Shandong Tianhe Starts 100M mt P&W PM

Shandong Tianhe Paper has commissioned a 100,000 tonne/yr uncoated printing and writing (P&W) paper machine at its mill in Ningyang county, Shandong province, China.

The firm sells the products on the domestic market through its 26 sales branches across the country.

The facility already houses four uncoated P&W paper machines that have a combined capacity of 100,000 tonnes/yr.

APRIL to Start 450M mt Uncoated Woodfree PM

Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL) looks set to commission a 450,000 tonne/yr uncoated fine paper machine by the end of July at a new site in Jiangmen city, Guangdong province.

The unit, dubbed PM 11, is 8.65 m wide and has a design speed of 1,800 m/min. Metso Paper supplied it.

The contact said that the PM's output will be marketed mainly in China. Half of the output will be converted into cut-size copy paper on site, and the other half will be sold on the market.

H1 12; Magazine Starts Slow, But Closures Down

Magazine launches, closures slower in first half: MediaFinder.com reported that 133 new magazines launched in the first half of the year compared with 138 in the year-earlier period. Forty-eight magazines closed, down from 74. Twenty-one new b-to-b titles debuted in the first half of the year, down from the 34 that debuted in the year-earlier period, according to data released by MediaFinder.com, an online database of U.S. and Canadian publications.
Eight b-to-b publications, including The Grower, closed in the first half of the year compared with 13 closures in the year-earlier period, MediaFinder.com said.

Consumers Still Trust Traditional Media

Traditional Media Still Most Trusted Sources of Info and News: A recent study finds consumer trust in traditional media is much higher than digital media, while online research holds the most sway with influencing brand-buying buying decisions.
The study, examining the attitudes of over 24,000 consumers, finds that the most-trusted medium for news and information is television (45%), followed by newspapers (20%) and then radio (18%). Only one in eight (12.5%) respondents selected online news sources as most trusted.

NAPL’s State of the Industry Report Previewed

NAPL’s State of the Industry Report Candidly Reports on Tough Issues:
In the most recent NAPL NewsTalk Live presentation, Andy Paparozzi, NAPL’s Chief Economist, previewed some of the key findings of the upcoming NAPL State of the Industry report. Andy reported good news and bad news. The good news is that sales are not declining overall—they are stable. The bad news is that manufacturing costs are rising, pressure remains on pricing increases resulting in a classic profit crunch. Also discussed was what the leaders in the industry are doing to counter this problem.

Survey; Only 20% of Executives Confident in Campaigns

The Demand Generation Disconnect:
Only 20 percent of sales and marketing executives are confident that their current demand generation campaigns are effective, according to recently released research from Corporate Visions, Inc., a leading sales and marketing messaging company. The report, Q2 2012 Sales and Marketing Messaging Report, is based on a survey of more than 440 b-to-b sales and marketing professionals around the globe.

InfoTrends; Document Outsourcing Forecasts, 2011-2016

InfoTrends' U.S. / European Document Outsourcing Forecasts for 2011-2016: InfoTrends has just released its latest document outsourcing forecasts for the United States and Western Europe. Both forecasts, U.S. Document Outsourcing Market Forecast: 2011-2016 and European Document Outsourcing Market Forecast: 2011-2016, provide detailed snapshots of the document outsourcing market, forecast growth over the next five years, and include an analysis of trends driving the industry at present and expected to drive change in the future.

Big 3 Business Mags Post Ad Gains

Big 3 business magazines post ad page gains: The Big 3 business magazines—Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes and Fortune—posted ad page gains in the first half of the year compared with the year-earlier period, according to Publishers Information Bureau figures. Forbes led the way with a 13.0% gain in ad pages, followed by Bloomberg Businessweek (6.4%) and Fortune (4.0%).The magazines outperformed the broad consumer magazine market, which posted an 8.8% decline in ad pages in the first half of the year.

Power of Print Magazine Advertising

Research Reveals Power of Print Magazine Advertising: New research, launched by IPC Media, has found that magazines drive consumers toward purchase, are highly engaging and trusted, and are the medium most likely to hold consumers’ sole attention. 

Insights On The Millennial Generation

http://www.delivermagazine.com/2012/07/building-a-buzz-gen-y-expert-shares-her-insights/
As the founder and CEO of Buzz Marketing Group, Tina Wells has made it her business to keep her finger on the pulse of the “Millennial” generation. As the author of Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right, a leading field guide on understanding this increasingly influential demographic group, Wells is trying to help CMOs make Millennials (those born between 1985 and 2004) their business as well.The stakes, of course, are huge. Millennials — also known as Gen Y — represent a $43-billion market, so getting it right with this generation of consumers can make or break a business.

