news is not convincing, they may discard us right away."
Moreover, the magazine has turned on its head an industry that follows the publishing ethos that the more subscribers a magazine has, the more it can offer advertisers in terms of guaranteed and demographically accurate exposure. Next's experience debunks that theory as only five to 10 per cent of Next readers are subscribers.
"Most readers buy Next from stores and they show high loyalty. This strategy lowers cost on delivery, damage, loss and customer service," adds Tsai.
So buoyed by their experience in Taiwan, Next Media Group plans to introduce its newspaper, Apple Daily, to the market later this year.
Competition for readers among women magazine glossies is no less intense.
"Singapore women today are savvy, well traveled and busy, and are therefore more demanding of the magazines they read, says David Tay, general manager of Her World. "We always have to be one step ahead of them. We have regular focus groups to keep tabs on their changing needs and fine-tune our content as we see fit."
In Hong Kong, competition in the women's glossy market has never been fiercer. Many would consider it a saturated market with five quality titles targeting women, plus numerous niche magazines, for a population of seven million.
Aggressive cover-price strategies at a time when unemployment is at an all-time high, further serves to stoke competition.
However, Jessica Magazine, two-years old in July, has been something of a success story so far. Claiming "high double-digit growth in its advertising revenue, the title has focused hard on its customers.
"Readers are driving the market, says Jessica Ng, chief executive officer of Jessica Publications.
"Readers' needs and interests change with the changing Hong Kong economic environment. It is important to position yourself clearly in the market, and at the same time adapt your editorial to readers' needs.
"As Hong Kong's economy began to suffer a downturn, readers were no longer looking for only fashion and beauty, albeit these are still major ingredients to a good glossy.
"Readers are also seeking self-enhancement, career and financial advice so that they are able to improve their own competitiveness in the difficult market."
Jessica Magazine's circulation for July to December averaged 55,994 copies, according to its HKABC-audited circulation.
Keeping track of consumer trends is more than half the battle. "We learn from international magazines, learn from local magazines, do focus groups, and other research to capture the needs of our readers and their interests. We are constantly adapting our content, increasing the level of sophistication, adds Ng.
Extensive research has also led to Reader's Digest adapting its offering by introducing a new section called RD Living, designed to "make us even more relevant to readers' daily lives", says Jeffery.
"Keeping track of the changing needs of consumers is absolutely crucial to the long-term well being of any product, he adds.
However, if a title is changing so frequently, the fear is that that may be at the expense of compromising the brand.
"All content should be driven through the brand. Only then is it possible to create a consistent editorial voice that is the glue that binds the product and its readers, together, says one brand consultant.
Growing readership, while building consumer relationships and the title's brand, remains a significant and complex challenge for publishers.
"There are several elements to this that require different skill sets but must also be carefully coordinated, says Jeffery.
"Firstly, we have to protect our primary readership through ensuring product appeal and ensuring that our circulation skills and channels are being implemented as effectively as possible.
"We then need to have a product that people want to read, raise awareness and make sure we are available to them so that readers per copy can increase.
"Increasingly, customer management is important. Consumers are more demanding than ever and we have to work hard to satisfy them and hopefully go beyond their expectations, says Jeffery.
The challenge is there, but tough times economically have resulted in publishers improving consumer segmentation and content, so much so that the industry is actually growing.
A bright future, therefore, still beckons for the publishers in fiercely-competitive consumer press sector.
