Wednesday, December 12, 2012

AF&PA Warns of Dangers of East Coast Port Strike

Despite last week's successful negotiations between the West Coast International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the USMX on the East Coast remain unresolved. As a major import/export business, the U.S. forest products industry has a significant interest in swift resolution to avoid strike. 
"If the ILA and the USMX are not able to negotiate an agreement, any impending strike and subsequent shutdown of major East Coast port would have far-reaching, costly, and disruptive implications for not only the U.S. forest products industry, but for manufacturers and distributers across the supply chain," said American Forest & Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman.

China's Threat to US Paper Producers

Wisconsin’s struggling paper industry encounters ‘sudden, potent adversary’ in ‘bankrolled and bioengineered’ China
Over the course of the last decade, China tripled its paper production and in 2009 overtook the United States as the world's biggest papermaker. It can now match the annual output of Wisconsin, America's top papermaking state, in the span of three weeks.
Paper makes for an exceedingly unlikely focus. After decimating its natural forest cover decades ago, China lacks a fundamental necessity for printing-quality paper: wood pulp.

Sappi: New Products for Minnesota Forest Industry

The future of the paper industry is not necessarily paper.
Even here, where Minnesotans have made paper since 1898 and Sappi Fine Paper's white cloud of steam pours into the sky above the St. Louis River valley, industry leaders are casting about for new products to make from trees.
The South African owners of the state's largest mill have an idea: rayon.

Management Changes at Resolute, Thunder Bay

Management changes at Resolute in Thunder Bay, ON:
TBNewsWatch is reporting that Doug Murray is no longer the Manager at Resolute Forest Products‘ in Thunder Bay, and their sources say he is no longer with the company.
Management changes are also being reported at Resolute’s Thunder Bay sawmill and in their forestry operations, although the company won’t comment publicly on the changes.

New Canadian Fair Rail Freight Service Act

New Canadian Fair Rail Freight Service Act:
This week the Federal Government introduced the Fair Rail Freight Service Act bill that will give companies that ship goods by rail the right to a service agreement with railways. 
Impact on the Canadian Forest Industry 
The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) believes that the new Fair Rail Freight Service Act is moving in the right direction to help shippers retain and create jobs for the benefit of the Canadian economy. The legislation was tabled after years of complaints by rail customers about inefficient and inadequate service from the railway monopoly.

2012: More Magazine Launches, Fewer Fold

Magazine publishers are still tightening their belts three years after the nightmare of the advertising recession shook the industry to its toes. But the itch to launch new magazines shows no sign of going away.
In 2012, veteran publishers and novice entrepreneurs launched a total of 195 print titles, a healthy bump over the 181 that were launched in 2011. And only 74 titles folded this year, compared to 142 a year ago, according to MediaFinder.com. The online database of U.S. and Canadian publications released its year-end numbers Monday.
MediaFinder also counted 32 digital-only launches in 2012, compared to 58 a year ago. Seven digital-only titles folded, compared to 10 in that category last year.

GroupM Revises Ad Forecast to 4.5%

GroupM revised its global 2013 ad spending forecast to 4.5% growth, with US ad spending expected to rise only 2.7% as a consequence of continued sluggishness in the U.S. and European economies. The forecast is almost a full percentage point lower than the 5.3 percent spending hike GroupM predicted in June.

Sporting News Ends Print Edition

Sporting News, the 126-year-old sports news publication, is officially going digital. Beginning in 2013, the title’s presence will be limited to its website, app, and six newsstand-only season preview issues.
Sporting News has struggled in recent years, slashing its frequency from weekly to biweekly in 2008, and then to monthly in 2011. Between January and September 2012, ad pages fell a staggering 78.4 percent year over year, according to Publishers Information Bureau.

Nielsen: Q3 Ad Spending Up 7%

Heavy Olympic and political advertising in the third quarter contributed to big growth. But overall, 2012 growth is still pegged at only slight improvement.
Nielsen says advertising spending in the U.S. for the third quarter 2012 was up 7% versus the third quarter 2011.