Tembec To Idle Canadian Pulp Mill

Tembec to idle Chetwynd pulp mill:
Tembec has announced its plans to indefinitely idle its high-yield pulp mill in Chetwynd, British Columbia.The mill will be idled on September 16.“The high-yield pulp market has continued to soften over the past year. At today’s price levels, it is virtually impossible to maintain viable operations given the current cost structure of the Chetwynd mill,” stated Chris Black, Tembec Executive Vice President and President of the Paper and Paper Pulp Group.
High-yield pulp is used in printing and writing papers, paperboard as well as tissue and towelling. Most of the pulp produced at the Chetwynd mill is shipped to Asia.

Conde Nast Shakes Up Sales Division

http://adage.com/article/media/conde-nast-shakes-crucial-corporate-sales-division/235963/

Conde Nast, the publisher of magazines from Vogue to The New Yorker, is making changes at its corporate sales operation, where major advertisers come to place big ad buys across multiple magazine brands.

Content Volume Impact on Digital Subs

Study: Higher-Volume Content Leads to More Digital Subscription Sales:  Press+, RR Donnelley's metered paid digital content service, conducted a recent study that looked at how daily content volume on some of its customer sites impacted the number of subscription sales. The findings indicate that higher-volume postings on a daily frequency led to significantly higher sales in the first month and on an ongoing basis.

McGraw-Hill On Track For Spinoffs

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-mcgraw-hill-companies-files-form-10-registration-statement-for-spinoff-of-mcgraw-hill-education-2012-07-11
The McGraw-Hill Companies today filed an initial Form 10 Registration Statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing is in connection with the previously announced separation of the Corporation into McGraw-Hill Financial and McGraw-Hill Education. "The filing of the Form 10 is another important step toward separation and the establishment of McGraw-Hill Financial and McGraw-Hill Education as leading separate companies.

DirectMail.com Gets Portal Contract

DirectMail.com Gets Marketing Portal Contract from Affinity Center International: DirectMail.com, a leading provider of integrated direct marketing solutions, announced the signing of Reston, VA–based Affinity Center International (ACI) to a one-year contract. Under the terms of the agreement, DirectMail.com will aid in the firm’s direct marketing efforts to promote and grow its AchieveLinks program by developing, implementing and overseeing an automated, Web-based marketing portal that both ACI and DirectMail.com will use to order and customize professional-quality marketing materials and conduct direct mail and email campaigns.

Email Volume; Record-Breaking Levels

Study: Email volume set for record-breaking levels: Email marketing volume remained at record-setting levels during the month of June, with volume growth for the year expected to exceed 2011's level, according to a study by email marketing company Responsys Inc.

Pacific West Bid $33 Million for Port Hawkesbury

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/115364-bc-firm-bid-33m-for-newpage

Pacific West Commercial Corp. is poised to pay $33 million to buy an idled Cape Breton paper mill.

The British Columbia forestry firm, an affiliate of Stern Partners Inc., emerged as the top bidder for the embattled NewPage Port Hawkesbury paper mill in January.

The offer price had been kept under wraps until the mill’s chief restructuring officer filed an affidavit with Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Friday.

In order to approve the sale, NewPage has put forward a motion for an order approving a meeting of the mill’s creditors.

In order to ensure there is enough time for the sales process, NewPage has also put forward a motion for an order granting an extension of the mill’s creditor protection status.

Possible State Aid for Verso's Sartell

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20120708/NEWS01/307080028/Dayton-hints-aid-Verso-Paper-mill

Gov. Mark Dayton's office has voiced interest in providing state aid in response to the Verso mill explosion as the governor prepares to convene a special legislative session to respond to floods in the Duluth area.

TwoSides Announces Iniative

www.twosides.us/#page=Latest-5

Two Sides today announced a nationwide initiative to assist major U.S. companies in developing and implementing best practices related to environmental marketing claims for print and paper. According to Two Sides research on 94 leading companies, 50 percent of them are using unsubstantiated environmental claims to encourage consumers to switch to lower-cost electronic billing and services.

Weyerhaeuser Supports American Tree Farm System®

Weyerhaeuser Establishes Procurement Preference for American Tree Farm System®-Certified Wood: Weyerhaeuser Company today announced its preference for purchasing wood that is certified under the American Tree Farm System®.
"Weyerhaeuser's announcement is just what certified Tree Farmers have been waiting for," said Tom Martin, president and CEO of the American Forest Foundation.
Weyerhaeuser's corporate sustainability goals include demonstrating forest stewardship by certifying its timberlands to sustainable forestry standards. All the timberlands Weyerhaeuser owns or manages in North America are certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative system.

