Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Ikea's 2014 Catalogue Released

http://www.hfnmag.com/retail/ikea-unveils-new-catalog-app/
Making everyday moments matter at home is the focus of IKEA’s 2014 catalog, which will debut to the public next month. At a press preview last night, IKEA showed how the new catalog concentrates on design solutions for the home so families can make the most of time spent together, with the theme “All Moments Count.”
2014 marks the 63rd anniversary of the first IKEA catalog. This year, the catalog will be available in 66 printed editions, in 30 languages and in 47 countries/territories. Consumers can request a printed copy of the 2014 catalog at http://www.getmy2014catalog.com.

Investments New Renewable Capacity $2 Trillion by 2030

http://www.swissre.com/media/news_releases/nr_20130725_bloomberg_energy_finance.html
Based on current projections, new renewable power capacity built worldwide between now and 2030 will account for more than USD 2 trillion in total investment. Of this, 75% or 900GW of capacity additions will be in the solar and wind sectors, both onshore and offshore, and over half of this is attributable to Australia, China, France, Germany, the UK and the US.

Renewables to Surpass Gas by 2016

http://www.iea.org/newsroomandevents/pressreleases/2013/june/name,39156,en.html

IEA report sees renewable power increasingly cost-competitive with new fossil-fuel generation, but agency warns against complacency
Power generation from hydro, wind, solar and other renewable sources worldwide will exceed that from gas and be twice that from nuclear by 2016, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today in its second annual Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report (MTRMR).    
According to the MTRMR, despite a difficult economic context, renewable power is expected to increase by 40% in the next five years. Renewables are now the fastest-growing power generation sector and will make up almost a quarter of the global power mix by 2018, up from an estimated 20% in 2011. The share of non-hydro sources such as wind, solar, bioenergy and geothermal in total power generation will double, reaching 8% by 2018, up from 4% in 2011 and just 2% in 2006.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Resolute Mill Spending $30M In New Woodyard

A Resolute Forest Products woodyard update will take place on about three acres of the property. The upgrades will make the mill more economical and competitive. In June, the Canada-based company began building a replacement woodyard at the Augusta facility on Doug Barnard Parkway. The woodyard will likely be operational by September 2014, said Jay Backus, general manager of the Augusta mill.  “It just makes us a much more economical, viable mill,” Backus said. “It improves our competitiveness in the newsprint market. Newsprint is a difficult market right now. We have to keep our costs down to survive.” The new facility will span about 3 acres of the mill’s property and was precipitated by an outdated pulping process. The Augusta mill produces about 400,000 tons of newsprint annually. The company's biggest customers are The Washington Post, Quad/Graphics and other Southeastern newspapers, including The Augusta Chronicle.

G-P/Buckeye Proposed Merger- Firms Recommend Vote "FOR"

Buckeye Technologies Inc. today announced that leading independent proxy advisory firms ISS Proxy Advisory Services and Egan Jones Proxy Services have recommended that Buckeye stockholders vote "FOR" adoption of the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement"), dated April 23, 2013, by and among Buckeye, Georgia-Pacific LLCand GP Cellulose Group, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Georgia-Pacific (the "Purchaser"). The Merger Agreement provides for the merger of the Purchaser with and into Buckeye, with Buckeye surviving the merger as an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Georgia-Pacific. If the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement are completed, Buckeye stockholders will be entitled to receive $37.50 in cash, without interest and subject to any withholding of taxes required by applicable law, for each share of Buckeye common stock. The Merger Agreement is being submitted to a vote at a special meeting of Buckeye stockholders to be held on August 15, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time, at Buckeye's headquarters, 1001 Tillman Street, Memphis Tennessee 38112.

How Forbes Has Stayed Ahead Of The Curve

Innovation is taking over the publishing industry, and big names such as Forbes are at the helm of the change. Over at BtoB Media Business, President and CEO Mike Perlis discusses how Forbes has stayed current in the publishing world for nearly 100 years.  By approaching each day as a “startup” company, the leading authority in business media is able to apply innovation to everyday publishing.  The symbiotic relationship that exists between print and digital publishing can make or break a publication – and Forbes thrives on that synergy.
Listen to Perlis discuss his strategyOpens in a new window.

Finch Paper Appoints National Sales Director

Finch Paper has appointed Rob Ferragina, to National Sales Director. Ferragina reports to Debabrata Mukherjee, President and CEO, Finch Paper. As National Sales Director, Ferragina leads a team of sales executives who are reputed to deliver exceptional, responsive service in the opaque, text and cover, and digital paper markets. Ferragina has over fifteen years of industry experience in the Metro NY area, most recently with Mohawk as Regional Sales Manager, Northeast, with responsibility for sales from Maine to Virginia. Ferragina has also represented Fox River and Fraser in his career. 

