Concern about product placement in mags is misplaced, conference told

A couple of challenges to conventional wisdom have been thrown down at a Folio: magazine publishing summit in sunny Florida:

• No more Dad at work, Mom at home and Chevy in the driveway -- The period of "discontinuous change" and upheaval in the magazine industry has forced virtually every magazine publisher to tear up its playbook, Meredith publishing president Jack Griffin says. “We don’t hire editors anymore,” he said. “We hire content strategists.”
• Product placement, particularly in b-to-b magazines, is no longer an issue and readers have moved ahead of editors. “Are you holding onto something that your audience isn’t holding onto anymore?” asked Jeff Pedone, director of e-mail marketing at ALM Media.