We recently launched a new website for In-Fisherman, a division of publishing powerhouse InterMedia Outdoors (IMO). This is a really robust, feature-filled Drupal site that we are profoundly excited about. In a nutshell, IMO is recognized as one of the strongest brands in the outdoor sportsman industry. They produce award-winning television shows, have 16 leading magazine brands like Guns and Ammo, generate instructional DVDs, etc. Our development team has been hunkered down for months working on this site, and we are excited to share details, particularly with the Drupal community.
First and foremost, this website represents a microcosm to the changing face of the publishing sector. It is no secret that publishers have been forced to rapidly adapt to the online world. More specifically, corporations are no longer doing big spends on customary advertising techniques (radio, print, television, etc.). Those dollars are now being allocated on more targeted, measurable, digital-based campaigns. Ironically enough, Dries, Drupal project leader and Acquia CTO spoke to this in a blog post the other week. Let me paraphrase one passage he mentions, "many large media companies have underestimated the risk of the internet – many have waited too long to embrace the web. With advertising revenues declining, and a global economic downturn life isn’t getting easier for a traditional publisher." In essence, Drupal is filling a much-needed void in the publishing industry. Simply put, companies like IMO that learn how to effectively leverage Drupal, and open-source in general, will have a competitive advantage over those that do not.
Next, the IMO use case shows how Drupal continues toward wider scale, enterprise level adoption. Information technology executives are appreciative of the lower cost of ownership and the myriad of options that Drupal offers. This recent Forrester report asserts that claim. On the numerous occasions when IMO management asked Mediacurrent, "Can we do that in Drupal?" It was gratifying to answer, "YES, sure, we can make that happen in Drupal." This is one of the biggest, but sometimes overlooked appeals of Drupal – developers constantly get to harness their craft on projects that challenge them to solve problems in creative ways. The result is a mature code base that is actively supported by a passionate community. Anyway, I will not get into nitty-gritty technical details here, but would encourage everyone to check out our development case study of In-Fisherman for more specifics.
To summarize, if you are a conventional media organization, do not get left in the dust. The time to reduce costs, avoid proprietary CMS vendor lock-in, gain access to thousands of free modules and features, and add value to your IT department is now.