5. Digital Magazine

What it is:

A hybrid between the traditional magazine and a souped-up PDF, digital magazines offer self-contained, visually-compelling periodical content that doesn't require special software to open and read. Digital magazines are generally distributed by email via the brand's database.

How popular are they? Nxtbook Media shows you who's reading what, in real time, all over the world.

A cool tool for:

• Saving money by sending customers the digital version versus a print custom magazine
• Useful for adding rich media, but contained in one digital document
• Measuring every bit of user engagement (views, minutes, forwards, etc.)

Not so hot for:

• Organizations without a sustained commitment to generating content
• Institutions without messages that can be communicated effectively in rich media
• Purely product-driven messages

FIDELITY STAGES	CALLAWAY
Fidelity's Stages magazine captures the look and feel of traditional print content while adding convenient features (like searching and printing) unique to digital. Fidelity case study compliments of Nxtbook Media.	Callaway gets into the "swing" of its customers' mindset via a digital magazine rich with golf tips and player profiles. Callaway case study compliments of MacDUFF.

3 key play points:

1. If you don't like the confinement of a digital replica, consider repurposing magazine content on a microsite
2. Digital magazines are great for integrating print content with a Web presence
3. Consider adding video and podcasts to your magazine content

Bonus Links:

• Digital Magazine Examples via the Junta42 blog
  
• The Case for Digital Custom Publishing courtesy of Idio
  

Chapter 4 - Custom Print Magazine

Chapter 6 -  Magalog