Hearst CEO Frank A. Bennack, Jr. and Stylus founder Marc Worth made the announcement together, though no financial terms were disclosed. As part of the merger, Kenneth A. Bronfin, president of Hearst Interactive Media, will join the Stylus Board of Directors.

Stylus monitors consumer behavior across industries including automotive, technology, media, retail, fashion and hospitality. The corporation is used by design, marketing, branding and business development departments within companies. Stylus has been around since September 2010, and has since expanded to cover 20 sectors in 50 countries, with a global staff of 100. More than 200 major companies have used Stylus data, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Starwood Hotels, Mulberry, Sony, Colombia Sportswear, Ford, The Container Store, Marks & Spencer and Interbrand. Stylus seeks to become a world leader in consumer industry research.

In a statement regarding the merger, Bennack said, “for all businesses to be competitive, spotting the next trend can mean success or failure. We believe that Stylus offers information that no company should be without. The growth potential is very promising, as is the benefit to our own brands and businesses.”

Worth added, “Hearst’s global presence will help drive Stylus’ business forward in Asia and Latin America as well as its core markets of U.S. and Europe. Hearst’s investment in both technology and new media businesses makes it an ideal partner and will allow us to meet demand for cross-sector, cross-country design intelligence.”

Hearst Magazines, for example announced two channels as part of the initiative, with programming created in conjunction with Car and Driver, Road & Track, and Popular Mechanics for an Automotive channel and Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Seventeen, and Realbeauty.com for a Fashion and Beauty channel. Both will launch in 2012.

We had a conversation with Kimberly Lau, vice president business development and partner relations at Hearst about the channels, and the opportunities that come along with them.

What are these new channels going to bring to the table that wasn’t available with YouTube before?

“The focus and investment that YouTube is making in high-quality premium content creates new monetization opportunities for our brands,” says Lau. “For us, the biggest difference in our content approach is that we’ll be focused specifically on optimizing content for the YouTube platform and on building our channel audience. In the past, we did put content on YouTube but it was secondary to other goals.”

“It’s really about the support that YouTube is providing for premium content developers and the fact that there will be a critical mass of premium content development — these two factors together create new and exciting opportunities for advertisers and engaging experiences for consumers,” she says.

How does Hearst expect the channels to impact its business overall?

The company says the channels will expose its magazine brands to an expanded audience as well achieve scale and better monetization.

“We have multiple goals that include, in no particular order, the opportunity to build and cultivate our brands’ audiences on this platform (the third leg of a social stool that includes Facebook and Twitter), revenue, development of brand extensions, and the opportunity to continue to innovate online,” Lau tells us.

Hearst’s new channels will launch next year. For more on the broader YouTube initiative, read here.

Do you think Hearst’s success in traditional publishing will extend to triumph in the online world? Let us know in the comments section.

With 14 magazines and 23 sites, the company has 40 apps to accompany them. "Our digital library is a huge asset," he said, later adding "It’s not just the assets. It’s what you do with them."

Hearst goes well beyond simply re-creating its print experiences for digital platforms whether they be the publications’ websites or mobile apps. For its sites it creates unique content. For its apps it not only creates unique content, but unique app experiences altogether. Many of Heart’s brand apps offer different services or entertaining experiences that aren’t just reading. And this goes beyond even video, audio, and animation. It’s about creating a interesting experience. 

None of these apps are free. Loughlin says that while much of the Blogosphere says this stuff should be free, he disagrees, noting that these bloggers should see the bills that come along with developing this stuff. 

"It’s not just about brand exposure," said Loughlin. "It’s about creating a sufficiently strong impression."

"When people ask me, ‘Is print dead?’ I say hell no" he added.

Hearst’s paid print subscriptions sold via the web have gone up significantly in the last four years.

While I’ve long been skeptical of the notion that a substantial amount of people will pay for digital content when there is so much other content available for free, 

Hearst has the right idea when it comes to making this work, I think, if it’s really going to.  It’s all about keeping it unique and creating interesting experiences beyond just readable (or even watchable or listenable) content.

Let us know what you make of Loughlin’s thoughts — and if you have any additional ideas — in the comments section.

After accounting for potential cannibalization of some print subscriptions, the industry could realize $1.3 billion in incremental revenue, the consortium says.

The study dealt with about 230 periodical titles and surveyed 1,800 consumers in the U.S. It looked at "likely formats and features of emerging interactive periodicals" and did not take into account advertising, commerce or single copy sales. In other words, we’re talking subscriptions only.

