Canadian Auto Workers Vote for Merger with CEP

http://www.wboc.com/story/19345830/caw-delegates-vote-in-favour-of-new-union-proposal?clienttype=printable

Nearly 1,000 CAW delegates have voted unanimously in favour of moving forward with creating a new union with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union (CEP).

The vote is the first of two before the new union can be formed. CEP will be voting on the new union proposal during its convention October 14-17 in Quebec City.

"This new union has the potential to change the way workers are represented in this country, bringing about stronger democracy in the workplace and greater community involvement," said CAW President Ken Lewenza, following the vote. "This union will pose a serious challenge to the unrepresentative, unfair economic and political systems workers now find themselves caught in."

Hearst Names Exec. VP, Sales & Marketing

http://www.hearst.com/

Jeffrey W. Hamill has been promoted to executive vice president, sales and marketing for Hearst Integrated Media, the corporate sales and marketing unit of Hearst Magazines, today announced Michael A. Clinton, the company’s president of marketing and publishing director. Previously, Hamill was senior vice president, advertising sales and marketing for the magazine division of Hearst Corporation since January 1988. The promotion is effective immediately and he will continue to report to Clinton.

Hearst UK Reports ABC Figures

http://www.hearst.co.uk/magazines/011-653-Hearst-Magazines-UK-Unveils-Jan-June-2012-ABC-Results-For-Print-amp-Digital-Editions.html

Hearst Magazines UK, Hearst Corporation’s principal business in the UK, has announced its second set of ABC figures for both print and digital editions.
Hearst Magazines UK is one of the biggest media players in the country, reaching more than 8.3 million adults in print and 27 million monthly unique users online.**
Most notably, Women’s Health, which launched in February this year, has beaten all expectations with a record debut of more than 100,000 copies within only six months. This is the highest debut figure from any monthly glossy since 2005.

Forbes' Social Media Strategy Boosts Magazine

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lewisdvorkin/2012/08/15/inside-forbes-how-a-social-media-strategy-can-work-for-a-magazine-too/print/

Last month, Forbes.com had a record 31.5 million unique visitors, as measured by Omniture. That was up from 18.5 million a year earlier. Our 1,000 knowledgeable writers — staff reporters, freelance journalists, authors, academics and topic experts — published nearly 8,000 posts, frequently 400 a day, across verticals like technology, investing, business, entrepreneurs and leadership.

Now, check out the newsstand numbers just above. In the first six months of this year, FORBES magazine single copy sales rose 4.3% from the same period a year earlier, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. By comparison, industry-wide magazine newsstand sales fells 9% in the same period and sales for publications in our direct competitive set dropped 15%.

"Working Mother" Expands Internationally

http://www.foliomag.com/2012/working-mother-takes-media-event-portfolios-global

With events making up at least a third of its revenue, Working Mother, part of Bonnier Corporation’s Working Mother Network, is expanding its business internationally to include both b-to-b and b-to-c events, and new printed products in the Middle East. 

PRC Issues Opinion on USPS Reduced Hours

http://www.dmnews.com/prc-clears-usps-to-reduce-hours-of-retail-service/article/255880/

The U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) oversight body, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), released on August 23 its advisory opinion on the nationwide Post Office Structure Plan (POStPlan), which allows the USPS to begin implementing reduced hours of retail service at approximately 13,000 locations, says PRC chairman Ruth Goldway.

Operating hours will remain unchanged at most post offices, and fewer than 100 locations will see an increase. Mail and parcel delivery times are unaffected by the POStPlan changes, which focus on reducing post office retail operating costs without violating Title 39, USPS's legislative mandate for comprehensive nationwide service.

AF&PA Reports July Ships

http://www.afandpa.org/

According to the report, total printing-writing paper shipments decreased 3 percent last month compared to July 2011.  Shipments of coated mechanical papers posted the only year-over-year increase among the four major grades.  U.S. purchases (demand) of printing-writing papers also decreased by 4 percent in July.  Additional key findings include:
Shipments of coated mechanical papers increased compared to July 2011 – the third such year-over-year increase in 2012.
Shipments of coated free sheet papers reached a new high for the year but still decreased slightly year-over-year.
Shipments of uncoated free sheet papers were down year-over-year, the fifth consecutive year-over-year decrease.
Uncoated mechanical paper shipments continue the downward trend with sixteen consecutive month year-over-year decreases.

Catalyst Announces Newsprint Price Increase

Canadian papermaker Catalyst, which has the largest production capacity on the North American West Coast, has told customers that it plans to increase the price of newsprint on October 1.

