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A Reader's Question: How Can We Avoid Having the Digital Part of Our Audience Ignored by a Circulation Audit?

Posted on Thursday, July 01, 2010 at 7:50 PM

Q. Perhaps you can explain a way out of a circulation problem we're having. Our publication is audited by ABC, and I'm having trouble getting them to count all of our paid audience. We have a breaking news section that is very popular. In fact, our reader research tells that almost 20 percent of our subscribers get the magazine just for that feature. Most read nothing else. Two years ago, we moved that content online, password protected, and removed it from the print content to better serve the readers. This has been very well received. Many of those breaking news readers have asked about opting out of the print portion because they don't need it anymore. In response, we started offering that option. So here's my dilemma. The size and profile of our readership remains the same. But, as the 20 percent who have only been interested in the breaking news opt out of the print copies, according to ABC rules, apparently our rate base is declining. But, of course, it is not.

A. First of all, I wish to congratulate you on your use of an adaptive strategy with your breaking news section. What you've done is a good example of delivering different parts of your magazine via the most appropriate channels.

We described your circulation audit dilemma to ABC senior vice president for communications and strategic planning Neal Lulofs. He offers a couple of suggestions. The first is that you consider your online breaking news section as a non-replica edition, which would be reported in Paragraph 1 of the ABC reports. Lulofs adds, "…this magazine could easily explain to its advertiser partners where the digital edition is reported and how its audience is not declining based on the new distribution strategy by pointing out the data on an ABC report." His other suggestion is that you "use an ABC Multimedia Report that includes website traffic activity, such as unique users and page impressions in Paragraph 1A. The magazine could even opt to separate out its breaking news section and give more detailed statistics on the type of readers visiting this area of the website that potential advertisers may find helpful when creating their media plans."

So, there doesn't seem to be a problem in getting your breaking news readers reported. What's left comes down to whether they are reported as part of your rate base. Lulofs points out that claiming a rate base is optional. One remedy would be to stop claiming a rate base and simply report your audience size in its various dimensions.

I can understand why you might not want to do that, though. A rate base is in effect your guarantee to advertisers about the size of your audience. Lulofs suggests that in a unified print edition or its digital replica, ads are presented in "an editorial environment that encourages ad readership." That seems to imply that the "encouragement" exists only if fairly identical ad and edit contents are all bundled, whether in print or digital packages.

You present an interesting example of the inapplicability of that concept. If up to 20 percent of your readers read the print edition for the breaking news section and nothing more, there isn't much of an "environment of encouragement" to read ads in other parts of the magazine. Over the years, studies of various magazines have shown that through-the-book readership is typically less than 100 percent. There can be considerable variance from publication to publication. And, what's to say that in your digital breaking news section, there can't be content or links that could actually encourage ad readership either in the print part of your magazine or its digital replica?

The idea that a magazine is a spatially unified collection of advertising and editorial represents a bygone era, an old business paradigm. More and more, magazines will be reinventing themselves. Some of a magazine's content may be delivered in print, some online, some by email. Each is a vital piece of what adds up to be a solitary magazine brand. The components aren't separate editions, they're parts of the whole. Thinking otherwise seems to be paradigmatically anchored to the past.

Circulation auditing rules that don't take this into account will tend to favor a status quo based on the print model. It seems to me that it is not valid for an auditing organization to impose that. It places forward-looking publishers at a disadvantage. An auditing organization should count and certify audience and rate base in whatever form a publisher may have aggregated it. Telling publishers what is or is not audience or rate base would seem to be outside the franchise of an auditing organization. We'll send ABC a copy of this article with the request that they consider updating their notion of what constitutes a magazine in this day and age.

(Note: More on this topic will appear in the forthcoming June issue of STRAT Newsletter. Look for "Digital Readers: Second-Class Citizens?" by research editor Meredith L. Dias.)

Publication Dysfunction

Posted on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 4:58 PM

So this guy asks me what can he do to improve the fortunes of the local magazine he acquired. He bought it nearly a year ago when it was sold off by a downsizing chain. The publication had been a nonperforming asset for the chain. In this economy, it was a high-risk acquisition for the new owner. But given the McPublication approach many chains have used to operate their properties, it was reasonable to assume there is much that can be done with this publication to change its fortunes for the better.