Hearst Management Change Up

Hearst Corp.'s magazine with Dr. Mehmet Oz is slowly coming together. Less than a month after naming Alison Brower editor in chief, Hearst will today tap Kristine Welker as the health and lifestyle magazine's vice president, publisher and chief revenue officer. Welker was the founding publisher of CosmoGirl until 2007, a year before it folded. In 2010, she became vice president, chief revenue officer of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, which oversees the Web sites of the publisher's magazines, as well as some digital-only sites, like realbeauty.com. The as yet untitled magazine from Hearst and Oz, the surgeon and television personality, was confirmed to be in the works in June, after weeks of press reports, and will hit newsstands as a pilot twice next year, in the first and second quarters. The launch is similar to those of the Food Network and HGTV magazines, which later expanded to 10 times a year.
Hearst Magazines has hired Todd Haskell away from The New York Times, where he had been group VP-advertising since 2007, to become senior VP and chief revenue officer of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a new position. Mr. Haskell will oversee sales and marketing for Hearst's 24 websites, including both magazine and pure-play digital sites. "Hearst Magazines Digital Media is in growth mode, and Todd's leadership and expertise in digital advertising, publishing and business development will continue the forward momentum," said Michael Clinton, president-marketing and publishing director at Hearst Magazines.

Bloomberg Taps The Atlantic's Smith To Run Media

Bloomberg LP has named Justin Smith CEO of Bloomberg Media Group, the unit that comprises Bloomberg’s television, radio, magazine, conferences and digital businesses, succeeding Andrew Lack, who becomes chairman of the group. Smith joins from Atlantic Media, where he was president and was the key architect of its transformation from a print-centric to a digitally focused publisher. While at Atlantic Media, he oversaw the launch of several new digital titles, including Quartz and Defense One.
In an effusive memo issued Sunday as news about Smith was beginning to circulate, Atlantic Media Chairman David Bradley stated: “Justin will leave us a changed -- and much better -- media company,” adding: “After reflection, I've decided that, rather than appoint a Justin successor, we will let the current leadership continue independent of any reporting structure -- save to me -- and grow to fill the empty spaces Justin's departure leaves behind.” Before joining Atlantic Media in 2007, Smith served as president and publisher of snarky news digest magazine The Week, where he launched the U.S. edition in 2001. 

Boston Herald To Launch Internet Radio

The countdown has begun for 6 a.m. next Monday, Aug. 5, when Boston Herald Radio goes live.
Veteran talk show host Jeff Katz will launch a morning drive news talk show that will lead into 12 hours of live broadcasting each weekday. There will be four shows in all, including “Live from the Newsroom with Jeff Katz,” “Morning Meeting with Jaclyn Cashman and Hillary Chabot,” “The Michael Graham Show” and “Sports Town with Jon 
Meterparel and Jen Royle.” Throughout the broadcast day, streamed at bostonherald.com, the Herald’s news and sports apps and the TuneIn free app, listeners will be news insiders with updates and breaking news reports straight from the Herald newsroom. Herald editors, reporters, columnists and entertainment critics will provide regular commentary and analysis. Boston Herald President and Publisher Patrick J. Purcell said, “Internet radio is exploding and it makes sense that the Herald rounds out our multimedia platform with talk radio programming. It’s perfect synergy. Listeners can call in, take part in ongoing live chats, comment through a Twitter feed, take polls on important topics and react to columns and blogs written by show hosts.
Advertisers will be able to reach Herald radio listeners as well. “The Boston Herald is a very powerful brand in print and online and the addition of Boston Herald Radio adds another platform to engage new audiences,” said Herald Chief Operating Officer and CFO Jeff Magram.

F+W Media Introduces New Website

Interweave, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., the nation’s number one craft media company, enriches crafters worldwide with the launch of a new website, CraftDaily.com. An experience unlike any before, the subscription video website features more than 100 hours of full-length, high-quality, fully-vetted instructional videos. CraftDaily.comOpens in a new window connects artists with the best instructors in the craft world. “We know how valuable the hands-on learning experience is, and our engaged editors, devoted instructors, and passionate crafters are excited to offer deeper content in an online educational format,” says Chad Phelps, Chief Digital Officer forF+W Media. “We have selected leaders in their specialties—already on staff—to teach viewers how to create hand-made products and how to perfect their techniques.” 