O'Neill Resigns from Great Northern

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/08/21/business/great-northern-paper-director-of-operations-abruptly-resigns/?ref=latest

Everett O’Neill abruptly resigned as director of operations at Great Northern Paper Co. LLC on Monday, company officials said Tuesday.

Informally regarded as the mill’s manager, O’Neill’s resignation came without any explanation and as the mill gears up to hire 37 employees who will help restart the mill’s No. 5 paper machine next month.

PBGC to Assume SP Newsprint Pension Plans

http://www.pionline.com/article/20120821/DAILYREG/120829971/pbgc-to-assume-sp-newsprint-pension-plans

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will take over two pension plans for SP Newsprint Co. LLC, Greenwich, Conn., as the company goes through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the PBGC announced Tuesday.

According to bankruptcy court documents, a group of lenders is planning a “stalking horse” bid for the company. A hearing to approve that bid is set for Sept. 4. The new buyers are not assuming the SP Newsprint pension plans, according to a PBGC news release.

PBGC officials estimate the two pension plans — the SP Newsprint Co. Pension Plan and the SP Newsprint Co. Union Pension Plan — are 49% funded, with $74.4 million in assets and $150.7 million in liabilities. The PBGC will cover $73 million of the $76.3 million shortfall.

Catalogs Remain Key Tool for Online Merchants

Catalogs Remain Key Tool for Online Merchants: According to Multichannel Marketing Magazine's 2012-13 Catalog Outlook Survey, online merchants continue to embrace catalogs as part of their effort to effectively market and increase sales.

Catalogs remain the top prospecting tool of merchants with 71.7% of all respondents plan to use catalogs for prospecting.

Litle Reports State-by-State Direct Response Spending

http://www.dmnews.com/litle-co-finds-state-by-state-variance-in-direct-response-spending/article/255701/

Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii, and Nevada are the most active states for consumer direct response spending. The least active are Oregon, Indiana, Tennessee, and Michigan, according to payment processing company Litle & Co., which released its findings on state-by-state consumer direct response spending on August 22.

GPO/Apple Agreement to Sell Federal eBooks

http://www.piworld.com/article/government-printing-office-gpo-teams-up-apple-sell-federal-ebooks/1

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has signed an agreement with Apple Inc. to sell Federal eBooks. Titles are available in eBook format for the iPad, eReaders, PCs, and Macs when running the iTunes Store app.

Carat Lowers Global Ad Forecast, US Unchanged

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/181458/carat-global-ad-spend-forecast-dips-us-holds.html?print

Carat, the flagship media agency of London-based Aegis Group, has downgraded its global ad spending forecasts for both 2012 and 2013. The agency cited sluggish growth in developed markets as one reason for the downgrade.
In the U.S., however, the agency did not downgrade its forecast. Instead, it maintained an estimate of 4.9% growth for 2012, while modestly upgrading the outlook for 2013 to 5.3% from the previously forecast 4.2%.

Bonnier Creates Accelerator for Startups

http://adage.com/print/236828

The accelerator, called Bonnier Innovation Lab, is asking for applications from companies trying to change the way content is created, distributed or consumed. It will select four to receive at least $25,000 in seed funding as well as services and support in areas such as public relations, e-commerce, web hosting and human relations. The four startups will also participate in a 14-week program at Bonnier's Boulder, Colo., office to go over topics such as content strategy, audience development, search engine optimization, social media, product development cycles and investor relations.

Williams-Sonoma Global Expansion

http://www.financialpost.com/markets/news/Williams+Sonoma+Announces+Sydney+Australia+First+Company+Owned+Global/7123393/story.html

Williams-Sonoma, Inc., the North America-based retailer that specializes in high-quality products for the home, today announced that it has signed a lease for approximately 22,000 square feet of retail space to house four of its iconic brands, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and West Elm at the newly constructed Exchange Building in Sydney, Australia, at Bondi Junction. The four stores, currently slated to open in early fiscal 2013, are the first retail locations outside of North America to be owned and operated by the retailer as part of its overall global expansion strategy.

USPS Reports Q3 2012 Loss

USPS reports $5.2 billion Q3 net loss: The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) reported a Q3 net loss of $5.2 billion on August 8, with $3.1 billion attributable to refunding retiree health benefits, acting CFO Stephen Masse said in an earnings call. The Q3 report covered expenses from April 1 to June 30.