Ballard Designs Catalog Offers App

Home furnishings retailer Ballard Designs has launched Ballard+, an app that enables the user to browse and shop the retailer's print catalog using image recognition technology. The free app, which features "tap-to-buy" shopping, product details and reviews, multiple image viewer and social sharing, works with Ballard's December 2012 early winter issue.

Bonniers & Flingo: Print with Interactive TV Apps

Flingo (www.flingo.tv), the largest publisher of Smart TV apps, today announced a partnership with Bonnier Corp., one of the largest consumer-publishing groups in the U.S., to enhance its print content with interactive TV applications. Flingo has developed Smart TV apps to bring content from Bonnier's collection of 45 leading publications and properties such as Popular Science, Parenting, Field & Stream, TransWorld, Warren Miller, and more, into viewers' homes. The apps are available on the over 15 million Smart TV devices that run on Flingo's platform including TiVo, LG, Samsung, Vizio, Sanyo, Insignia, and Western Digital.

Direct Mail Still Choice of Shoppers

Direct mail remains a medium of choice for holiday shoppers and marketers alike.  And enhanced with mobile and web technologies like QR codes, personalized URLs and augmented reality, it’s engaging consumers like never before.
“Long lauded for its ability to provide consumers with personalized and tangible information about products, promotions and sales, today’s direct mail, combined with Web technologies and smartphone apps, is offering holiday shoppers a media-rich experience that connects with them on a deeper, more personal level,” said Gary Reblin, vice president, Domestic Products, U.S. Postal Service.

Tribune Reviews Selling Papers

Tribune Co., the bankrupt owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and six other daily newspapers, is interviewing bankers about selling its papers, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Tribune Co. is seeking an adviser for a possible sale after the company exits bankruptcy, which is slated to happen by Dec. 31, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive officer of News Corp., plans to take a close look at Tribune Co.’s newspaper assets once they’re available, according to a person with direct knowledge of his thinking.

Printed Books Still Attractive Option

Success of E. L. James' novels also captured the dual state of the book market -- the advance of e-books and the resilience of paper. In a year when print was labeled as endangered and established publishers referred to as "legacy" companies, defined and beholden to the past, the allure remained for buying and reading bound books.
Publishers from several major houses agreed that e-books comprise 25-30 percent of overall sales, exponentially higher than a few years ago, but not nearly enough to erase the power of paper. And the rate of growth is leveling off, inevitable as a new format matures. Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy said e-sales were up around 30 percent this year, less than half what she had expected.

Valassis Offers Social Savings App for Advertisers

Valassis' offers Social Savings and Sharing App for Advertisers:
Valassis, a leader in intelligent media delivery, and Oasis Brands Inc. announced today how they are working together to offer consumer savings in the social sphere. Valassis' savings application built on the Facebook Platform is now being utilized by advertisers like Oasis Brands to promote specific individual brand promotions. As Facebook evolves its platform.

Newspaper Q3 Ad Revenues Fall

U.S. Newspaper Ad Revenues Again Decline, Though Decreases Slow:
Per the latest figures from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), overall U.S. newspaper advertising revenues continue the decline that started in earnest in 2006, and has continued for 25 consecutive quarters.

Gravure Assn. Awards RRD

RR Donnelley Honored with Nine Golden Cylinder Awards by Gravure Assn. of America: CHICAGO—Dec. 12, 2012—R. R. Donnelley & Sons announced that nine different catalogs, magazines, retail inserts and direct mailings that drew on its premedia and production platform have been recognized with 2012 Golden Cylinder.

InfoTrends: True Cost of Print Business Communications

InfoTrends Calculates the True Cost of Printed Business Communications:
Producing and distributing documents involves many processes and includes a combination of tangible, “hard” costs (printing, shipping, storing materials, etc.) and other less tangible, “soft” costs (composition, design, editing, project management, etc.). Companies of all sizes need to understand all these related costs to manage their businesses effectively. InfoTrends’ new study, titled “The True Cost of Business Communications,” compares and examines the costs associated with outsourcing and doing the work internally, along with providing key considerations for what the outsourced print should be.