Appleton Coated Names Executives

http://www.appletoncoated.com/

Appleton Coated president and CEO, Sandra Van Ert, is pleased to announce the following organizational changes:

Darin Dodd has been appointed vice president of Commercial Sales for Appleton Coated. He brings over 20 years of paper sales and management experience to his role, 17 years with Appleton Coated. During his time with the company, Dodd held key national sales and management roles. Prior to Appleton Coated he was with Westvaco Corporation.  Darin’s experience and deep understanding of our commercial business and customers, make him an excellent choice to lead the sales organization in this segment.  

Mike Baker, executive director - Publishing Papers, maintains sales responsibility for Appleton Coated’s book publishing segment, and John Mazuroski, recently named business development manager - Technical & Specialty Products, has sales responsibility for this segment.   

NPTA Unveils 2013 Initiatives

NPTA alliance unveils 2013 strategic initiatives
The National Paper Trade Alliance Board of Directors recently adopted a strategic plan for 2013-2015 and revised mission statement. NPTA's mission is to actively support the success of member firms through the delivery of networking, education, advocacy and industry trends focused on the health of the paper distribution channel, which reflects a focus on paper merchants and mill partners as the sole membership base.

Bonnier CEO Terry Snow to Step Down

Bonnier CEO Terry Snow to Step Down, Succeeded by Dave Freygang:
Bonnier Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of Stockholm-based Bonnier AB, announced today that CEO Terry Snow [pictured] is stepping down to retire. Dave Freygang, who has been executive vice president of the Active Interest division, will be succeeding Snow at the helm.

Time Cuts Annual Issues to 48

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/time-cuts-back-2013-146445

In an unusual step for Time, the newsweekly is publishing three fewer issues this year, for a total of 48. Time usually only had one double issue, its year-end Person of the Year issue. This year there will be three, POY including the Time 100 and Making of America.
Cutting issues is one sure way to improve a magazine’s financial picture (and ultimately, the parent company's). Time is said to be profitable, but much less so than it used to. Its ad page count has fallen by almost 50 percent over the past five years. Last year through Nov. 19, ad pages fell 15 percent to 1,004, per MIN.

Game Show Prize: Job at Hearst's Cosmopolitan

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/new-cbs-game-show-offering-editorial-assistant-job-at-cosmopolitan-as-prize_b74060

CBS has revealed some details about a new reality competition show that will debut next month, and there is a media twist. The show, “The Job,” features five contestants competing for–not surprisingly-a job at a high-profile company. 

The grand prize for the second episode of the series? An editorial assistant position at Cosmopolitan magazine.

Condé Nast Selling Ads on Delta

http://adage.com/article/media/conde-nast-takes-ad-sales-delta-air-lines/239141/

Condé Nast, the publisher of magazines including Vogue and GQ, has struck a deal to sell ads on Delta Air Lines' website, apps, kiosks at airports and even its boarding passes, the companies said.

CA AG Pushing for App Privacy Guidelines

http://adage.com/article/digital/ad-trade-groups-lament-california-mobile-privacy-push/239124/

The California Attorney General is pushing mobile marketers to apply voluntary app privacy guidelines, and advertising industry groups don't like it. The "Privacy on the Go" document published by California Attorney General Kamala Harris is a set of recommendations for mobile app makers, platforms and ad networks.

USA/National Geographic Publish Special Edition

http://press.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/10/usa-today-ng-channel-and-ngs-partner-on-special-tabloid-edition-ngs-turns-125/

USA TODAY, National Geographic Channel and the National Geographic Society have partnered on a special tabloid edition: National Geographic Society turns 125. The special edition marks the 125^th Anniversary of the founding of the National Geographic Society and a New Age Exploration.

The 48-page all color special edition is on newsstands now and can also be ordered online. This is the fourth special tabloid edition that USA TODAY and National Geographic Channel have partnered on. 

DNMedia Expands Stake in Luxury Market

http://www.4-traders.com/A-H-BELO-CORPORATION-1376190/news/A-H-Belo-Corporation-DMNmedia-Acquires-Design-Guide-Publishing-Company-Strengthening-Luxury-Por-15763755/

DMNmedia, the marketing solutions group of The Dallas Morning News, Inc., has acquired the assets of DG Publishing, Inc. (DGP), a portfolio company of Elm Creek Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm . DGP is a magazine publisher of high-end resource guides including Design GuideTexas and The Texas Wedding Guide . The purchase further strengthens the News' media portfolio in the luxury magazine segment and will complement FD Luxe, a premium lifestyle magazine targeting affluent consumers in North Texas.

ShopperTrak: Holiday Sales Up 2.5%

http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/339148/holiday_season_ends_on_positive_note_for_retailers_according_to_shoppertrak.html

More shoppers spent more at the cash register during the 2012 holiday season than they did the previous year, according to ShopperTrak, the world's largest counter of retail foot traffic.

ShopperTrak estimates that during the holiday shopping season of November and December 2012, national retail sales increased 2.5% and foot traffic also increased 2.5% when compared to the same two months last year.
ShopperTrak's initial data indicates that shoppers spent $248.8 billion during this period. The U.S. Department of Commerce will release its December GAFO sales numbers in February.

Print Endures: Only 16% Purchased e-Book in 2012

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323874204578219563353697002.html

A 2012 survey revealed that just 16% of Americans have actually purchased an e-book.

Ever since Amazon introduced its popular Kindle e-reader five years ago, pundits have assumed that the future of book publishing is digital. Opinions about the speed of the shift from page to screen have varied. But the consensus has been that digitization, having had its way with music and photographs and maps, would in due course have its way with books as well. By 2015, one media maven predicted a few years back, traditional books would be gone.
Half a decade into the e-book revolution, though, the prognosis for traditional books is suddenly looking brighter. Hardcover books are displaying surprising resiliency. The growth in e-book sales is slowing markedly. And purchases of e-readers are actually shrinking, as consumers opt instead for multipurpose tablets. It may be that e-books, rather than replacing printed books, will ultimately serve a role more like that of audio books—a complement to traditional reading, not a substitute.
How attached are Americans to old-fashioned books? Just look at the results of a Pew Research Center survey released last month. The report showed that the percentage of adults who have read an e-book rose modestly over the past year, from 16% to 23%. But it also revealed that fully 89% of regular book readers said that they had read at least one printed book during the preceding 12 months. Only 30% reported reading even a single e-book in the past year.

USPS: App that Brings Mail to Life

USPS Surprises CES with Eye-Popping App that Brings Mail to Life:

The USPS debuted a new app this week at CES 2013 that worked well and could increase a company’s interest in sending mail again. The app, which was developed with Aurasma, scans a piece of mail and uses augmented reality to make the paper an interactive ad. “We worked on this to show companies that hard copy mail can be a part of their editorial content,” Chris Karpenko, head of USPS outreach, told me on the CES show floor. “It’s all about the customer experience.”

Ink Industry Under Cost Pressure

Printing Ink Industry Still under Cost Pressure in Raw Material Market – No Relief in the Short Term: Leading printing ink manufacturer Siegwerk anticipates difficult raw material markets and signalizes selective price increases for 2013.
They are indispensable for producing print products such as packaging, advertising brochures and newspapers. And in recent years they have constantly increased in price. This refers to tree resins, pigments, additives such as bonding agents and solvents – the raw materials and components used for the printing ink industry.