Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Coupons Valuable, Even When Not Redeemed

Coupons Work --Even When They're Not Used: Data analysis of a 16-month field experiment finds that coupons -- whether used or not -- still increase awareness purchasing of a brand or retailer. The professors found that consumers who got the coupons but didn’t use them still “typically increased their purchases in the associated stores.” In fact, these consumers accounted for 60% of the coupons’ “sales lift” — the additional amount spent on both promoted and unpromoted items.  Data analysis found that coupons — whether used or not — still increase awareness purchasing of a brand or retailer.

Direct Marketers Report Modest Growth in Q1


Digital and direct marketing performance grew modestly during the first quarter, with improvements in revenue and campaign profitability, according to a report from the Direct Marketing Association.

California Senate Passes Textbook Bill


A bill that would require textbook publishers to make the same content available to California school districts in digital format has passed unanimously in the state Senate.

Cabela's New Avenues for Customer Engagement


http://www.retailonlineintegration.com/article/cabela-s-leverages-social-promotion-drive-customer-engagement-418921/1 

Cabela's, a cross-channel retailer of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, launched a Facebook promotion in March around its TV show "Ultimate Adventures" and its Outdoor Adventures travel program. The promotion was designed to drive customer engagement.

 

Magazine Publishers; Print Still Important


Although magazine publishers have embraced mobile platforms, the web is still not all that important, executives at Conde Nast and Meredith Corp. indicated on stage at a paidContent conference.
Instead, both publishers showed a desire to adhere to legacy business models, i.e. packaging content in print (and print-like) monthly editions supported largely by advertising, and supplemented by low-cost monthly subscriptions and single-copy newsstand sales. “We see websites as gateway into the brand,” said Bob Sauberg, president of Conde Nast.
“Consumers still prefer print, so we aim for print-like digital products.” 

Popular Science Offers Bridge Between Print & Digital

Popular Science Enlists Augmented Reality To Bridge Printed Page, Digital World:
Augmented reality makes printed pages interactive
The latest issue of Popular Science harnesses augmented reality to integrate the printed page with the digital world with the assistance of a new mobile app.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Takes Steps to Reorganize

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt moves to reorganize after bankruptcy: In its original bankruptcy filing the Boston publisher listed $2.68bn in assets and $3.53bn in debt. Among its leading unsecured creditors are Chicago-based RR Donnelley and Williams Lea, who are each owed more than $20m.

Containerboard as Advertising Vehicle

White is the new brown in corrugated: Transformed from being purely a transit pack material, containerboard is making big steps forward in being able to reinforce a brand's position in the marketplace. The cause of this transition is the growth of white liners - mainly driven from the growing trend for high impact corrugated packaging in the retail ready or shelf ready market areas

Friday, May 25, 2012

April Recovered Paper Consumption Declines

US recovered paper consumption decreased in April
According to the American Forest & Paper Association's April 2012 U.S. Recovered Fiber Monthly Report, total U.S. industry consumption of recovered paper in April was 2.48 million tons, 4% lower than March 2012. Year-to-date consumption in 2012 is 3% lower than during the same period last year.
U.S. exports of recovered paper increased 7% in March compared to February, with increases mainly seen in Mixed and Corrugated. Year-to-date exports of recovered paper in 2012 are 3% higher than during the same period in 2011.

Facebook Ads Rarely Viewed

83% Rarely or Never Click on Facebook Ads: An AP-CNBC poll finds 83% of U.S. adult Facebook users hardly ever or never click on online ads or sponsored content when using Facebook.

Source Interlink Finds New Ways to Relaunch Hot Rod

Source Interlink Uses Face-to-Face Events to Promote Hot Rod Re-Launch: Hot Rod magazine will not only be transformed for its re-launch across print, online and social mediums —its publisher, Source Interlink, plans to also take the brand straight to consumers as part of a seven-city U.S. tour to promote the new identity of Hot Rod magazine.

