Publisher's Letter

The Pause that Refreshes

Mike Willard
Publisher

No, we didn't run out of money. You can't run out of what you don't have. We just stopped to catch our breath a little in January by printing a December-January edition.

In other words, I finally heeded the advice of everyone from our financial director to an assistant editor that our audience wouldn't be around for much of the Christmas - New Year holidays, so it would be best to put an emphasis on this issue and come back like gangbusters in early February.

That we plan to do, and the stories we are following are listed in the back of the magazine.
What has the experience of five months shown us? Actually quite a bit, particularly after a luncheon we had with the advisory board of Willard Marketing Monthly. I thought some great ideas were bounced around by marketing and PR directors.

First, there is a need for a quality, English-language marketing magazine. Secondly, we need to reach out to a larger contributor base to gain more diversified opinions. Thirdly, we need to define the purpose of the magazine more clearly.

The first issue, it appears, was seen merely as Willard's (the agency) PR piece and there was some doubt that the magazine would gain traction both internally and externally.  However, with subsequent editions, people began to become believers.

We do want more contributors, and are always on the prowl for a good article. We have several freelancers contributing, but we want more input from marketing and PR directors. There were good suggestions as to how we could best accomplish this. 

Finally, what is the magazine's objective?  It is not probably sufficient to say that the publisher missed the old Ukrainian Observer and was chomping at the bit to publish another unprofitable magazine.
To pretend that the magazine does not have a business purpose beyond hoping to make money through advertising would be disingenuous at best. Yes, a goal is to help Willard, the agency, in its efforts to win advertising and public relations clients.

However, no client or potential client is permitted to see an article about them before publication, and we strive to have a balance of clients, potential clients, and those who would probably never darken our door.  We do not tie advertising in the magazine to editorial.  Ninety per cent of the material in the magazine is written by former professional journalists.

Still, I would like to see a larger purpose. I doubt that anyone who has read the five issues so far could say it was a collective puff piece for Willard. It is not. We do hope we can raise the standards of our disciplines and impart some knowledge.

My personal goal is that anyone who reads the magazine can learn something helpful to his or her marketing, advertising or public relations job.

I want to thank our advisory board for its good advice. On the board are: George Givishvilii, marketing director at Philip Morris; Yulia Romanova, marketing director for Tetra Pak; Natasha Fesyun, public relations director for Bel-Shostka; Irina Sergeeva, PR director for the Opera Hotel, and Victoria Tsomaya, a long-time marketing director for major multi-national companies.

I hope you enjoy the magazine.  We welcome your feedback.