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  In an email sent on June 14, Parkside Media informed advertisers that New
Zealand's first and only Macintosh magazine will cease publication with the
forthcoming Issue 34 (July/August 2007), two issues shy of a 6 year run.
Ironically the decision (due to a drop in advertising revenue) comes amidst a 6
month period that has seen Apple taking direct ownership of the Apple NZ
website, the launch of an iTunes NZ Store, the start of an online Apple store for New
Zealanders, as well as Resellers reporting strong sales in Macs.
In
the email forwarded to NZMac.com by a number of advertisers, Tim Steele (Managing Editor -
Technology Titles) explains the decision…
"The
reason for this is simple. Although our readership has been steadily growing,
over the last two years we've struggled to attract enough advertising support
to make the magazine viable.
This
has been a difficult decision to make but an inevitable one as copy sales alone
simply do not support the magazine."
Macguide launched
at the beginning of 2002 as an A5-sized magazine and quickly became popular
amongst Mac users around New Zealand. In July 2003, the magazine's first true
web presence occurred when Parkside sponsored this site, which rebranded to
"Macguide @ NZMac.com" for a period through until August 24, 2004. I
would say (as site owner of NZMac.com) that it was an interesting mix of the
magazine and this site, but one that we perhaps never got right...and one that
Parkside didn't use to full effect to generate any advertising revenue.
Around this time
we also saw the relaunch of the magazine (with Issue 16 - July/August 2004),
which saw it move to a new A4 size, with some (myself included) fondly missing
the smaller size version. However the move proved to be a successful sales
decision and Macguide became more readily visible in newsagents that stocked
the magazine. During this time the magazine had a few iterations of websites,
but none that did anything other than report on upcoming issues of the
magazine. It wasn't until Mark Webster (Editor of Macguide) put considerable
effort into the site (run solely by Mark using iWeb at the time) did we finally
something worthy of the Magazine.
Sadly in March of
2007, what had become a useful sister site to the magazine was closed, with
Mark no longer being asked to work on the site and a statement that a new site
would be launched in July of this year appearing.
Due to the
approximate size of the Mac market in New Zealand, selling such a specialist
magazine has always been challenging. Resellers and advertisers were told late
last year that without their continued support, the magazine might not be around
for much longer. Despite reported healthy sales of Apple and Apple-related
products amongst many advertisers, it seems the views expressed to them at the
time of "use it or lose it" went unheeded.
At the same time
over recent weeks Macguide freelance writers (myself included) have been asked
to sign (for the first time in the magazine's history) a contract assigning
copyright of our material to Parkside Media. Based on concerns
about the contract many writers declined to sign and the matter remains under discussion. The email to advertisers concludes with the comments...
"We hope you'll join us online at www.macguide.co.nz (under construction and coming soon!)
This is a brand new website which encapsulates the best of Macguide magazine's printed content and will keep you informed by delivering Mac news, views and interviews in the future."
NZMac.com contacted Greg Vincent, the Publisher of Macguide for comment and got the following comments....
Do you feel the Mac community and advertisers supported the magazine fully?
"The lack of enough advertising support is the reason we have decided to close the magazine. I'm not going to criticize the businesses that did not advertise in Macguide as every company has to make their own business decisions and we must respect that.
Over the six plus years of the magazine's printed version's life, we have had some tremendous support from scores of businesses, especially in the early years, and have received a huge amount of advertising support and more, from the staff and management of Apple New Zealand. This support came via direct placement of advertisements and their support of Reseller ads in the publication. We couldn't have kept the magazine going as long as we did without Apple's support but they couldn't and shouldn't be expected to do it all on their own."
What do you believe were the successes that Macguide achieved?
"I think it heightened the awareness of the Apple brand and was an enormously useful tool for us Mac dummies out here, and I believe, improved the Mac experience for 1000s of users. Editor MarkWebster gave the editing role more than any reader could ever imagine and should be praised from the rooftops by all NZ Mac users and the whole Apple community."
Could Parkside Media have done anything better/differently?
"The market is only so big and there's no point in pretending it is any bigger than it isn't. The world has changed enormously these past six years and maybe computer owners, more than any other media savvy group, just don't need the message printed on a piece of paper any more. Macs can usually tell you how to solve a problem themselves or, go online, and someone else will.
We have been trying for years to get Macguide on a more profitable footing but the advertising market just did not seem interested. Copy sales have been adequate for sure as have subscriptions (both these areas one of our stables most loyal) but the advertising dollar completes the jigsaw andit has been short for some years. We have been telling the industry use it or lose it but it appears they were happy to lose it. But in a nutshell, I'm happy with the way the magazine was run,sold and promoted and we did our best to keep it in a print format."
The email implies a new site is to be launched in July. Can you give the readers of NZMac.com any information related to what will be on the site?
"In August the New Zealand Macguide website will be launched with almost as much contentavailable as is now available in the magazine. We really do see it as the first NZ magazine to movefrom print to the web so it is a positive move and will suit the Apple user who is already happy toread a lot of material via a computer screen (Mac owners, ahead of the pack as usual).
The site will be full of functionality and resources and of course will be free for all to view. We areusing a different revenue model for the site than just copy sales and advertising. We hope it willeffortlessly fill the gap that the printed version leaves and will be up and running before the nextbi-monthly issue of the magazine was due out."
What do you see the future to be in relation to Mac-related publishing in New Zealand?
"The future for Mac related publishing will be online and all the bells and whistles than online publishing can bring the customer will only improve the Macintosh experience.
We believe, especially with regard to Macguide, that we will be able to serve more Mac users quickerand in a familiar format for them while being able to expand the experience with a high functioning website. Having said all that, I still have in the back of my mind maybe a Macguide Yearbook or the occasional printed special edition if ever it is warranted or seems called for."
Writing on his new website , Mark Webster (editor of approximately 30 issues) comments..
"It may seem absurd, since Apple use has nearly doubled in New Zealand since Macguide started, and Apple has never had such a big profile. And it's set to grow more – here, there and everywhere. The resellers are enjoying good times, and that's great: they work hard and margins are slimmer than they were once upon a time
....This last Macguide goes on sale 25th June; it's a peripherals special. Mg34 is a fitting tribute to what Macguide was all about and to the quality of Parkside's production and to Macguide's wonderful group of contributors.
... Parkside is planning some sort of online substitute to Macguide too, I believe, but I will not be involved – it’s time I moved on.
...Thanks to everyone who helped make Macguide a top class Mac publication.
Regards, Mark Webster"
[Update 1- Comments from Parkside Media added]
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