PBGC to Assume SP Newsprint Pension Plans

http://www.pionline.com/article/20120821/DAILYREG/120829971/pbgc-to-assume-sp-newsprint-pension-plans

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will take over two pension plans for SP Newsprint Co. LLC, Greenwich, Conn., as the company goes through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the PBGC announced Tuesday.

According to bankruptcy court documents, a group of lenders is planning a “stalking horse” bid for the company. A hearing to approve that bid is set for Sept. 4. The new buyers are not assuming the SP Newsprint pension plans, according to a PBGC news release.

PBGC officials estimate the two pension plans — the SP Newsprint Co. Pension Plan and the SP Newsprint Co. Union Pension Plan — are 49% funded, with $74.4 million in assets and $150.7 million in liabilities. The PBGC will cover $73 million of the $76.3 million shortfall.

Catalogs Remain Key Tool for Online Merchants

Catalogs Remain Key Tool for Online Merchants: According to Multichannel Marketing Magazine's 2012-13 Catalog Outlook Survey, online merchants continue to embrace catalogs as part of their effort to effectively market and increase sales.

Catalogs remain the top prospecting tool of merchants with 71.7% of all respondents plan to use catalogs for prospecting.

Litle Reports State-by-State Direct Response Spending

http://www.dmnews.com/litle-co-finds-state-by-state-variance-in-direct-response-spending/article/255701/

Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii, and Nevada are the most active states for consumer direct response spending. The least active are Oregon, Indiana, Tennessee, and Michigan, according to payment processing company Litle & Co., which released its findings on state-by-state consumer direct response spending on August 22.

GPO/Apple Agreement to Sell Federal eBooks

http://www.piworld.com/article/government-printing-office-gpo-teams-up-apple-sell-federal-ebooks/1

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has signed an agreement with Apple Inc. to sell Federal eBooks. Titles are available in eBook format for the iPad, eReaders, PCs, and Macs when running the iTunes Store app.

Carat Lowers Global Ad Forecast, US Unchanged

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/181458/carat-global-ad-spend-forecast-dips-us-holds.html?print

Carat, the flagship media agency of London-based Aegis Group, has downgraded its global ad spending forecasts for both 2012 and 2013. The agency cited sluggish growth in developed markets as one reason for the downgrade.
In the U.S., however, the agency did not downgrade its forecast. Instead, it maintained an estimate of 4.9% growth for 2012, while modestly upgrading the outlook for 2013 to 5.3% from the previously forecast 4.2%.

Bonnier Creates Accelerator for Startups

http://adage.com/print/236828

The accelerator, called Bonnier Innovation Lab, is asking for applications from companies trying to change the way content is created, distributed or consumed. It will select four to receive at least $25,000 in seed funding as well as services and support in areas such as public relations, e-commerce, web hosting and human relations. The four startups will also participate in a 14-week program at Bonnier's Boulder, Colo., office to go over topics such as content strategy, audience development, search engine optimization, social media, product development cycles and investor relations.

Williams-Sonoma Global Expansion

http://www.financialpost.com/markets/news/Williams+Sonoma+Announces+Sydney+Australia+First+Company+Owned+Global/7123393/story.html

Williams-Sonoma, Inc., the North America-based retailer that specializes in high-quality products for the home, today announced that it has signed a lease for approximately 22,000 square feet of retail space to house four of its iconic brands, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and West Elm at the newly constructed Exchange Building in Sydney, Australia, at Bondi Junction. The four stores, currently slated to open in early fiscal 2013, are the first retail locations outside of North America to be owned and operated by the retailer as part of its overall global expansion strategy.

USPS Reports Q3 2012 Loss

USPS reports $5.2 billion Q3 net loss: The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) reported a Q3 net loss of $5.2 billion on August 8, with $3.1 billion attributable to refunding retiree health benefits, acting CFO Stephen Masse said in an earnings call. The Q3 report covered expenses from April 1 to June 30.

Inspector General; USPS Wasted $1.2 Million on Stamp Decision

Simpsons Stamps Wasted $1.2 Million for Postal Service: Someone at the U.S. Postal Service guessed that commemorative stamps featuring TV cartoon character Homer Simpson would be twice as popular as those of Elvis Presley. In a move that wasted $1.2 million in printing costs, the Postal Service produced 1 billion of “The Simpsons” stamps. It sold 318 million.
The inspector general criticized the process the service uses to decide how many stamps to produce, saying it’s unscientific and too much of a judgment call....
The Postal Service, in a response to the report, said it already addressed the problem by creating the “forever” stamp, which can be used to mail a letter any time in the future.

