Wired explores some wild business offshoots

Call me a geek (no, really), but I get a kick out of marketing surveys. I enjoy taking them, in large part to get inside the thought process of ideas banging around other media companies.

One of the questions on the Wired surveyCase in point is a recent survey I took from Wired magazine that explored the openness of its subscribers to different business ideas and rewards programs, such as Wired-branded retail products and stores, Wired restaurants or hotels, and even reader-loyalty clubs with benefits such as the “ability to offer feedback on content prior to publication.”

Wired is a magazine I have long respected for its innovative design, thought-provoking journalism and ability to stay ahead of trends. Its won tons of awards, yet hasn’t been immune to the falling ad revenue that has hit most print publications.

So I guess I should be impressed the company isn’t resting on its laurels and is testing how far its subscribers might flex in embracing new initiatives. But more than a few ideas struck me as being odd, even desperate, extensions of the Wired brand.

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