Are Shelter Books Dead -- Or merely the new bridal magazines?

With the news that Hachette Filipacchi Media is shuttering Metropolitan Home magazine, we've come to a turning point, I think, in what used to be known as the "shelter books" -- magazines focusing on interior design for the home.

In an environment where home foreclosures continue to mount up, the potential readership for decorating tips has other things on their mind.

In fact, a lot of people seem to renovate these days only to spruce up their homes to make them more marketable. I know someone who had put off updating their kitchen for year because they thought they might move, and now are moving -- but not before investing $10,000 to update their kitchen appliances. And that's even though they know any buyer will rip out those improvements to more completely renovate the kitchen. (My friend is also lamenting that they didn't spend the money years ago to enjoy the new appliances.)

I'm not saying that's the only reason or only time these days that people are renovating or updating their homes. But it does seem true when I look around at friends and colleagues.

The advertisers and publishers seem to recognize that fact. After all, they've pulled the plug on at least six other shelter pubs: nStyle Home, Cottage Living, Blueprint, Country Home, O at Home and Domino.

True, there are still a lot of other shelter pubs out there, like Better Homes & Gardens and Elle Decor.

But I think people interested in interior design magazines may be shifting their reading habits, and won't be interesting in annual subscriptions to those magazines. Like readers of bridal magazines, these will be interested buyers, looking for tips and ideas before they actually decide to update the look of their homes. They'll buy a couple of issues, and be done.

Besides, they can always look online at the weekly home sections still published by many newspapers. Of course, the graphics on newsprint aren't as impressive on high glossy magazine stock, but it's more convenient.

And while our clients usually are not interested in shelter pubs, one reason I'm interested in this change is that the high resolution graphics necessary for shelter pubs was one reason I thought they -- along with bridal and high-end travel magazines -- would survive without having to shift to an online-only business model. Because the graphics are so important to the end product.

For the moment, it seems only bridal and high-end travel magazines may be able to resist going online only.

Will the YouTube Video Destroy Domino's Brand?

Larry Green, Corporate Web Director at Landor, wrote an interesting blog article, "You got three minutes...to destroy your brand" about the recent YouTube video posted by disgruntled Domino's Pizza employees.

He identifies some good points that companies should consider.

But I think he overstates things when he says about destroying your brand in three minutes.

I agree with the concept that it takes a long time to build a reputation, but it can take a short time to destroy it.

However, I think in this incident, customers will blame the employees, not the company. But that doesn't mean that some people now will think twice before ordering from Domino's. Look, people went back to Jack in the Box after the E. coli outbreak -- some reports claim the company turned the scandal into an advantage.

Domino's has that opportunity now. But one lesson is for companies that choose to ignore social media because they don't understand it or don't like the lack of established metrics: You've got to monitor social media and participate in social media to give you the tools and context to address a potential online crisis.