SpecleSpeak

RBI now live on Specle

 

Reed Business Information UK (RBI) have now released ad specifications for all UK magazine titles on Specle. RBI is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc which is one of the worlds largest publishers. We are delighted to have RBI on Specle.

You can find up-to-date ad specifications for all Reed Business Information titles (such as New Scientist or Computer Weekly) from the link below:

http://specle.net/uk/reed-business-information

Specle Section Redesign

Today we we introduced a new way to set up sections in magazines in Specle. We've taken on your comments regarding how this was designed, and have added new features that should make it much easier to set up page sizes for magazines in Specle. Log in and have a go!

Beautiful mock-up of a tablet based magazine from Bonnier R&D presented by BERG (via @sammathews)

2010 - Apple Tablet, Mobile, Paywalls, and More

Loads of rumours are flying around about the predicted launch of an Apple Tablet, which we now hear could be called the iSlate. Apple's stock hit an all time high, they've rented space for an event on 26 Jan, and they have a history of releasing products around the time of CES. One thing is for sure is that if Apple doesn't release a Tablet computer, everyone will be very disappointed (and someone else will release one).

The thing that interests me most about the Apple Tablet rumours are how it affects publishing. It would be very interesting timing considering the amount of backlash Murdoch got last year for looking to introduce pay walls to content on the web. 

The problem with the web for publishers is that the whole thing is built around a system that is designed to disseminate information freely and anonymously around the world. Great content always wins, but with so much great content around easily available, its really hard to get anyone to pay for it online.

What a lot of publishers expected was that print advertising revenue would decline, and online advertising revenue would increase to meet it. For most publishers, this has not happened yet, and is not likely to.

This is why I am personally excited by the possibility of an Apple Tablet being released. I see mobile computing as a saviour for publishing. I already use Guardian's iPhone app every day, and it only costs £2.39. But I would happily pay more (and monthly), if it was available on a bigger portable screen. The beauty of mobile is that everyone using a mobile is paying. And on Smart Phone platforms such as Apple iPhone or Google Android, payment is a concept that is built into the platform. I hope that if a Tablet comes out, that it comes out with a great new platform for buying magazines and books. 

Having worked in developing technology for print advertising production for nearly 10 years, I was interested to see this from Conde Nast and this from Time Inc. With the thought that one company could create a device that could reach a load of people, and potentially produce consistent colour (as it controls the hardware), you all of a sudden have something that could have all the advantages of print without all the problems of ink & paper.

So what happens with print? Well, you start to do some really innovate stuff with it. This is what we've been seeing. Publishers are looking to create new formats, new shapes and sizes, and move the boundaries as to what we can do with print. And you can combine new technology with print (such as augmented reality). 

This is what we're seeing, and this is how Specle will move in 2010. We are committed to providing service to this industry, and we are a small, dynamic team, and can respond quickly.

In 2010, Specle will be adapting its business and its business model. The biggest interest we had in 2009 was in how well we presented print ad specifications online. In 2010 this will be our core focus. Specle's business is to help publishers present complex technical information online about new advertising formats, and new advertising media clearly to agencies. We will be helping publishers accept and embrace change by making it easy for them to instantly communicate ad specification changes to the network of creative agencies.

Please subscribe to the blog for news over the coming months.

MediaPro 2009 (and trade shows)

You can say all you like about Trade Shows. In this day and age of connecting to 1000s of customers through social media, it seems like a really expensive way to connect with (relatively) few people that get out of their office to come see you at an exhibition. And, for B2B companies, is this a place where customers buy anyway?

But that's not what its about. Its about putting on a show. Getting face to face with the people that buy your products and showing them just how much they mean to you.

MediaPro 09 held at Old Billingsgate (near Monument in London), was Specle's first ever trade show. We wanted to get out there in a big way. We booked front of house right where we could get traffic from both entrances. We also brought in two fantastic people to run the whole show for us (@MissSCWhite and Elle Bracegirdle, you're awesome). We strategically launched a new product at the show (SpecleSpace which I'll talk about in another entry), and we discounted existing ones for the 2 days.

But most importantly - above everything else just about - we found a great pub, and printed a load of branded drink tokens that we gave to people to exchange for free drinks for 2.5 hours. Silly us thought only 5-10 people would turn up.