Inspector General; USPS Wasted $1.2 Million on Stamp Decision

Simpsons Stamps Wasted $1.2 Million for Postal Service: Someone at the U.S. Postal Service guessed that commemorative stamps featuring TV cartoon character Homer Simpson would be twice as popular as those of Elvis Presley. In a move that wasted $1.2 million in printing costs, the Postal Service produced 1 billion of “The Simpsons” stamps. It sold 318 million.
The inspector general criticized the process the service uses to decide how many stamps to produce, saying it’s unscientific and too much of a judgment call....
The Postal Service, in a response to the report, said it already addressed the problem by creating the “forever” stamp, which can be used to mail a letter any time in the future.

CMO Confidence Falls

CMO confidence in U.S. economy slumps: Chief marketing officers are less optimistic about the U.S. economy than they were six months ago, according to a survey conducted by Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

PrintCity Releases “Print: Seen! Lean & Green”

PrintCity Releases Print Edition of “Green” Industry Reference Book (Going Green):
The new industry reference book, Print: Seen! Lean & Green, is now available in either PDF or print form—a dual distribution strategy that reflects one of the book’s basic themes, that print is one choice for the dissemination of content among many in an evolving media mix.

Presstek to be Acquired

Presstek to Be Acquired by Affiliate of American Industrial Partners: Presstek Inc., a leading supplier of digital offset printing solutions to the printing and communications industries, has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which it would be acquired by MAI Holdings, an entity affiliated with American Industrial Partners Capital Fund IV.

PPPC Reports Supercalendered Ships

The Pulp & Products Council reported North American SC-A/A+ shipments fell -31.7% in July as compared to the same month last year.  Demand declined -19.5%, but imports jumped +38.4%.  Supercalendered papers, including SC-A/SC-A+ and SC-B/SNC+, shipments were down -29.7%, demand fell -22.1% and imports grew +40.8%. The operating rate was 94%.

Global Pulp Ships Steady in July

Global pulp deliveries were nearly unchanged in July, inching down 0.1% from the previous month to 3.452 million tonnes, according to Pulp and Paper Products Council (PPPC) data.

Shipments were 6.3% higher than a year earlier, up from 3.248 million tonnes in July 2011.

Consumer Advocate; Problems with Post Hawkesbury Deal

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/08/21/ns-consumer-advocate-newpage.html

The province's consumer advocate says he thinks the deal to help save the paper mill in Port Hawkesbury could add between $2 million and $7 million to the electrical bills of other Nova Scotians.

John Merrick said the current plan has ratepayers helping to pay the final costs associated with starting a biomass facility at the paper mill and it's unfair to ask other Nova Scotians to help carry the deal.

"This deal in one very important aspect, puts [more of the] load onto other ratepayers and that's not what a load retention rate is supposed do," Merrick said.

"Nintendo Power" Shuttered

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/08/source-nintendo-power-magazine-to-cease-publication/

Gamers of a certain age likely remember the days when their main fix of information about new and upcoming video games came in the form of the monthly Nintendo Power magazine that was delivered directly to their mailbox. That experience is set to become yet another relic of a past era, as Ars Technica has learned that Future Publishing is planning to stop publishing the magazine.

Hearst's "Seventeen" Partners with mulu

http://www.dmnews.com/seventeencom-launches-social-commerce-initiative/article/255475/

Seventeen.com, a Hearst Digital Marketing property, introduced on Aug. 21 a new social commerce initiative with partner mulu. Visitors will now be invited to make content-relevant purchases through a “muluBox” recommendation gadget.

Outlook for Ad Spend Positive

Outlook for Ad Spend Positive for Rest of 2012: The outlook for advertising spending is positive for the remainder of 2012, thanks to political advertising along with media buyers spreading their buys to available venues, according to a new STRATA Survey.

USPS Tips for Direct Mail

Direct Mail Success Tips From USPS: Direct mail spending rose to $21 billion in 2011. Up 2.9 percent from 2010, according to the Magna Advertising Group, direct mail is one of the largest advertising channels for U.S. businesses.
“Direct mail creates a one-on-one connection that’s hard for other media channels to match,” says Tom Foti, manager, Direct Mail and Periodicals. “The average household receives only two pieces of direct mail a day compared with 157 emails. It lets you incorporate coupons, reply cards, mobile barcodes — such as QR codes — URLs and other response mechanisms. Direct mail is a workhorse for generating leads, traffic and sales.”

Hanley Wood Names Executives

Hanley Wood announces executive changes: Hanley Wood, which targets the housing and construction industries, has named Christopher Veator as president of Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. He succeeds Andrew Reid, who was promoted to the newly created position of president-digital and strategic development.