Omnicom/Publicis Megamerger

The $35.1 billion monster merger that Omnicom Group and Publicis announced Sunday could send rumblings throughout the digital-advertising landscape. While Google is the world's biggest digital-ad network, and Facebook has shown encouraging gains in mobile advertising, based on its financial results July 25, the specter of OmniPub, as some call it, could eventually change all that. The combined company, expected to be called Publicis Omnicom Groupe, will create an advertising megacorporation that would be the world's biggest provider of advertising.
Publicis has been especially attentive to scooping up digital-ad firms, such as Razorfish and Digitas, establishing it as a fledgling player in that space. Omnicom, meanwhile, has preferred to work with technology companies and build internal web capability. The deal can only cause consternation at Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple and other tech titans fighting for a piece of the multibillion-dollar online advertising pie. For many, success in online ad selling is the Holy Grail for long-term success.


The merger of Publicis and Omnicom is yet another sign that the traditional media and advertising business is being disrupted. When this wave of consolidation is over, there will be just a few major holding companies left. At that point there will be a holding company for each of the top two or three brands in each category (auto, telecom, CPG, beauty, etc.), and then a roiling, vibrant economy of emerging brands, independent agencies and new technologies. The driving force behind holding company consolidation is not the desire to align to the needs of mega-brand clients or to stop the downward pressure on agency fees. If that were the case, holding company shareholders would have demanded this merger years ago.
Publicis and Omnicom are merging because of us. Anyone who has used Facebook, done a search on Google, or watched Netflix instead of buying a local newspaper, using the phone book or watching broadcast television has contributed to this merger. Omnicom CEO John Wren alluded to this when he spoke to journalists yesterday: “We have many new competitors,” he said.

Meredith’s Quiet Collection of Agencies

In recent years, Meredith Corporation, which publishes the magazines Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens, and Fitness, among others, has been aggressively snatching up agencies to create content for advertisers. In the past several months, however, with a shift in executives and strategy, these agencies, each with its own area of focus, have been brought under one roof called Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, or MXM. Meredith is no longer just a magazine company; it’s a marketing company, too. “We retired all the brand names,” said Doug Rozen, MXM’s chief innovation officer. “Over the last year, we created new a leadership team to drive this forward, setting it up to be integrated as a single structure versus eight different independent [agencies].” MXM’s emphasis on high-quality content and the effective distribution of that content through social, digital and mobile. It works with Fortune 500 brands, like Chrysler, NBC and Kraft Foods, to create custom publications or websites, manage social feeds, or develop video for brands to post online or in a store. MXM then distributes content wherever a brand feels it’s best suited: print, Web, email, mobile, offline or social media.

The Magazine Industry In India; Outlook Shuts 3 Mags

The Outlook Group has pulled the plug on three of its licensed international titles: People, Geo and Marie Claire, choosing not to renew licenses that were up, BestMediaInfo reported on Friday. Marie Claire was being published in partnership with French publisher Groupe Marie Claire, People magazine was licensed from Time Inc., while Geo was licensed from Gruner + Jahr (G+J) International, a part of the Bertelsmann group. It’s worth noting that, two years ago, G+J had acquired a majority stake in custom publisher Maxposure, so it does have a magazine presence in India to relaunch Geo with. There appear to be contradictory statements on the reasons for the closure of these magazines. Indranil Roy, President for the Outlook Group told BestMediaInfo that “It has nothing to do with profitability. It’s our business call not to continue with the titles”, while Vinod Mehta, Editorial chairman of the group, told BusinessWorld that the three magazines were losing money because of the huge licensing fees for these three “white elephants” being paid to the foreign title holders. 

New B&N Filings Have No Update On 'Strategic Review'

Barnes & Noble filed its proxy statement and 10-k report with the Securities & Exchange Commission Monday morning, and in the filings provided no update on whether or when Nook Media may be separated from the retail trade group. Referring to the strategic review of a possible split, the 10-K stated that “There can be no assurance that the review will result in a strategic separation or the creation of a stand-alone public company, and there is no timetable for this review.” In the 10-k, B&N repeated what it has said elsewhere in terms of it plans for its physical stores—it will close more stores than it opens. “Management generally believes that the Company’s retail stores are located in attractive geographic markets, and generally does not have a strategy to open retail stores in new geographic markets or to expand the total number of retail stores, and expects to close more retail stores than it opens,” the 10-K read. B&N closed fiscal 2013 with 675 stores. B&N has said it plans to close 15 to 20 outlets this year and open as many as five. Finally, the company released a restatement of results from earlier fiscal years that cuts its loss in fiscal 2012 by about $4 million.

