A weekly e-newsletter from Circulation Management
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| A weekly e-newsletter from Circulation Management | |||||
| September 29th, 2004 | |||||
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Features: John Squires to Circulators: Be Advocates of Change ABC Bulk Rule Triggers Rate Base Discussions Industry News: ABM Comments on CAN-SPAM Primary-Purpose Definitions MPA Launches Three-Year Initiative News Briefs Newly Available Lists
Features:Squires to Circulators: Be Advocates of Change!
By Kristina Joukhadar Speaking to members of the Fulfillment Management Association in New York on Wednesday, John Squires, president of Sports Illustrated, executive VP Time Inc. and publisher representative on the board of ABC challenged circulators to be �advocates for change��to be more innovative, take more initiative in the audit process, and �lobby� the Audit Bureau of Circulations if necessary to get their viewpoints heard.
He also presented some shocking statistics from a 2003 Yankelovitch study about the consumer climate:
�Is it any wonder on the basis of these numbers,� Squires went on to say, �that readers might question whether their magazines are giving them the best deal�telling them when they really expire, or better, protecting highly private data that�s so important to them, like credit card information?�
�Is it any wonder that advertisers would question the ethics of the publishing industry when we see daily headlines of circulation fraud?� Squires went on to ask what advertisers think about cheating. �Do we understand that there are serious consequences from eroding advertiser trust?� he asked, adding that it�s obvious that unethical circulation reporting in the industry is also having a very real financial impact on our business.
Squires continued, �Aside from the growth of Synapse, I�ve seen very little innovation in the consumer marketing business over the last six years. In fact,� he said, �I think marketers largely take the road of least resistance�loading up on poor-quality subscriptions and resorting to marketing tactics that, at worst, offend, and at best, lead to little response and certainly very low probability of renewal.� �I don�t think this is a failure of imagination, I think it�s a failure of will.�
ABC Bulk Rule Triggers Rate Base Discussions By Barbara Love There is now one more reason for consumer magazine publishers to consider lowering rate bases. There has been the steady decline in newsstand sales, a poor response to direct mail, and now�the new bulk disclosure requirement by ABC.
That ABC rule will require publishers to report bulk from copy one instead of the previous five percent figure. The publishers that have kept bulk just below five percent, now have to figure out what to do. Keep it and worry about whether advertisers will accept it or get rid of it and replace it with another source.
Consultant Nicole Bowman says that the new bulk disclosure rule, which takes effect in June 2005, has some circulators �rushing to judgment� or �panicking.� She says to �calm down.� Any decision on lowering rate base has to be made jointly between editorial, advertising and circulation.
Bowman�s advice is if you are considering lowering your rate base because of the bulk disclosure rule, you may be better off keeping your bulk, but making it a better fit with the advertisers� needs.
Plans for the period of January to June 2005 are underway now, Bowman admits, but there is still time to educate advertisers on the quality of your bulk programs. You can explain that the audience for your bulk is very targeted and that they are as responsive as your direct-to-publisher subscribers (hopefully), by using insert card response figures, for example.
After all, Bowman reminds us, bulk is inexpensive and it helps with MRI research. And then ask yourself, �Does it make sense to replace the bulk with higher priced sources?� You have to look at the P&L.
Bowman admits, however, that some advertisers will accept bulk and pay for it, but others will not accept it no matter how good it is. They say it is just the publisher�s way of sampling.
If a circulator decides to reduce the rate base, there is always the fear that advertisers will interpret this move as a weakness. You need a good story. Whether the move is out of strength or not, you can be sure your competitors will not embrace your story.
�When it comes to decreasing circulation, I don�t think any title wants to be a part of that,� Allie Semczuk, new business marketing manager, The People Group, told circulators at a recent Fulfillment Management Association seminar. �I was a part of that when working on Teen People.
The whole category of teen titles was being hurt. A lot of new titles came out. They started cannibalizing each other. Did we want to keep adding to the file and putting on poor quality subs, Semczuk said, or did we want to improve the profitability and the whole vitality of the magazine?
�It definitely makes it easier to explain to advertisers when other titles in the category are lowering their rate bases,� Semczuk said.
Circulators need to help your advertising group explain your move to advertisers, she added. �You need to make sure there is a good story behind the lowering of your rate base. Decreasing rate base and still putting on subs with lower prices is not the way to go. You need a story like -- you are really hitting your core audience, or improving the direct-to-publisher subscriptions. We�re taking off non-quality subs that were there before.�
�DTP [direct-to-publisher] is a good guy,� said Semczuk. �It�s always a good story. It�s more costly, but if you can say you have 40-50 percent DTP, it�s always a good thing. Have a good balance of agents,� she added, �but watch the percentage of filler business vs. the good guys (DTP).�
Industry NewsABM Comments on CAN-SPAM Primary-Purpose Definitions By Meghan Hamill In response to the Federal Trade Commission�s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on regulations concerning the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, American Business Media has once again�on behalf of its membership�submitted comments on the definition of the primary purpose of an email message.
