Defeating the Digital Myth

"For several years, we've encouraged customers to go online and take advantage of our multi-pronged attack," Bell relates. "We became involved because we have substantially greater buying power than our individual customers. We're able to offer them a low-cost avenue to the digital world."

While neither Bell nor his publisher clients are turning a blind eye to the inroads made by digital, many of those publishers remain bullish on print. Bell feels his firm is in an advantageous position as a short-run server; he feels the mass circulation publications are more susceptible to digital erosion. With many customers already availing themselves of the OMag digital edition-a service that includes a full suite of analytics reports, including click info that's of great value to advertisers-the digital realm doesn't pose a disruptive threat for Ovid Bell Press.