Monday, February 4, 2013

Flambeau Completes Energy Project

With the help of Focus on Energy, Wisconsin utilities' statewide program for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and in partnership with Xcel Energy, Flambeau River Papers has implemented an energy efficient Sulfur Burner and Heat Recovery Steam Generator that will save over 600,000 therms of natural gas annually.

Union Threatens Strike at Sappi's Skowhegan, ME Mill

Officials at Sappi Fine Paper offices in Boston on Friday said they are disappointed with a union vote
Thursday night that could set the stage for a strike.
Electrical workers voted against a new contract, saying the next move is another meeting when workers can vote on possible work stoppage.
"We are disappointed that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union did not ratify the offer," Joanna Rieke, manager of corporate communications said in a statement. "It is a very fair package, with 2 percent wage increases every year and improvements in the pension, with overall wages and benefits that are extremely competitive for our industry."

Tentative Deal Averts Port Strikes

After twice avoiding strikes in last-minutes moves over the last four months, negotiators reached agreement that averts a Feb. 6 strike at and shutdown of 14 East and Gulf ports.
The tentative agreement between US Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen's Association was announced on Saturday by federal mediators. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) Dir George Cohen said the agreement, which is pending approval by both groups' union members, was proof of the value of unions.

Marketers Continued Interest in Direct Mail

Marketers Decline Focus on Traditional Media...But Not Direct Mail (Digital Nirvana):
According to a survey conducted by Aquent and the American Marketing Association (AMA), nearly one in three marketers plans to decrease their organization’s focus on newspapers this year and approximately one-quarter plans to decrease focus on consumer magazines (28%), radio (24%), trade magazines (22%), and TV (21%). While that sounds scary, what’s interesting to me is that this doesn’t seem to include direct mail. Only 9% cited “direct marketing” as an area of declining focus. Why is that?

Ziff Davis Buys News Corp’s IGN

j2’s Ziff Davis Buys News Corp’s IGN:
j2 Global continues to build out its digital media portfolio with the acquisition of popular gamer lifestyle brand IGN Entertainment, a News Corp property.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
IGN--publisher of digital properties IGN.com, UGO.com, 1UP.com and AskMen.com--will officially fall under the purview of Ziff Davis, Inc.
"This is Ziff Davis' sixth acquisition in under three years and a transformative one," Vivek Shah, Ziff Davis CEO, tells Folio: in an email. "We continue to believe the tech and gaming vertical is one of the most attractive in digital media. The combined reach and scale of the companies places us in the upper echelon of digital media companies."

I-5 Publishing Buys Special Interest Publisher BowTie

Cat Fancy Publisher Sold in 8-Figure Deal:
A newly formed joint venture between Mark Harris, co-founder and co-owner of National Publisher Services (NPS), and David Fry, chairman of NPI Ventures LLC and CTO of Fry Communications, called I-5 Publishing LLC has acquired the books, magazines and websites of special interest publisher BowTie Inc.
Terms of the deal were not released, but Harris and Fry ballparked it at $10 million-plus. Included in the sale are Cat Fancy, Dog Fancy, Pet Product News International, Horse Illustrated, Urban Farm, AnimalNetwork.com, DogChannel.com and books like Dog Heroes of September 11th and The Original Dog Bible.

National Geographic Uses Google+ in Campaign

A Case Study in Google+: National Geographic:
To celebrate and promote National Geographic’s 125th anniversary campaign in January, the society used Google+ to court new and existing audiences in order to heighten awareness and engagement.
“If Alexander Graham Bell was imagining the National Geographic Society today and not 125 years ago and was trying to figure out a way to tell stories of exploration, he’d probably suggest a Google+ hangout,” says Amy Maniatis, chief marketing office for the National Geographic Society. “This is an emerging and rapidly growing platform that gives us a very unique way to make our story-telling incredibly successful and it lets folks participate.”

Time Warner May Sell NY Headquarters

Time Warner Inc is considering selling its New York headquarters and has asked real estate brokers to evaluate the building's value, according to two sources familiar with the situation. 
The company is considering a wide range of options, including selling the midtown Manhattan building and leasing it back, moving more employees into the building and closing other New York offices, or moving out from the building entirely, one source said on Wednesday.

Publishers See Gains in Luxury Ads

Glossy products still look best on the glossy page.
Advertising for luxury brands is driving increases in first-quarter ad pages at big magazine publishers, a welcome dose of good news for companies that have grappled with layoffs, restructurings and general malaise in a business whose fortunes have fallen as the online world has grown.
Conde Nast, Hearst Magazines, Time Inc and Rodale all expect a rise in ad pages sold in their magazines for the first quarter.

WSJ Launches Journal Report Digital Platform

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20130204/MEDIABUSINESS1204/302049996/wall-street-journal-debuts-digital-platform-for-journal-reports 
The Wall Street Journal has introduced a full digital platform for Journal Reports, a print franchise of the Wall Street Journal that provides in-depth features and reporting.
The new digital platform, called Journal Report, integrates traditional features of the print edition with interactive features such as building online communities.
Journal Reports, which will publish approximately 60 print reports as standalone sections in the Wall Street Journal this year, also announced a redesign, featuring new columns and a more graphic-intensive presentation.

Condé Nast Reports Best Q1 Ad Sales in 5 Years

Condé Nast expects to end their first quarter (January-March) in 2013 with a 5% increase in ad pages, surpassing results for the same period last year, announced Lou Cona, chief marketing officer, Condé Nast. The company's sales success is due, in part, to the continued strength of its core brands, including Vogue and Vanity Fair, in addition to key performances of several other titles and in its men's category.

USPS Employee Green Teams Help Save Money

The U.S. Postal Service saved more than $52 million in 2012 by reducing energy, water, consumables, petroleum fuel use and solid waste to landfills, and generated nearly $24 million in revenue by recycling. Together, these actions to save costs and generate revenue surpassed $76 million.

Kodak Completes Sale of Digital Patents

Kodak Completes $527 Million Transaction Related to Digital Imaging Patents: Eastman Kodak has completed a transaction for the sale and licensing of its digital imaging patents for net proceeds of $527 million.
The transaction, which achieves one of Kodak’s key restructuring objectives, follows other recent major accomplishments that include final Court approval last week for the company’s interim and exit financing. Kodak’s monetization of IP assets further builds on its momentum toward emergence in mid-2013.