Digital Magazine and Newspaper Editions: Best Practice Cases
for Web sites alone were too low to sustain the business and the search metaphor of the
Web was not ideal for novice job seekers who had limited contexts for their career
exploration.
The management team took this dilemma very seriously and turned to technology to
solve their problem. After doing 18 months of research, they took the bold step of
launching one of the UK’s first digital-only publications when Prospects Graduate
replaced the previous print publication — Immediate Vacancies — that was shut down.
Prospects Graduate is an advertorial digital publication that features employer profiles
that enable graduates to get a sense of what it would be like to work for certain
companies , as well as to learn about their vacant entry-level positions. The editorial
team adds content on topics pertinent to securing the best new position.
They chose Nxtbook because:
� There was no viewer download required.
� The compression technology is excellent and makes downloads easy for
customers.
� The rendering is very sharp and very fast.
� The Nxtbook management team was very experienced and served as a valuable
resource during the transition process.
� Their business model is flexible and fair.
� They have been very pleased with Nxtbook throughout their relationship. The
quality of the tech support is excellent and Nxtbook’s designers have worked
alongside the Graduate Prospects team to help meet the needs of even the most
difficult client.
Results
� The combination of the Graduate Prospects digital magazine and the Web site
that includes directories of employers, more advice for job seekers, forums, etc.,
is very powerful and has reinvigorated revenues and profits.
� The rich media capabilities of digital publications and the opportunity to list
new jobs more expediently are appealing to employers/advertisers.
� The traditional magazine format could be browsed in a fashion similar to the
previous publication.
� The digital profiles of employers migrate from the magazine to the Web site and
are popular with graduates.
Lessons Learned
� Graduate Prospects and the Web site are completely complementary. Together,
they make a very attractive offering to employer/advertisers.
� The graduates like the traditional magazine browsing experience when it comes
to looking for jobs. The Web site has some of the same content but is very search
oriented. Search works well for graduates who know exactly what type of job
and which employers they are seeking. However, for many graduates, browsing
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