"The landscape for digitally distributing magazines and newspapers is about to rapidly change," said Martin Kon, partner and head of the global media and entertainment practice at Oliver Wyman, which conducted the study for Next Issue. "Our Future Marketplace Simulation shows significant consumer enthusiasm for interactive periodicals that offer enhanced features, personalization, multimedia content and optimized layout and navigation."

Next Issue lists the following as "key findings that underpin the revenue projections" in the study:

1. Among device-owning subscribers, the availability of interactive editions at the point of renewal, at the same price as today’s print editions, drives a 9 point increase in the overall subscription renewal rate, from today’s 55% industry average to 64%.

3. The interactive format enables effective cross-selling via recommendation engines and browsing features; 17% of current subscribers make additional purchases.
 
4. Automatic renewals eliminate the traditional "bill-me later" model and greatly reduce churn, from an average of 45% today to 25%.
 
5. The introduction of interactive editions in an online store setting, at the same price as today’s print editions, triples uptake rates among device-owning non-subscribers, from 5% to 15%.

The findings can be perused in a white paper available here (pdf).

Microsoft says the partnerships with NBC Local Media and Hearst Television will give MSN around 3,000 news video clips a week across 36 local media markets. The new video content will be available in January 2010.

Microsoft sees a big opportunity with local and video. Local online advertising is projected to grow to $10 billion by 2013. The company also notes that 62 percent of online adults have watched a video online and 35 percent have viewed a televsion show or movie online.

NBC Local Media will provide video clips from their "Locals Only" websites in Los Angeles, San Francisco/Bay Area, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Washington, DC, Connecticut, and Miami.

Hearst Television will offer local video clips in Albuquerque, Baltimore, Boston,  Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY; Cincinnati, Des Moines, Ft. Smith, AR; Greensboro / Winston-Salem, NC; Greenville, SC; Honolulu, Jackson, MS; Kansas City, Lancaster / Harrisburg, PA; Louisville,  Manchester, NH; Milwaukee, Monterey, CA; New Orleans,  Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Portland, ME; Sacramento, and West Palm Beach.
 

Related Articles:

> Microsoft Unveils Big Redesign Of MSN

> Microsoft Partners With Advance Internet On Local Ad Deal

> Bing Gets More Mobile Features in The US

These companies released a joint announcement today saying that they have entered into an independent venture to develop open standards for a new digital storefront and related technology that will "allow consumers to enjoy their favorite media content on portable digital devices."

The idea is that publishers can boost online revenue in a similar fashion to what the companies behind Hulu are doing with online television The publishers say the goal is to create a highly featured common reading application capable of rendering the distinctive look and feel of each publication, a publishing platform optimized for multiple devices, operating systems and screen sizes, a consumer storefront with an extensive selection of publications, and a rich array of advertising opportunities.

The selection of publications will not be limited to just those from the companies involved. They are saying that the venture will welcome other publishers to offer their content as well. Publishers will get their revenue from content and advertising sales, as well as print subscriptions.

"For the consumer, this digital initiative will provide access to an extraordinary selection of engaging content products, all customized for easy download on the device of their choice, including smartphones, e-readers and laptops," explained John Squires, the venture’s interim managing director. "Once purchased, this content will be ‘unlocked’ for consumers to enjoy anywhere, anytime, on any platform."

The storefront will of course offer magazine and newspaper publications, but will also include books, comic books, blogs, and other media. The venture does not yet have a name. It will be interesting to see what they come up with and if consumers jump on board with the model.

Is this a step in the right direction for publishers? Tell us what you think.

Related Articles:

> Google Changes How it Handles Paid Content

> Minds of the Media Gather to Discuss Future of News

> Google Okay With Blocking News Corp.

> Is it Really Crazy to Block Google?

The announcement was made by Frank A. Bennack, Jr., vice chairman and chief executive officer, Hearst Corporation, and Steven R. Swartz, president of Hearst Newspapers. The final print edition of the newspaper will appear tomorrow.

Steven R. Swartz

"The P-I has a rich 146-year history of service to the people of the Northwest, which makes the decision to stop publishing the newspaper an extraordinarily difficult one," Bennack said.

"We extend our profound gratitude and admiration to our P-I colleagues who have done such an exemplary job under extremely difficult circumstances over the past several years. Our goal now is to turn seattlepi.com into the leading news and information portal in the region."

