Subject: December 20, 2006 -- Postal Reform/Fulfillment/Direct Mail

From: "Circulation Management" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:59:36 -0500

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Your Circulation News >> Wednesday, December 20, 2006

IN THIS ISSUE

NEWS
Postal Reform Bill—Major Changes
Fulfillment Bureau Survey News
MySpace Moves Into Print
FTC Grants Petition on Abandoned Calls

BRIEFS
Consumer Marketing Loses Staff at Time Inc.
Internship Program for B-to-B
Conde Nast Social Network for Teen Girls
STUDY: Direct Mail More Effective Than Web, E-mail
VNU Announces Major Job Cuts
Working Mother Awards Ad Moms

FROM OUR READERS

MEETINGS & EVENTS

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NEWS

Current Postal Law vs. Postal Reform Bill—Major Changes

By Kristina Joukhadar

The new Postal Reform Bill, signed into law last week, has no effect on the pending rate case. In addition, another rate case could be initiated within one year of the bill’s enactment. According to David Strauss, ABM legal counsel, the Postal Service “will have a strong incentive to take advantage of that provision in order to get its rates as high as it can before the price cap regimen kicks in.”

Here are two of the major provisions of the new bill...

[MORE]

Preliminary Findings of the Fulfillment Bureau Survey

The preliminary findings of CM’s 2006 Fulfillment Service Bureau Survey, due to be published in the January/February issue of the print magazine, show that while the number of magazines handled by the bureaus has increased by 2 percent—and the total number of records across all titles is up 1 percent—the number of records for controlled titles is showing a substantial decrease...

[MORE]

MySpace Moves Into Print

By Chandra Johnson-Greene

MySpace has announced a deal to turn an edition of UK style magazine Marmalade over to user generated content.

In an effort to find talented people who use MySpace to promote themselves, Marmalade’s March issue will feature cover-to-cover MySpace content submitted by users, who can submit their work at www.myspace.com/marmalademag by Jan. 26.

“Through our partnership with Marmalade, we hope to translate this DIY quality into print and hand the reins over to undiscovered creatives with fresh ideas,” Jamie Kantrowitz, senior VP of marketing and content at MySpace Europe, told MediaGuardian.co.uk.

[MORE]

FTC Grants DMA Petition on Abandoned Calls

The Federal Trade Commission has granted four petitions to temporarily extend its current policy of safeharbor provisions for the call abandonment portion of the Telemarketing Sales Rule for telemarketers using prerecorded messages.

In October, the FTC denied an industry petition to add a proposed new safe harbor to the call abandonment provisions of the TSR that would have permitted telemarketers to deliver prerecorded messages to consumers with whom the seller has an established business relationship. The FTC also offered a proposal to amend the TSR to prohibit the use of prerecorded messages without the express written consent of the consumer...

[MORE]

BRIEFS

Consumer Marketing Staff Cuts at Time Inc.

It was reported this week that Time Inc. has cut 27 mid- and junior-level employees from its consumer marketing department. These latest layoffs are in addition to the 400-some-odd people who have already lost their jobs at the company within the past year.

It is unfortunate that the department has been cut back at a time when the major consumer marketing work on the Time Inc. Web sites, which recently came out from behind the AOL gate, most need the time and attention of the consumer marketing experts at the company.

Internship Program for B-to-B

The Business Press Educational Foundation (BPEF) is offering college students summer and year-round internships at select business media companies.

Internships are focused on both editorial and non-editorial roles at top b-to-b companies that include Crain Communications, McGraw Hill, Reed Business Information and Lebhar-Friedman among others.

The program accepts full-time college sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students with a GPA of at least 3.0. A background in journalism, media and/or communications is preferred. Internships can be paid or for school credit upon approval.

To learn more about the program and how your company can be involved, visit www.bpeinterhips.org.

Conde Nast Creates Social Network for Teen Girls

CondeNet, the digital division of Conde Nast, is planning to launch Flip.com, a new Web site for teenage girls that will offer them a forum to create “flip books”: multimedia scrapbooks of photos, homemade music videos and other postings.

The site will have online clubs with some accepting a limited number of members, and users will be able to comment on other girls’ flip books. Sarah Chubb, president of Conde Net, told WSJ.com that the company’s mission is to “be in the digital space what we are in the magazine space.”

Chubb says the company has hired moderators to scrutinize and remove offensive content, and has refused to sell banner adspace on individual flip books.

“It didn’t feel right to us to do that to a girl’s work,” said Chubb.

