PPRC Members Lobby Congress

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/02_15_2013pprc_washington.html

American workers employed in the U.S. forest products industry this week visited Washington, D.C. Their goal? Educate members of Congress and administration officials on the impact of legislative and regulatory decisions both on the environment, and on the families and communities that depend on forest products manufacturing for their livelihood.

IP Seeks $57 Million Tax Break

International Paper seeks $57 million tax break; would generate $225 million in new tax revenue:
International Paper will seek $56.9 million in tax breaks over the next 15 years on Wednesday.
In return, the company commits to retain 2,274 high-paying jobs in Memphis, add 101 new ones and invest $115.7 million, including construction of a fourth office tower at its East Memphis corporate headquarters.

Marketers Shift From Traditional, But Not Direct Mail

Marketers Shift Focus From Traditional Tactics ... But Not Direct Mail: A survey finds marketers expect to decrease focus on newspapers (32%), consumer magazines (28%) and other traditional channels in 2013 --yet, direct marketing is one offline tactic that is not an area of shifting focus.
According to a survey conducted by global staffing organization Aquent and the American Marketing Association (AMA), while print is taking a hit, in general, direct marketing is not an area that many marketers plan to shift focus away from -- only 9% cite this tactic as an area of declining focus.

67% of Shoppers Use Circulars

Traditional Media Remains Key Source for U.S. Shoppers: Traditional media and channels are still very important sources of ideas on what to buy, according to the 2013 BrandSpark/Better Homes and Gardens American Shopper Study, which examines "what is on the minds of American shoppers."
Leading the pack: 67% of shoppers turn to circulars to get ideas on what to purchase on their shopping trips, making it the.  Meanwhile, almost 3 in 10 get ideas from newspaper articles, one in 5 cite TV ads, and, one in 6 note magazine ads, as sources of purchase ideas.

MediaDailyNews Mag Bag: Forbes and More

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/193538/mag-bag-record-january-for-magazine-web-sites.html#axzz2L05coSxN

Digital audiences for magazines are growing fast, with big increases in consumption via apps and Web sites. The Web sites for two major magazines, Forbes and Cooking Light, have reported big increases in traffic in January. 

Forbes.com had a record January 2013, with 16 million unique visitors during the month according to comScore -- an increase of 26% over January 2012, and a 67% increase since it was relaunched in June 2010. According to Forbes, the Web site content -- around 400-500 original pieces of content per day, produced by around 1,000 topic experts and a core group of full-time reporters -- generates over 100,000 social actions per day.
And more...

DOJ Approves Bertelsmann/Pearson Book Merger

http://www.randomhouse.com/news/2013/02/15/bertelsmann-welcomes-antitrust-clearance-of-penguin-random-house-by-the-u-s-department-of-justice/

Media companies Bertelsmann and Pearson welcome the clearance of the planned combination of their book-publishing companies into the new, international Penguin Random House publishing group by the U.S. Department Of Justice.

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/doj-clears-penguin-random-house-merger-us.html

The Penguin Random House merger has been given antitrust clearance by the US  Department of Justice, a move welcomed by Random House parent company Bertelsmann as well as Penguin parent Pearson.

Future's Circulation Up Across Portfolio

http://www.futureplc.com/2013/02/14/future%E2%80%99s-photography-group-sees-circulation-increase-across-the-entire-portfolio/

Future, the international specialist media group and leading digital publisher, today announced an increase in circulation across the whole of its photography portfolio, with Digital Camera taking individual market leadership for the first time, and Future becoming officially the leading photography publisher in the UK.

Lagardère Suing Vivendi

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/13/lagardre-sca-idUSnBw1vgyM3a+104+BSW20130213

Regulatory News:   In its capacity as a Canal+ France shareholder1, Lagardère (Paris:MMB) has summoned Vivendi and Groupe Canal+ (hereinafter "the Vivendi group") to appear in the Paris commercial court on March 21, 2013, for the purposes of obtaining a restitution from the Vivendi group to Canal+ France of its cash, which amounted to close to €1.6 billion on November 30, 2012.

Gulf Separates Marketers & Consumers

Marketers Are Out of This World: Marketers should invest in channels with proven ROI instead of constantly exploring new frontiers, says ExactTarget.
Marketers' perceptions of interactive marketing may seem a little out of this world to the average consumer. According to ExactTarget's Marketers From Mars study, a report that compares marketers' views to those of consumers, marketers are becoming a “focus group of one.” Consider the following: While 61% of surveyed marketers follow at least one brand or company on Twitter, only 12% of consumers do the same. Likewise, while 86% of marketers have liked a brand on Facebook, only 58% of consumers admit to becoming a brand's Facebook fan.

Quad/Graphic's CEO Testifies in Congress

http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/solutions-to-the-crisis-facing-the-us-postal-service

U.S. printing prices have failed to keep pace with inflation during the past 25 years, the CEO of the country’s second largest printing company told a Senate panel this week.
“During that same time period, the price of postage has continued to increase and as a result the single largest expense of printing is now the postage associated with delivering the final product,” Joel Quadracci, Chairman, President & CEO of Quad/Graphics Inc., testified Wednesday during a Senate hearing on the “Crisis Facing the U.S. Postal Service.”