Fiber Costs Down 11-15% in Europe

Wood Fiber Costs for the European Pulp Industry have fallen from the Record Highs of 2011: (USA) Wood costs for many European pulp mills have fallen the past six months as the pulp market has weakened. In the Nordic countries, pulplog and wood chip prices have fallen 11-15 percent from last spring.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Names CEO

Lisa Gersh Elevated to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia CEO: This morning, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia president and COO (since May 2011) Lisa Gersh was promoted to CEO. One highlight from Gersh's 14-month tenure was her November 2011 hire of Joe Lagani as MSLO chief revenue officer. (Two months later, Lagani named Peter Medwid publisher of the Martha Stewart Living flagship.) Another was the 10-year "strategic alliance" with J.C. Penney that will take effect in Feb. 2013.

Q2 Ad Pages Fell -8.5%

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/178352/magazine-ad-pages-take-another-hit.html

Spring brought no relief for consumer magazines, with total ad pages declining 8.5% from 44,795 in the second quarter of 2011 to 40,969 in the second quarter of 2012, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Total advertising revenues, based on official rate cards, slipped 3.2% from $5.7 billion to $5.5 billion.

BuzzMedia Buys Spin

BuzzMedia Buys Spin: BuzzMedia, a digital network of pop culture, entertainment and music sites, has acquired music magazine Spin. BuzzMedia will integrate Spin's digital assets, but the fate of its print magazine, while presently viewed as valuable by CEO Tyler Goldman, is unclear in the long term.

Brentwood Acquires Majority Stake in Sundance

http://www.thewrap.com/media/print/47001

Private equity firm Brentwood Associates has acquired a majority stake in Sundance Catalog and plans to scale the luxury retailer, long overshadowed by its sister resort and festival, into an e-commerce powerhouse, the investment firm told TheWrap.

The move came as Los Angeles-based Brentwood sold off stock in some of its niche brands -- French equestrian shoemaker Ariat International and clothier Filson Holdings -- to purchase what partner Eric Reiter called "a gem."

Selling shareholders, including ACI Capital and Webster Capital, will retain a minority ownership stake and president and CEO Matey Erdos, along with his team, will remain.

fullbeauty Mails Catalogue

http://www.prlog.org/11919400-fullbeauty-designs-and-launches-its-first-plus-size-lingerie-catalog.html

fullbeauty, a revolutionary plus size lingerie brand that is part of Redcats USA’s OneStopPlus Group, announced today the mailing of its first 72-page catalog. The fullbeauty catalog will be the largest lingerie catalog produced by OneStopPlus Group, a division of Redcats USA.

Time Publisher Kim Kelleher Leaves

http://adage.com/article/media/time-magazine-publisher-kelleher-jumps-media/235929/

Kim Kelleher is leaving her post as worldwide publisher of Time magazine to become president of Say Media, the blog network that includes sites such as XOJane, Gardenista, ReadWriteWeb, Style Bubble and Techdirt, Ad Age has learned.

Time magazine, part of Time Inc., and Say Media, where Ms. Kelleher succeeds Troy Young, confirmed the move Tuesday. Time plans to look at internal and external candidates to succeed Ms. Kelleher. Mr. Young is leaving Say Media.

Barnes & Noble CFO Leaves

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204618704576645352277177930.html

Barnes & Noble Inc. BKS +1.20% Chief Financial Officer Joseph Lombardi resigned abruptly Friday, opening a hole in the bookseller's executive ranks at a critical time. He will be succeeded on an interim basis by Allen Lindstrom, the 45-year old corporate controller. Barnes & Noble said an executive search is now underway.

Hearst, Time, Meredith & Condé Nast Offer Digital Storefront

http://adage.com/article/media/netflix-magazines-ipad/235930/

Major publishers' Netflix-like service for magazines has arrived on the iPad, putting the industry in a position to finally find out whether an all-you-can-read digital offering will help win new readers and encourage overall consumption.

Next Issue Media is a joint venture of Time Inc., Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith and News Corp., formed in December 2009 to build a digital storefront for print. The members of the venture now hope that a Netflx-style plan will help find new readers and encourage overall magazine consumption.

In-App Ads Will Reach $7.1 Billion by 2015

In-app advertising set to hit $7.1 billion by 2015: In-app advertising will total $2.4 billion this year, and $7.1 billion by 2015, driven by greater use of rich media, according to mobile marketing analysis company Juniper Research. North America and Western Europe will account for 60% of total advertising spending by 2017.

Goss International Names CEO

Goss International Corporation appoints new CEO: Goss International Corporation (“Goss”) announced a restructuring of management. The Board has appointed Mr. Richard Nichols as CEO of the Company, effective immediately, replacing Mr. Jochen Meissner.