Paper, Making Life Better



USPS To Use Facebook Gimmick To Unveil Stamp

Linn’s Stamp News reports that the US Postal Service plans a slightly gimmicky unveiling for its stamp honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. Instead of releasing the image well in advance, as it used to do, the USPS will reveal the design “pixel by pixel” on its Facebook page. Each time a Facebook member “participates” by allowing their profile photo to be added to a “virtual March on Washington Stamp Mosaic” another pixel of the stamp design will be revealed. The virtual “unveiling” is set to begin next week, and conclude with the official ceremony marking the First Day of Issue in Washington on August 23. Linn’s says that a portion of the artwork (presumably more than just one pixel?!) will be withheld until the ceremony. All of which may explain why the USPS is apparently looking to hire a social media specialist!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Weyerhaeuser Reports Q2 Results

http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/
Weyerhaeuser Company (WY) today reported net earnings to common shareholders of $196 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, for the second quarter. As there were no special items this period, this compares with net earnings before special items of $47 million, or 9 cents per diluted share, for the same period last year. Net sales for the second quarter of 2013 totaled $2.1 billion, compared with net sales of $1.8 billion for the second quarter of 2012.
Net earnings before special items increased fourfold compared with second quarter 2012
Net sales increased approximately 20 percent to $2.1 billion, highest since 2008
Acquired approximately 645,000 acres of unique, high-value timberlands in Washington and Oregon through purchase of Longview Timber LLC.

RISI Names G-P's Hannan CEO of Year

James Hannan, Chief Executive Officer of Georgia-Pacific, has been named the 2013 North American CEO of the Year by RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The award will be presented at the 28th Annual RISI North American Forest Products Conference on October 7-9, 2013, in San Diego, California.
Mr. Hannan was chosen for his leadership, vision and strategic accomplishments in a survey of investment analysts and portfolio managers who cover the forest products industry. Previous North American CEO of the Year winners are Richard Garneau, Resolute Forest Products, in 2012; James Rubright, Rock Tenn, in 2011; and John D. Williams, Domtar, in 2010.

APP Major Stakeholder in 2 Million MTPY Pulp Mill

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/07_26_2013asia_pulp_paper_pulp_mill_indonesia.html
PT Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia Tbk and PT Pindo Deli Pulp and Paper Mills, part of Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP), have completed the acquisition of a 70.58% shareholding (each 35.29% shareholding) in PT. OKI Pulp & Paper Mills, a company currently developing a pulp and paper mill in South Sumatra, Indonesia on July 11, 2013.
Once the construction is completed, the new mill will cover 2,600 hectares in Ogan Komiring Ilir in Palembang, South Sumatra, with an additional 200 hectares for the development of a port. Civil works are starting this year, with the first phase of the commercial production is expected to begin in 2016. The new mill is expected to produce around 2 million ADT (Air-Dried-Tonnes) of pulp per year.

Cabela's Inc. Reports Q2 Results

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100913188
For the quarter, total revenue increased 20.7% to $756.8 million; Retail store revenue increased 25.8% to $483.9 million; Direct revenue increased 13.7% to $180.1 million; and Financial Services revenue increased 11.7% to $88.6 million. Comparable store sales increased 10.5%. For the quarter, net income increased 31.5% to $44.5 million compared to $33.9 million in the year ago quarter, and earnings per diluted share were $0.62 compared to $0.47 in the year ago quarter. Year to date cash flows from operations were $183 million compared to $70 million for the same period a year ago.

5 Direct Marketing Retargeting

http://www.retailonlineintegration.com/article/direct-marketing-retargeting-best-practices-boost-conversion/1
As any retailer knows, bad retargeting is nothing more than following abandoned consumers around the internet wasting money on irrelevant media buys. When done well, however, retargeting can provide great conversion rates at a lower cost per acquisition. 
The most profitable retargeting efforts focus on consumers who have either viewed products but haven't yet made a purchase or who did make a purchase and are likely to buy another related product. In either case, the overall strategy is to attract the consumer at the right time for the right cost.

Meredith Reports FY 2013 Results

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/meredith-delivers-over-15-percent-120000174.html
Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP; www.meredith.com), the leading media and marketing company serving 100 million American women, today reported fiscal 2013 earnings per share grew 19 percent to $2.74.  Excluding special items, fiscal 2013 earnings per share increased 16 percent to $2.91.  Total revenues rose 7 percent to $1.5 billion, and advertising revenues increased 7 percent to $824 million.

