Popular Mechanics Highlights "Responsible Innovation" In Issue Guest Edited by Apple CEO Tim Cook

Two years later editors at Hearst which owns Popular Mechanics and many other magazine brands had another opportunity to meet with Cook He remembered his offer of doing something together and everyone agreed that it was time to make it happen However it still took two more years for the project to really get going due to the pandemicquotWhat made this work for us is that Tim39s a part of the Popular Mechanics communityquot said Bill Strickland Editorial Director Hearst Enthusiast Group quotIt39s very authentic We39re not really a brand focused on celebrity Our community is not dazzled by celebrity They would rather get some information that helps them do everything better from using technology to patching the drywall in their house to buying the best hammerquotInvite job candidates to apply live during the Media and Advertising Community39s Black Talent Outreach Week at MediaVillagecom and AdvancingDiversityorg October 1720 Apply for jobssubmit your resume hereBut Cook provided both celebrity pizzazz and technical knowhow Those involved settled on the theme of quotResponsible Innovationquot which the editors of Popular Mechanics consider to be one of the magazine39s core valuesquotResponsible innovation really fits what Tim himself believesquot Strickland explained quotHe wants to leave the world a better place than it was when he got here That39s what Popular Mechanics is all about tooquotJust prior to the pandemic Strickland D39Agostino and a core group from Popular Mechanics met with Cook and his team at Apple headquarters to brainstorm the editorial content and they came away with some 30 story ideas From there they whittled it down to the batch that made it into the SeptemberOctober issuequotThe way we handled it editorially was no different than the way we do anythingquot Strickland said quotOur features director Matt Allyn works with an incredible stable of writers We39re extremely vertical but we39re as good as it gets when it comes to editorial qualityquotThe stories include D39Agostino39s interview with Cook who offers his take on users39 privacy rights and what he perceives to be Apple39s legacyquotWe are never really satisfiedquot Cook told D39Agostino quotWe39re always working on tomorrowquot He also discussed the evolution of the Apple Watch from initially being mostly a step tracker to offering such complex technology as onthespot EKGsComplementing that story D39Agostino penned a heartfelt piece about how he39s integrated an Apple Watch into his life to improve his fitness and possibly his longevity after grieving the early death of his brother at 46quotI think that when we look back one day and ask 39What39s been Apple39s greatest contribution39 it will be in healthquot Cook saidThe Cookcurated stories also include a piece by AC Shilton about a solarpowered sailboat that tracks the damage climate change is wreaking on the oceans In another article John Brant reports on robots that are scouring old iPhones to extract and reclaim rareearth metalsThey relate to Cook39s own vision at Apple quotOur longrun goal is to not have to take anything from the earth to make a productquot Cook told D39AgostinoThe stories range further than that For example Luke Ottenhof met with blind jazz prodigy Matthew Whitaker who started playing piano at three and was performing in concert halls around the world by age 11 Ottenhof took a tour of Whitaker39s studio and became acquainted with the custom software that allows Whitaker to produce his jazz compositionsWhile the issue39s featured stories were created with Tim Cook and Apple and Apple products make appearances as examples of tools that help fuel innovation this was purely an editorial collaborationquotWe look at this issue not as a way to sell adjacencies because we39re a digitalfirst business by and largequot said Paul Collins Vice President and Publisher Hearst Enthusiast Group quotWhen we have Tim Cook as our Guest Editor it opens up the dialog for Popular Mechanics to have these types of conversations with lots of other brandsquotHearst39s ad sales team went out to its regular stable of advertisers to populate the issue and received a healthy responsequotAdvertisers certainly wanted to participatequot Collins said quotWe always look to drive excitement for any print issue that we publish This drove advertising and allowed us to maintain a high threshold of print advertising for the issuequotThe guestedited issue is much more about continuing the legacy of Popular Mechanics which has a total reach of 15 million users per month and a robust socialmedia presence on platforms including TikTok as a thought leader in its core subject areas Collins notedquotI think for any brand editorial mission is what drives the businessquot he said quotOur clients want to draft off the trust and credibility of our editorial Brand values like our commitment to responsible innovation drive purchase consideration The more you can connect that value to brands through advertising the better it is for our businessquotClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Popular Mechanics Highlights "Responsible Innovation" In Issue Guest Edited by Apple CEO Tim Cook

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Paige Albiniak

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