Digital Magazine Publishing

A chance encounter with the managing director of a small, Scandinavian magazine publisher, was the beginning of journey where Wise Rabbit provided strategic advice and a technology based ecosystem that was commercially viable.

It was inevitable that times would have been extremely difficult in the last few years for anyone in the world of printed magazine distribution. Doubly so for one with a very small total market size and an advertising based model. Of course, the management team had considered digital distribution before, but had consistently come to the conclusion that it was not possible or viable because of cost to build and cost to maintain.

Wise Rabbit was able to alter this perception by changing the paradigm. Outsourcing of the design and development together with ongoing maintenance was the first key. The second was to consider international audiences who shared the same first language but were resident in other countries. These people would be delighted to find a publication in their own native tongue that was easy to access, anytime, anywhere.

But of course, the immediate response was, “yes, that would be great, but it would be too expensive!” In fact, the answer was surprisingly inexpensive and very affordable. Through the contacts that Wise rabbit has across the globe, designers and developers were engaged under the guidance of the core team in the United Kingdom, who were based in Eastern Europe and India. And so the impossible became a reality through imagination and connection with the Wise Rabbit network of associates. 

The question of Product or Service?

Wise Rabbit received a call from a Continental European technology services group. For almost a decade, the group had been developing and supporting solutions for internet based content delivery. They had a proven and effective backend architecture that had served their customers well and they had built up significant technical expertise and market knowledge. However, times have radically changed. As noted at the EGTA DigitalNext conference in March 2012, the definition of television has changed forever. The new paradigm is long form narrative audio visual entertainment. Anywhere, any device. TV is no longer defined as the big single screen in the living room.

This was the entry point for Wise rabbit. To help the client see the new paradigm, understand the implications for their own specific situation and then help to build a strategy building on their strengths and the market opportunities that have been born from converging technologies.

Digital Content Delivery

It would seem to many that Digital Content Delivery is already the only way to deliver content, for everybody, everywhere. Particularly in these days of Social TV hype and multi-screen devices. However, it is definitely not the case and there are many significant content providers and content consumers that still live in the world of physical distribution.

And so Wise Rabbit was approached by a company who continues to provide a strong business within the world of physical distribution. The question was, “how do we leverage the digital opportunity effectively and quickly with limited capital?”

Wise Rabbit started by becoming immersed in the culture and talent of the client company. Learning at grass roots about what exists, what is possible and what the vision of the senior management is, is the starting point for all such challenges. Once this was done, Wise Rabbit helped to map out potential ecosystems that would meet the vision that had been expressed but also aligned with the existing skill sets and other constraints of the business. After coming to the most favoured option, Wise Rabbit introduced key technology vendors who were able to provide components of the ecosystem. Through a process of evaluation and sometimes compromise, a solution evolved that could be delivered within the constraints outlined. The final piece of the puzzle was for the various internal and external teams to be pulled together and guided with the help of Wise Rabbit so that the ecosystem was not only delivered but the vision remained on track.