The challenge of adjacencies in digital publishing

Last year, NiemanLab published a lengthy and challenging interview with Tyler Brûlé, the founder of the growing Monocle empire.

Despite being targeted to a high-end audience, Monocle steadfastly avoids the typical digital presentation that most other magazines have flocked to. Brûlé says the high cost of generating alternate versions such as tablet editions are costs they “can’t recover,” partially because of the lack of interest on the audience’s side, but also because of the diminished value provided to advertisers.

You realize that in this format [holding up his BlackBerry!] to do things is interesting, but it’s a very small place to be commercially. You don’t get the power of adjacency, of being in with a core print product group beside an ad for Cadillac, beside an ad for Cathay…