Hagadone putting publications online
Hagadone Printing Company is embracing the digital age.
Instead of seeing the World Wide Web as a threat to the world of print publishing, which Hagadone has been in since 1978, company President Erwin Hudelist sees it as an asset.
"We realized long ago that there is a place for the Internet and a place for print," said Hudelist. "They compliment each other, and we recognize that our customers can benefit from the marriage of the two."
Thus, this week, it officially unveiled its Hawaii Digital Library at www.HiDiLi.com, which features up to a year's worth of material from more than 40 client brochures and magazines online, viewable in English and Japanese.
The digital library is free for Hagadone customers, but available to non-Hagadone customers for an annual fee of $3,820.
The library includes most material from the past year of free publications printed at Hagadone, which range from "This Week on Oahu" to "Homes & Land Magazine." The pages are also downloadable as PDF files for clients to print.
Publications with paid subscriptions, however, are not on the digital library.
Agreements were ironed out with each client individually, said Hudelist.
The online version of the brochures is useful for mainland advertisers who can view sample pages before arriving in Hawaii, he said.
Hagadone's digital library isn't expected to create an additional source of revenue, said Hudelist, so much as to enhance its services for existing customers.
Hagadone, which also prints the glossy inserts for corporate clients such as Macy's and Wal-Mart, invested about $45,000 into the digital library, according to Hudelist.
Last year, Hagadone also invested $10 million for a new printing press, and upgrades to its existing equipment in Kahili.
Hudelist estimated Hagadone has 1,840 customers, and up to 90 print publications. The company brings in $32.5 million annually.