Conde Nast's decision to foray into the social networking site world comes at time when the teen market is moving away from traditional magazines. Time’s Teen People and Hachette’s ELLEGirl both folded their print versions earlier this year, but maintained their Web presence.

STUDY: Direct Mail More Effective Than Web, E-mail

According to Philadelphia-area marketing executives polled at a recent seminar hosted by W.A. Wilde Co., a direct marketing fulfillment company, direct mail is more effective than online marketing.

When asked to name the most successful marketing tool used this year, 50 percent of the survey respondents cited traditional mail; Web-related marketing was cited as the second most successful, and e-mail marketing was ranked third. In addition, close to 50 percent of those surveyed said they plan to increase their marketing budgets next year.

VNU Announces Major Job Cuts

VNU announced this week that it will lay off as many as 4,000 of its 42,000 global employees in a cost-cutting reorganization following the company’s buyout by a private-equity consortium earlier this year.

Savings will be used to fund various new initiatives including the NeilsenConnect service, which will combine consumer, retail and media information to provide new insights into marketing effectiveness; and Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement, which will track digital media and personal video devices.

Working Mother Awards Ad Moms

In partnership with Advertising Women of New York (AWNY), Working Mother magazine has announced its choices for the 2007 Advertising Working Mothers of the Year.  Now in its third year, the awards honor 20 of the most successful mothers in advertising and media.

The winners were selected by the editors of Working Mother magazine based on their successful work/life balance, strength as role models, generosity as mentors and positive influence within their communities.

The winners will be honored at a luncheon on Thursday, February 1, 2007, at the Hilton Hotel and Towers in New York City.  (www.awny.org, (212) 221-7969)

FROM OUR READERS

Ms. Johnson-Greene:

Just read your piece on John Harrington's study of how low price magazines are "threatening the financial well being of the magazine distribution channel."

While much of what you reported makes sense (and historically has), it is not always the case.

John has a lot of solid experience and data concerning the single copy industry. And he's no fool. But come on, what's the financial impact of low cover priced magazines with high sales volume and strong sales efficiency (if there are any left)?

Once upon a time (this is no fairy tale) there was a little magazine called TV Guide with a tiny cover price that sure put a lot of profits in the wholesalers' pockets. While that magazine and the distribution industry has changed profoundly, the concept of a profitable low ticket magazine should still work...

[MORE]

MEETINGS & EVENTS

January
Jan. 10, ABM Thought Leadership Breakfast Series - The Identity Game: Custome Media Builds Brands, New York, NY http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com

Jan. 16, XYZ Club Winter Event - Networking Seminar and Luncheon; Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York, NY. http://www.xyzclubinc.com

Jan. 17, FMA Morning Seminar: Fulfillment Solutions for Savvy/Complex Marketing Strategies; Luncheon Panel: Automatic Renewals; The Princeton Club, New York, NY http://www.fmanational.org

Jan. 17, AMA Training Series: Conjoint Analysis and Discreet Choice Modeling: Introduction,  Comparison and Evolution, Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, Tampa, FL http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

Jan. 18, ABM's Tri-State Taxation Conference, FAE Conference Center, New York, NY. http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com

Jan. 22-24, Consumer Marketing Today, MPA Conference Center, New York, NY http://www.magazine.org

Jan. 28-30, ABM's International LCT Show 2007, Venetian Resort & Hotel, Las Vegas, NV http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com

Jan. 29, AMA Training Series: Managing Customer Loyalty, San Francisco, CA http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

February
Feb. 5, AMA Training Series: Conjoint Analysis and Discreet Choice Modeling: Introduction,  Comparison and Evolution, Hyatt Regency Austin on Town Lake, Austin, TX http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

Feb 8., AMA Training Series: Marketing ROI Techniques: Improving Campaign Measurements, Analytics and Profitability, Hotel Valencia Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

Feb. 12, AMA Training Series: Managing Customer Loyalty, Las Vegas, NV http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

[MORE]

Contact us
Red 7 Media, Inc.
10 Norden Place
Norwalk, CT 06855
Tel. (203) 854-6730
Fax: (203) 854-6735

Editors:
Kristina Joukhadar, Managing Editor
Chandra Johnson-Greene, Associate Editor

Advertising Inquiries:
Tony Silber, Publisher
Gina Gavish, Advertising Director
John Ellertson, Regional Sales Manager
Karen Putrimas, Sr. Sales Manager, Directory Group

Exhibit & Sponsorship Inquiries:
Kelly Koenig, Dir. Exhibit & Sponsorship

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