Taylor Buys Venture Solutions

Taylor Corp. Acquires Financial Services Communications Firm: Taylor Corp. has reached agreement to acquire Venture Encoding of Fort Worth, TX. Venture will be merged with Corporate Graphics Direct Marketing Solutions, a Taylor affiliate based in Arden Hills, MN, with the new company carrying the name Venture Solutions Inc.

Redwood Investments Buys CSP

Hanley and Wood Reunite Via CSP Information Group Acquisition:
Redwood Investments bought CSP Information Group last week, a b-to-b media company that targets the convenience store and restaurant markets. The portfolio includes four magazines and associated newsletters, websites and events. The deal was brokered by Berkery Noyes, which represented Redwood.

MFSA Changes Name

MFSA Members Approve Name Change to Assn. of Marketing Service Providers: The Mailing & Fulfillment Service Assn. (MFSA), the national trade association for the mailing and fulfillment industry with more than 480 members,  announced during its Annual Conference that the member companies...voted...to change the official name of the association to the Assn. of Marketing Service Providers.

Going Green Joins with Two Sides

Going Green Two Sides Fast Fact #14 (Going Green):

WhatTheyThink’s Going Green has joined forces with Two Sides to help address the “perceptions” that paper destroys forests, that electronic media are “greener” than print and paper, and that recycling is the solution to all environmental ills. 
A study on forestry certification programs (SFI and FSC, that is) published in the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Forestry found that “forest certification prompted substantial changes in practices.

Sappi CWF Machine Down

Since a fire last week, production on Sappi's one machine at its Nijmegen, Netherlands mill, PM 7, which has a capacity of 240,000 tonne/yr of coated woodfree, has been suspended. The fire began in some cabling on the outside of the factory building shortly before 8 PM on July 4. Reparation work is ongoing, but no date has been set for restarting the machine.

Steep Drop in Newsprint Continues

Steep drop in newsprint continues: Steep demand declines in North America and Western Europe, as well as a slowdown in growth from Asia and the introduction of new machines in developing markets, will necessitate the removal of 3.5 million to 4.4 million tonnes of newsprint capacity around the world over the next several years, according to RISI's just-released Global Newsprint Risk of Closure study.

USPS Offers Picture Permit

USPS Picture Permit program now open: The U.S. Postal Service has opened online registration for its Picture Permit option, allowing commercial mailers to include logos, trademarks, brand images and other kinds of marketing designs in the postage information area on mail pieces.

Wicks Group Buys Northstar

Northstar Travel Media Acquired by Wicks Group:  Northstar Travel Media, a leading business-information company serving the travel and meetings industries, has been acquired by the Wicks Group, making it one of the very few successful transactions in traditional b-to-b media in the last several years.

Valassis; 90% of Grocery Retailers Use Circulars

Valasssis Survey Reveals Supermarket Media Preferences:Valassis shared the results of a study indicating that 90 percent of grocery retailers still use weekly circulars as their promotion of choice.

NAPL Webinar: Historic Opportunity in Print

http://www.piworld.com/article/napl-offer-free-webinar-historic-opportunity-printing-industry/1

The National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) invites industry professionals to attend a free educational webinar, titled “Historic Opportunity Awaits the Printing Industry.” It will be led by NAPL President and CEO Joseph P. Truncale, Ph.D., and Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Andrew Paparozzi.

"Self" Introduces New Site

http://www.adweek.com/print/141680

Self  magazine has adopted a new tagline, I Curate My Life. Now, it’s extending that idea to a forthcoming standalone site, Selfcurateyourlook.

The site, which Self is calling a “virtual trunk show,” rolls out in September, the kickoff to the fall fashion season. It will present Selfstaff-selected products and a rotating series of advertisers’ products in sleek, catalogue-style displays.

Magazines Embrace Adding Digital

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/177764/second-screening-print-magazines-embrace-app-comp.html?print

The magazine industry recently emerged from a decade-long period of denial about digital media.

As circulation seizes up and declines and advertisers seem shaky at best about the role of print in their marketing mix, suddenly the periodical industry is all-in for digital, especially apps. Many have used the term “digital do-over” to describe the opportunity to catch the app/tablet/mobile wave that most of them boggled online. And so we are getting a range of magazine editions of the print product as well as new units at companies like Rodale and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia that are churning out lines of apps.

Heidelberg Expands in Asian Market

Heidelberg Successfully Expands Its Business in the Asian Pacific Market: Printers in emerging countries increasingly invest in technology made by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg). In paricular, the market for packaging printing is growing.

Media & Marketing M&A Up

Report: Media and marketing M&A activity increases: Merger and acquisition deals in the media and marketing space totaled 834 in the first half, an increase of 6% over the second half of 2011, according to data released by investment bank Berkery, Noyes & Co. In the same time frame, aggregate deal value increased 27%, to $31.51 billion.