Retail Catalogs Survive; and Thrive

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47482913

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.

NRF Annouces Tax Campaign

http://blog.nrf.com/2012/05/23/nrf-launches-60-day-campaign-for-sales-tax-fairness/

NRF launched a 60-day effort to convince Congress to take action on what they call sales tax fairness; " As retailers are all-too-well aware, online merchants are not required to collect sales tax on the majority of their sales..."

HP Annouces Job Cuts, Q2 Results

HP to Cut 27,000 Jobs: HP today outlined plans for a multi-year productivity initiative designed to simplify business processes, advance innovation and deliver better results for customers, employees and shareholders.The restructuring is expected to generate annualized savings in the range of $3.0 to $3.5 billion exiting fiscal year 2014, of which the majority will be reinvested back into the company.

http://whattheythink.com/news/58237-hp-reports-3-drop-revenue/?utm_source=whattheythink&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

HP today announced financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2012. For the quarter, net revenue of $30.7 billion was down 3% year over year both as reported and when adjusted for the effects of currency.