Every day, 264 billion emails land in an inbox.
And 1.3 billion photos are shared on Instagram over those same 24 hours. And 500 million Tweets shoot out into our collective consciousness and 3.7 million new videos go live on YouTube. The average adult spends over six hours a day staring at screens.
In. One. Single. Day.
And we are all part of the problem (this message almost undoubtedly came to you via email).
This is why we make magazines. Because screen fatigue is real. How do you feel when you suddenly realize you’ve been sitting and scrolling through Instagram for half an hour? Do you feel that same way after reading a magazine?
Few will argue that we are exhausted by our screens. Information overload (much of it useless information) is giving us anxiety and more and more people are looking for ways to stop “doomscrolling” and unplug. Particularly those of us who value and seek outdoor experiences in natural spaces. We crave something tangible, something we can savour, something real.
And a magazine delivers on those urges. “This is journalism to be thumbed to, not swiped past,” proclaims a recent New York Times article on the current rise of outdoor-focused print publications. “[These magazines] are part of a burst of small-batch, independent outdoors magazines that are finding analog success aimed at people who just don’t want to be on their phones anymore.”
The printed page is much different than a device screen. The larger canvas allows details to thrive, the act of turning a page physically bonds us to the experience. The at-your-own-pace of flipping through a mag creates room for nuance, for pause and reflection, for hidden connection. Like vinyl records or micro craft beers, print media is niche, aimed at people with an appreciation for the craft and a penchant to take their time with the things that matter to them.
We’ve heard the “Print is dead” cry for a while now, and many outlets have been unable to evolve to find success in an increasingly digitized world. At Mountain Life, we’ve expanded our footprint in the past half-decade and the success of magazines like The Adventure Journal, The Mountain Gazette, The Surfers Journal and Ori help to prove that print is not only surviving, it’s thriving. And the secret sauce is quality, passion, and knowing your audience.
After two decades of publishing Mountain Life across Canada, we not only know our audience, we also helped build it. Our readers are the people who will sleep in a snowcave or clamber up a mountain for five hours just to see the views from the top, paddle seven days into the wild to get out of cell service for as long as possible or spend weeks working the same sequence of moves on a highly technical rock climb. These are not completely digital people, they engage the world with sight, with smell, with sound and touch. They read, and collect, and share and cherish magazines.
Our readers understand the power of a physical experience, and how it affects their emotions, dreams and community. Mountain Lifers want a tangible way to interact with the things they care about. Passion can’t be constrained to a five-inch screen, and Mountain Lifers have no shortage of passion.
It’s an increasingly digital world, and that’s OK, but along the hidden forest pathways to our dreams and aspirations, print leaves much deeper footprints.
5 Reasons Mountain Life Print Ads work
1. Fish Where The Fish Are
With free shop, café and in-room hotel distribution in Canada’s top mountain destinations, your ads are seen by the exact target demographic you are aiming at: people who love the outdoors enough to spend money to get there, and play there.
2. Community Counts
Advertising in Mountain Life shows the outdoor community you want to support the photographers, writers, athletes, artists and adventurers who create inspiration for the rest of the outdoor ecosystem. Each issue of Mountain Life directly supports as many as 30-40 contributors so they can continue chasing and sharing the life of their dreams.
3. Local Street Cred
Most guests to a mountain town report that their favourite memories are the interactions they had with the people who live there: their guides, their servers, the kid who told them stories while changing a flat on their bike. Advertising in a local print mag brings your brand into that tight-knit ecosystem—often the younger athletes in your ads or the ML stories are some of the same frontline staff your target market is meeting.
4. Reinforces Your Brand Identity
Mountain Life is proud of the stories we tell and the images we share with our readers. These are real experiences from legit adventurers, meant to inspire and amaze. When readers see your ad in amongst those incredible images of the places or adventures their dreams, it reinforces that your brand belongs there and is a part of that dream-stage sales funnel.
5. Print Ads Just Work Better
Digital ad blockers were invented for a reason. But magazines are consumed at a much slower pace. People read them before bed or while their spouse gets ready for dinner; they flip through them in restaurant waiting rooms or at coffee shops. Especially with large printed pages, the ads become a part of the experience, not an interruption. (Plus, studies show print ads have a 70 per cent higher recall rate.)
Holler at us to learn how to be a print partner at Mountain Life!
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