As nervous as I was about this show, it went brilliantly. With some clever ideas from Elle & Sam, we did not have to spend a fortune to have an amazing looking stand.

What MediaPro showed the industry is that we were here, and that we were serious. Our stand was busy from beginning to end. And we had around 200 people turn up for the drinks night. It did wonders for our brand awareness, and cost a fraction of what it cost the rest of the show.

From the show, we're bringing on 10 new major publishers, including one that said they never saw the point of our system. We have around 50 new leads. We've had a major spike in interest in our paid products through the number of people that contact us through the site. 

In short, I am delighted with how we did. I am very surprised just how effective a trade show can be for your brand. 

We are still right at the beginning of our journey. Week by week our community is increasing. We are building our credibility and building our brand as the search resource for ad specifications on the internet and we're securing the support of the major publishers in the UK.

MediaPro 09 brought our brand to a new level - in one hit. It increased our credibility and connected us on a personal and social level with hundreds of people in our community. People we hope will then talk about us to others. Specle is all about offering great service to customers and our industry, and this gave us a great chance to put on a real show for them.

See photos below. If anyone has more photos (especially of the drinks night) then let me know

Pre Show

 

Giving Demos

In Action

Ghent PDF Workgroup

I am sitting here right now in the Adobe Headquarters in San Jose. This is the first time the Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) (www.gwg.org) has met this side of the States. This little group which started in Ghent Belgium is now truly becoming global.

For those that don't know, GWG is formed of the worlds industry experts in print production. There's a group of around 40-50 people representing markets around the world and major vendors as well that dedicate a load of their time free of charge to trying to solve complex communication problems in print. We then come up with recommendations and specifications for market specific versions of PDF/X, and XML ad tickets. Basically we try to save the industry a load of time and effort in research to make print as simple as possible.

I was excited this morning to present the GWG Job Ticket subcommittee meeting. We created the Job Ticket as an XML based format to replace the common practice of "encoding" information into file names. We've had a lot of success with this format recently. Specle has been involved for the last 2 years in this. We had a significant interest in finding a way to "address" information in a database (namely Specle). SpecleCreate is designed around it.

We've now got a load of support from the US and in the UK for this format and it now looks like there's a good chance that publishers will start requiring the fields in the GWG Ad Ticket be communicated to them either through XMP or ad portal.

We're now heading out. What many people don't know about the GWG, is that although its formed of the most highly informed, and seriously technical people - defining standards all over the world for how print and ads are prepared - they are also one of the biggest bunch of party animals you've ever met! A really fun group.

The Thursday night of the GWG meetings has become a bit of a ritual. Can hardly wait.

Welcome

Welcome to the first ever Specle blog entry.

Why on earth, you might ask, is this the first ever Specle blog? Specle's been running for quite some time hasn't it? Yes, it has, and we're now starting to gain some proper ground in the UK. The reason I haven't run a blog is just plain because its not the way I've "known" to run business.

I moved from being an employee for 10 years, before jumping into running my own business. Specle is my first ever company, and no matter how much you think you know about running teams, creating software, and doing business, nothing ever prepares you for running your own tech company.

Its taken me a couple of years to "unlearn" much of what I learnt (and knew to be true). One of the things I always had as true was to "hold onto your cards", "keep things close to your chest" - i.e. don't tell people what your doing, because your competition will find out, and then your 3 year software project and all your hopes and dreams will go completely go down the toilet.

This mentality - as is so plainly obvious to see now - is utter rubbish. No one is going to steal your idea - there are millions, and millions of ideas out there, and probably many of them are much better than yours. If your competition finds out your little secret plan, so what! As a startup you probably can move a lot faster than your competition will be able to, and whats the point in coming second?

So here it is. You're now going to get inside my life, and get the inside track in whats going on in Specle.

You'll find out about me, how we started, what happened in our earliest days, why on earth we started in Belgium, and why on EARTH did we target print advertising, when obviously the world is all going online? 

You'll get to hear all the Specle news and meet the rest of the team as it grows.

You'll get to hear all my thoughts on advertising production, and also just my thoughts on anything. Very much looking forward to your comments.