CMO Confidence Falls

CMO confidence in U.S. economy slumps: Chief marketing officers are less optimistic about the U.S. economy than they were six months ago, according to a survey conducted by Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

PrintCity Releases “Print: Seen! Lean & Green”

PrintCity Releases Print Edition of “Green” Industry Reference Book (Going Green):
The new industry reference book, Print: Seen! Lean & Green, is now available in either PDF or print form—a dual distribution strategy that reflects one of the book’s basic themes, that print is one choice for the dissemination of content among many in an evolving media mix.

Presstek to be Acquired

Presstek to Be Acquired by Affiliate of American Industrial Partners: Presstek Inc., a leading supplier of digital offset printing solutions to the printing and communications industries, has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which it would be acquired by MAI Holdings, an entity affiliated with American Industrial Partners Capital Fund IV.

PPPC Reports Supercalendered Ships

The Pulp & Products Council reported North American SC-A/A+ shipments fell -31.7% in July as compared to the same month last year.  Demand declined -19.5%, but imports jumped +38.4%.  Supercalendered papers, including SC-A/SC-A+ and SC-B/SNC+, shipments were down -29.7%, demand fell -22.1% and imports grew +40.8%. The operating rate was 94%.

Global Pulp Ships Steady in July

Global pulp deliveries were nearly unchanged in July, inching down 0.1% from the previous month to 3.452 million tonnes, according to Pulp and Paper Products Council (PPPC) data.

Shipments were 6.3% higher than a year earlier, up from 3.248 million tonnes in July 2011.

Consumer Advocate; Problems with Post Hawkesbury Deal

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/08/21/ns-consumer-advocate-newpage.html

The province's consumer advocate says he thinks the deal to help save the paper mill in Port Hawkesbury could add between $2 million and $7 million to the electrical bills of other Nova Scotians.

John Merrick said the current plan has ratepayers helping to pay the final costs associated with starting a biomass facility at the paper mill and it's unfair to ask other Nova Scotians to help carry the deal.

"This deal in one very important aspect, puts [more of the] load onto other ratepayers and that's not what a load retention rate is supposed do," Merrick said.

"Nintendo Power" Shuttered

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/08/source-nintendo-power-magazine-to-cease-publication/

Gamers of a certain age likely remember the days when their main fix of information about new and upcoming video games came in the form of the monthly Nintendo Power magazine that was delivered directly to their mailbox. That experience is set to become yet another relic of a past era, as Ars Technica has learned that Future Publishing is planning to stop publishing the magazine.

Hearst's "Seventeen" Partners with mulu

http://www.dmnews.com/seventeencom-launches-social-commerce-initiative/article/255475/

Seventeen.com, a Hearst Digital Marketing property, introduced on Aug. 21 a new social commerce initiative with partner mulu. Visitors will now be invited to make content-relevant purchases through a “muluBox” recommendation gadget.

Outlook for Ad Spend Positive

Outlook for Ad Spend Positive for Rest of 2012: The outlook for advertising spending is positive for the remainder of 2012, thanks to political advertising along with media buyers spreading their buys to available venues, according to a new STRATA Survey.

USPS Tips for Direct Mail

Direct Mail Success Tips From USPS: Direct mail spending rose to $21 billion in 2011. Up 2.9 percent from 2010, according to the Magna Advertising Group, direct mail is one of the largest advertising channels for U.S. businesses.
“Direct mail creates a one-on-one connection that’s hard for other media channels to match,” says Tom Foti, manager, Direct Mail and Periodicals. “The average household receives only two pieces of direct mail a day compared with 157 emails. It lets you incorporate coupons, reply cards, mobile barcodes — such as QR codes — URLs and other response mechanisms. Direct mail is a workhorse for generating leads, traffic and sales.”

Hanley Wood Names Executives

Hanley Wood announces executive changes: Hanley Wood, which targets the housing and construction industries, has named Christopher Veator as president of Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. He succeeds Andrew Reid, who was promoted to the newly created position of president-digital and strategic development.