On January 9, Hearst announced that it was offering the sale of the P-I and its interest in the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) under which the P-I and The Seattle Times are published. No buyers came forward resulting in the decision to shift to an online -only news model. The P-I was founded in 1863 as the Seattle Gazette.

Seattlepi.com will be led editorially by Michelle Nicolosi, executive producer, who has headed the site since 2005. Nicolosi was previously an investigative reporter at the Seattle P-I.

"On the business side, we are assembling a staff to form a local digital agency that will sell local businesses advertising on seattlepi.com as well as the digital advertising products of our partners: Yahoo! for display advertising, Kaango for general marketplaces and Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Ask.com for search engine marketing," Swartz said.

"The site will also feature a digital yellow pages directory powered by Hearst’s yellow pages unit, White Directory Publishers."

The majority of the P-I’s staff is expected to lose their jobs. The online version of the P-I will have a much smaller staff.

In January, Nielsen ranked seattlepi.com among the top 30 newspaper Web sites with 1.8 million unique users. The site has an average of 4 million unique monthly visitors, according to internal Hearst tracking.

Two reporters said they received "provisional offers" from P-I New Media boss Michelle Nicolosi or Hearst executive Ken Riddick, according to the P-I Web site.

The reporters declined to give details because they had been asked during their interviews not to comment.

General assignment reporter, Hector Castro, said Riddick did not tell him not to speak. Castro said he turned down the offer as it increased the cost of his health insurance, cut his pay, forced him to give up his severance pay, reduce his vacation accrual to zero and made him give up overtime.

Hector Castro

According to Castro, Riddick said Hearst plans to launch the site the day after the paper stops publishing. Hearst has not named a specific date but the deadline for a buyer is March 10.

"I got the definite impression Hearst does plan to go forward with the site, assuming the paper stops publishing," Castro said.

Hearst announced the P-I was for sale on January 9 and said it might launch an online only version of the paper if no buyer came forward in 60 days.

A number of publishers have taken steps to cut costs or put their newspapers up for sale. Last week EW Scripps closed the Rocky Mountain News after it failed to attract a qualified buyer.

"The creation of this new position is designed to accelerate the progress through greater cooperation and synergy across divisional lines," said Frank A. Bennack, Jr., vice chairman and CEO of Hearst."Neeraj is uniquely equipped to help me and my colleagues realize that goal."

Neeraj Khemlani
Hearst

Khemlani will report directly to Bennack, and will be responsible for promoting and managing digital content across the company.

While general manager of Yahoo News, Khemlani managed the business and products of news, tech, weather and education, along with handling editorial programming for Yahoo Finance, as executive editor.

The announcement comes as Yahoo plans to roll out a major reorganization under Carol Bartz, who was named CEO in January replacing Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang.

From 1998 to 2006, Khemlani was a producer for CBS News’ 60 Minutes and was considered to be a leading candidate to run one of Yahoo’s three major divisions within the media group under the reorganization.

"We are witnessing the reemergence of content and media driving value in the new world and Hearst is uniquely positioned to realize that value across multiple digital platforms and distribution points," said Khemlani.

"Remember, we’re only in the second inning of the Internet. Hearst, with all its assets and investments, expects to take a commanding lead by the seventh-inning stretch."
 

People familiar with Amazon’s Kindle electronic book reader will see something familiar when Esquire rolls off the presses with its October issue.

Through a deal with E Ink, and the participation of Ford Motors, Esquire’s 75th Anniversary stands to arrive with a paper cover, powered by a battery, featuring the kind of technology once imagined only in Jetsons cartoons. E Ink’s technology is used in Amazon’s Kindle and other e-book readers.

E Ink said Esquire and its publisher, Hearst, approached the company in the summer of 2007 to work on an electronic paper concept that would be suitable for a print magazine. The new opportunity needed to overcome several challenges, but is now on schedule for debut.

Ford will be the big beneficiary of the buzz behind Esquire’s printing and E Ink’s technology. The auto maker plans to debut its Flex Crossover inside the whiz-bang electronic paper cover of Esquire, in a double-page advertisement.

Esquire plans to take a forward look at the 21st Century from the platform of their electronic paper magazine. Among the ideas we wonder if they will consider, beyond yet another Angelina Jolie cover: making e-paper capable of receiving and displaying Internet content delivered wirelessly.