USPS Announces Closure Plans


The USPS plans to close 140 processing facilities over the next few years. The first phase will begin in the period of July to August 2012, and will involve 48 facilities. The USPS plans to halt any facility closures during the busy mailing season of September through December 2012. The consolidations will resume in January 2013 for an additional 92 locations. The second phase of the project will take place in January 2014 for an additional 89 facilities, unless circumstances change in the interim.

Inkjet Printing to Double by 2017

http://www.smitherspira.com/inkjet-printing-market-is-forecast-to-reach-67-3-billion-by-2017.aspx
The inkjet printing market is valued at $33.4 billion in 2011 and forecast to grow to $67.3 billion in 2017, according to Smithers Pira, the worldwide authority on the packaging, print and paper supply chains. According to their new study, The Future of Inkjet Printing to 2017: Global Market Forecasts, inkjet is growing because it provides significant advantages across many supply chains

NAA Asks PRC to Reject USPS/Valassis Deal

NAA Calls for Rejection of the Proposed ‘Sweetheart Deal’ the USPS Offered Valassis: The Newspaper Association of America called for the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission to reject a proposed negotiated services agreement (NSA) between the U.S. Postal Service and direct-mail giant Valassis, saying this special rate proposal will cause significant financial harm to newspapers throughout the country, and will not improve the financial condition of the nation’s postal system.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Retail Catalogs Survive; and Thrive


Online spending may be increasing, but the venerable catalog is doing anything but fading away. In fact, it is still an important part of business for retailers.

“It’s basically a marketing tool,” said retail analyst Eric Beder, a managing director at Brean Murray, Carret & Co. “The beauty of a catalog is that you don’t have to go online to see it, so you can use it anywhere.”
More than 12.5 billion catalogs were mailed out to homes in the U.S. last year, according to the Direct Marketing Association, the largest global association for the marketing community.  And there are still those who use the catalog for what it was originally intended for: More than 89.6 million Americans bought an item from a catalog last year. 
A couple of years ago, some retailers decided to cut back on publishing catalogs in order to save money. That move proved to be a hard lesson in the power of the catalog, said Ken Ebeling, senior vice president of membership at the Direct Marketing Association.
“Sales plummeted,” he said. “They realized if they don’t keep their catalogs out there, their e-commerce will decline.”
In fact, some businesses that have never published catalogs before have decided now they want in.

Catalyst Paper Plan Not Approved

Catalyst Paper restructuring plan not approved by creditors: Catalyst Paper Corporation announced that the company did not receive the necessary creditor approval for its amended plan of arrangement under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

Hearst and Meebo Announce Partnership

Hearst and Meebo Establish Digital Partnership: The consumer Internet company Meebo, producers of The Meebo Bar, is partnering with Hearst Digital Media. The Meebo Bar will be rolled out across 13 of Hearst’s digital brands in June, and participating brands include: Cosmopolitan, Country Living, ELLE Décor, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, Popular Mechanics, REDBOOK, Seventeen, Veranda, MisQuincemag.com, TheDailyGreen.com and Woman’s Day.

Condé Nast Launches New Title

http://www.adweek.com/print/140739

Fairchild Fashion Media, the Condé Nast division responsible for publishing Women’s Wear Daily, is relaunching men’s fashion title M as a quarterly magazine beginning this fall. The original M, which launched in 1983, was helmed by Jane Lane and, later, by onetime Adweek editor Clay Felker. M shuttered in 1992, a casualty of the recession at the time.

People on the Move

People on the Move | 5.24.12: Martha Stewart will now serve as non-executive chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and other changes in publishing industry jobs.

Unknowns of App Advertising

The State of App Advertising: In the heyday of print advertising, the rules seemed simpler. Competition from television, radio, and other forms advertising was a factor, but each medium was distinct—with its own attributes, value propositions, and measurements. The Web changed all that. Along with the suicidal dilemma of free editorial content, the Web brought in a whole new (and volatile) system of measuring success.