Services - Electronic Publishing

Subscriber Relationship Management

The "Who is the target audience for the publication?" question focuses on subscribers (and potential subscribers) of a publisher's content offerings. XML and its related technologies offer unparalleled opportunities to tailor the content to a subscriber's needs, and meeting those needs, both with respect to access and relevancy, is key to a publication's profitability. NetLogex can map the new technologies to specific subscriber needs resulting in added value to the subscriber experience. Subscribers' needs are rapidly changing with the dynamic expanding capabilities offered by the Internet. We can research the dynamic nature of those needs to insure that a given content collection is positioned and delivered to satisfy those needs on an ongoing basis.

Market "Opportunity" Research

In considering the "weblification" of an existing or new publication (or set of publications), there are several elements to be considered. One of the most important involves the concept of market research. NetLogex' principals know from first-hand experience that in many instances, fundamentally sound market research can, and in many cases does, result in a strategically successful venture. However, those who conduct publishing market research may not be fully in tune with content needs on the one hand and a user's "delivery" needs on the other.

NetLogex brings the concepts of customer relationship management (CRM), so important in the area of e-commerce, to bear on the world of web-based publishing. Our research strategy is designed to uncover what it will take to make the "weblication" highly customer-centric and to recommend a system so that the access to information and content will always exceed customer expectations thus building and sustaining long-term customer loyalty.

The phrase market research, while being a popularly-used term, does not entirely reflect the "holistic" nature of NetLogex' approach to understanding the market "opportunity" for a publication generally and a "weblication" specifically. In brief, NetLogex' approach is to understand the entirety of the underlying issue (which might be called a "problem" or "opportunity" depending on the situation), develop an initial concept about ways to approach the issue, collect research data, interpret the research results, and finally report the research findings. NetLogex undertakes to complete all of these steps with the ultimate objective of taking the new knowledge and designing, building, deploying, maintaining, and constantly improving (depending on client needs) the "weblication." NetLogex undertakes each project with the goal of improving product performance both in terms of financial performance and subscriber satisfaction.

Steps in the netLogex Process

The five steps that we pursue in our market opportunity research, and the respective issues and questions addressed at each step, are summarized in the following table.


Step 1 Understanding the Issue	Interview the publisher, publishing editors, and editor-in-chief
	Review past marketing campaigns with marketing personnel
	Compile a “market audit” of competitors, trends in the market, and potential opportunities

Step 2 Developing a hypothesis	Formulate an objective statement or hypothesis about how to improve the publication’s performance

Step 3 Assessing the needs of subscribers (to focus on editorial content and technical delivery of publication)	Interview current subscribers
	Interview former (i.e., lost) subscribers
	Interview potential subscribers
	Conduct focus group(s) with members of the above groups
	Assess these fundamental questions:	How is the publication viewed: strengths, weaknesses?
		How are subscribers using the information?
		Are the subscribers getting the right information to meet their needs?
		How are subscribers accessing the information; how would they like to access information to be more productive?
		Is there a “business opportunity” at hand in the context of the subscriber integrating a publication’s information into their own business?

Step 4 Interpreting Data	What editorial enhancements can be implemented?
	What delivery enhancements can be achieved?
	What business opportunities are there for enhancing the delivery of the content (i.e., how can the form of delivery make the subscriber more productive in carrying out his/her business)?
	Finally, how can the publication’s contents/delivery be modified to make the underlying information more “immediately valuable” and “must have” for the subscriber?

Step 5 Reporting Findings; Drawing Conclusions	NetLogex will deliver market opportunity research in a highly targeted report.
	The report will also elaborate on specific ways in which a publication can be enhanced.
	If so desired, the NetLogex report will elaborate a menu of “next steps” to be considered if the client desires to pursue a “weblification strategy”.

The goal of market opportunity research is to identify way to improve and enhance products for subscribers, and to achieve a sustainable financial success for the product. Unlike many "market research" organizations, NetLogex is capable of implementing its recommendations.

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