The final definition, will determine, among other things, whether or not email newsletters�many of which contain both advertising and editorial content�are considered to be commercial or non-commercial in nature.
One of ABM �s main concerns is that �legitimate newsletters produced by the association and by its members that contain advertising (as do nearly all editorial print products in this country) not be classified as �commercial� under a primary purpose test.
The comments go on to say that ABM supports the use of a test that assesses the nature of a mixed ad/editorial email by reference to its net impression on the recipient. ABM�s relative comfort with this result stems in part from the crucial fact that the CAN-SPAM Act contains no private right of action by recipients against senders. MPA Launches Three-Year Initiative By Meghan Hamill Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and its member companies are collaborating on a three-year initiative to increase awareness in the advertising community about the effectiveness of consumer magazines. The goal is to reassert the strength of the magazines� role in marketing initiatives based on recent studies such as the Northwestern University Reader Experience into readers� and advertisers� behavior.
According to president and CEO Nina Link, this is the first time the magazine industry has worked together on an extensive, international, multi-year marketing campaign. Fallon New York has been hired as the agency of record. The account is valued at more than $40 million over three years.
Led by a multi-industry group, called the Magazine Marketing Coalition, which includes two dozen executives from MPA member companies and related industries, the goal is to reassert the strength of the magazines� role in marketing initiatives based on recent studies into readers� and advertisers� behavior.
We need to come up with a measurement of engagement, working with the ad community, said Link. We need to move more quickly; try to use a cross media platform to get our message in front of the advertiser.
As a circulator you may think that you don�t play a role in the success of this initiative but Link says �Circulation marketers represent a very important leg of the knowledge stool the industry needs to continue to promote and support this initiative� she adds �We hope they�ll be ambassadors because they connect with people on the ad and vendor side and with potential partners.�
The initiative�s strategy grew out of an assessment of the advertising industry�s views of the medium�s strengths and weaknesses in the changing consumer landscape, which was conducted last spring by the marketing strategy company HotSpring. The assessment�s results find the industry is not promoting its strengths enough.
Dynamic Logic also released similar findings on Thursday in the eight cross-media studies utilizing the three media finding that magazines, when added to a mix of television and the Internet �outperform� those other media in generating purchase intent among consumers exposed to ads.
The Northwestern University Reader Experience Study, Dynamic Logic and other studies show that print can actually �outdeliver� other media when it comes to ROI.
What exactly the Magazine Marketing Coalition will utilize the $40 million Fallon account to make the initiative successful is to be determined. News BriefsSpa magazine will increase its frequency from six issues per year to seven in 2005, and boost circulation 11 percent. Growth in ad pages and revenue are up more than 20 percent for 2004. Spa will raise its circulation to 100,000 beginning with the January/February 2005 issue, up from 90,000 currently.
Gruner & Jahr USA Publishing has hired media investment bankers AdMedia Partners to sell YM. During the most recent measuring period, YM�s single copy sales per-issue average was 285,000 (up 4.7%) out of a total circulation of 2.03 million (down 9.2%).
Time Inc. is spending $12 million on an ad campaign to announce Life�s rebirth as a weekly newspaper-distributed magazine competing with Advance Publications' Parade and Gannett Co. Inc.'s USA Weekend. Life will be distributed Fridays initially in more than 50 daily newspapers with a combined circulation of 12 million and an estimated readership of 26 million. It will launch with roughly 20 pages.
NEWLY AVAILABLE LISTSWisconsin Trails (25,000 names, $90/M) Sample usage: American Players Theatre, PB McPherson TV, Plow & Hearth, Trees for Tomorrow and University of Wisconsin Press. Sample tests: Rails to Trails, Rescue Missions and Wisconsin Historical Society. Selects by gender and zip. Contact: Names and Addresses Inc., (847) 850-1021
International Facility Management Association (34,431 names, $250/M) The IMFA represents facilities managers, consultants, educators, students and product and service providers. Sixty-six percent of these individuals are men. Selects by gender, function, area of responsibility, state/SCF. Contact: MGI Lists, (800) 899-4420
Disney Princess (36,295 names, $95/M) Parents who have subscribed to Disney Princess magazine for their children. Selects by hotline, gender, paid, source and state/SCF/zip. Winnie the Pooh (52,551 names, $95/M) Parents who have subscribed to Winnie the Pooh magazine for their children. Selects by hotline, gender, paid, source and state/SCF/zip. Contact: American List Counsel, (609) 580-2864
Adult Video Buyers (300,143 names, $80/M) Responders to direct mail efforts for adult videos. Selects by hotline, recency, geography and gender. Bankcard Offer Buyers (283,000 names, $85/M) Consumers who use their credit cards to make purchases in response to ads in their monthly Visa or Mastercard statements. Selects by hotline, recency, geography and gender. Contact: Leon Henry Incorporated, Scarsdale, NY (914) 723-3176
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