Valassis Reports Q2 Results

http://whattheythink.com/news/64631-valassis-q2-profit-rises-revenue-declines/
Valassis today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013.  Second-quarter 2013 revenues were $495.9 million, a decrease of 8.2% from $540.2 million in the prior year quarter. This decrease was due primarily to an anticipated decline in revenues in the Neighborhood Targeted segment resulting from the change in certain client contracts to a fee-based media placement model, as well as the discontinuance of the sampling and solo direct mail products.  Without the effect of these changes, second-quarter 2013 adjusted revenues* increased 1.2%.
Second-quarter 2013 net earnings were $26.8 million, which included $0.9 million net of tax, of restructuring costs, an increase of 23.5% from $21.7 million in the prior year quarter, which included $10.7 million net of tax, of restructuring costs and asset impairments resulting from the exit of the newspaper polybag advertising and sampling and solo direct mail businesses and other non-recurring charges. Excluding these restructuring costs, asset impairments and other non-recurring charges, second-quarter 2013 adjusted net earnings* were $27.7 million  and second-quarter 2012 adjusted net earnings* were $32.4 million.

Deluxe Reports Q2 Results

http://whattheythink.com/news/64632-deluxe-corporate-sees-revenue-growth-q2/
Deluxe Corporation (NYSE: DLX) announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013. A reconciliation between earnings per share on a GAAP basis and adjusted earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis is provided after the Forward-Looking Statements discussion.
Revenue of $381.4 million was at the high end of the range in the prior outlook and adjusted diluted EPS exceeded the high end of the range in the prior outlook driven by strong operating performance in Small Business Services and Financial Services and lower medical and performance-based compensation costs.

MediaPost Mag Bag

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/205340/mag-bag-penton-acquires-aviation-week.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mediadailynews+%28MediaPost+|+MediaDailyNews%29&utm_content=Netvibes#axzz2a5dKHkNy
Penton Media has acquired Aviation Week and all its related assets from McGraw Hill Financial, the companies announced Wednesday. The acquisition includes Aviation Week’s events, data, digital and media products. Terms of the all-cash deal were not disclosed. 
Aviation Week reaches an audience of around 1.2 million aviation professionals around the world, according to McGraw Hill. The acquisition complements Penton’s Aviation Group, which includes Air Transport World, SpeedNews, Aircraft Bluebook, Air Charter Guide, Airportdata.com and Ac-U-KWIK.
Last week McGraw Hill Financial announced that Harold McGraw III will be stepping down from his position as CEO effective November 20 of this year. He is being replaced by Douglas Peterson, who currently serves as president of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service.
The Alliance for Audit Media (formerly known as the Audit Bureau of Circulations) is offering smaller publishers a new, streamlined audit option that allows them to choose what basic metrics they would like reported, according to Folio:. The new offering is only available to publishers of titles with circulations under 100,000.
Daniel Strauss has been named general manager for digital at The Hollywood Reporter.
Becca Gildred has been promoted to marketing director for Down East Enterprise, the publisher of Down East: The Magazine of Maine, Shooting Sportsman and Fly Rod & Reel.
 

Nielsen: Global Ad Spend

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/global-ad-spend--display-ads-see-double-digit-growth-in-q1.html
According to Nielsen’s quarterly Global AdView Pulse report, the first quarter of 2013 held few surprises for media sectors—continuing trends established in recent years. Television remained the dominant media type in terms of advertising investments (with 59% media share and 3.5% global growth), and it appears that TV will maintain this position at least for the short term. TV advertising, however, was not immune to the economic problems in Europe in Q1, leading to a 2.9 percent decrease in this region.
Decreases in print advertising continued slowly, as both spending in magazines and newspapers both declined in the first quarter (-2.8% and -4.7%, respectively). Newspaper ad spend decreased in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, while magazine ad spending decreased in Europe, Asia-Pacific.

Condé Nast Launches Teen Vogue Channel

http://www.thevideoink.com/breaking-news/conde-nast-launches-teen-vogue-channel/#.UfLG2lOYyKx
Conde Nast has made a big bet in online video this year. To date, the publisher’s entertainment division has launched video channels for some of its top magazine brands including Glamour, GQ, Wired, Vogue, and most recently, Vanity Fair. Today the company adds to its growing video network with the launch of the Teen Vogue channel, which will focus on pop culture on beauty/fashion programming for teenage audiences.