I conducted an analysis of what the new owner had been doing. What I found offers some lessons for the operator of any publication -- ranging from a local magazine or newspaper, to one on a national or international scale.

Here is what I found:

1. The owner recognized there was not enough advertising potential in the limited geographical area the publication had served. The publication's name was tied to that location. To pave the way for expanding the territory, the owner changed the name. That was a good move. But he blew it. The new name was so generic-sounding (I won't mention it here) that the publication might as well've been called "A Magazine." Surely, it would have been better to have chosen a new name with some affinity to the larger territory that he wanted to serve, or to have at least focus-group tested his choice against alternatives.

2. This is a print publication, with no discernable Web presence. Circulation is free, with bulk distribution being made to local retailers and other public locations. There's no hard and fast data on how many copies actually are read. There is no means for producing a demographic and psychographic profile of readers. There is no data on the spending propensities and proclivities of the readers, whoever they are.

3. While content is being produced by experienced, professional journalists, there is no mechanism for finding out what readers are actually interested in and which stories resonate with them.

4. No methodical assessment has been made of the advertising market. As a result there is no intelligent basis for targeting market segments or for aggregating an audience that would be a good match for as-yet-unidentified hot segments of the ad market.

The bottom-line of my analysis of this publication is that it is dysfunctional. That means that the reason the publication is not achieving greater success is because of the way in which the publication itself operates.

This publication needs to make its money by selling advertising space. Yet it has only a superficial understanding of the ad market. That in turn makes it impossible to make intelligent decisions about how to aggregate an audience that would be productive for the advertisers. In turn that makes it impossible to know what kind of content will be successful in attracting and sustaining the interest of the desired readers. And of course that leaves completely undefined the matter of how best to circulate the publication, including the question of what should be in print and what online.

When confronted with this analysis, what did the owner have to say? He replied that he had read about all this "theoretical kind of stuff" years ago. But right now what he needs is someone who knows how to sell advertising.

What's wrong with his response?

First of all, he does not seem to realize that advertising space in a publication has no intrinsic value. The space itself is virtually worthless. It only acquires value when it performs a real service for the advertiser. And usually, that means connecting the advertiser's message with a consumer base that is inclined to buy.

And second, even if the owner did find "someone who knows how to sell advertising," it would be only a matter of time before advertisers would discover that the money they were putting into advertising in this publication is not bearing fruit.

The business approach being used by this owner is one that I call "blundering through." Instead of taking the kind of strategic approach described above, i.e., starting with a methodical analysis of the ad market, and finishing with the design of a circulation plan, this guy has started with the last step. He's picked a method of circulation. His choice was simply one of convenience and cost containment. The result is that readers are picked somewhat randomly and without knowledge of their interests. That leaves editorial functioning in a vacuum. And advertisers, well, they're left with a veritable boondoggle opportunity for spending their ad money with this publication.

The "blundering through" method of publication management can sometimes actually be successful. At times when the economy is supercharged, publications that are so managed can be seen succeeding. But when the going gets tough, those publications are usually the first to fall.

Now that the worst of the recession seems to be behind us, it is time to look seriously at where you will go from here. Having survived the crisis, what can you now do to regain strength?

My recommendation is that you make a frank assessment of your business plans and strategies. Are there any elements of the "blundering through" method present? If so, now is the time to rethink them. Take a more analytic look at the external opportunities that are before you, and follow a strategy-based path in devising new approaches. Rid your publication of dysfunction, and you'll have a surer chance of achieving new success.

Get Ready for a Comeback!

Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 3:41 PM

Priorities are now shifting from how to cope with the economic crisis to how to make a comeback.

Most of you out there are probably in one of two categories: The first includes those publications that held their own -- or even did better -- during the recession. Yes, there really are publications that actually improved their revenues during the tough times! The other category consists of those of you whose fortunes faded as the economy fell deeper into recession. Some of you had to reduce staff, reduce pages, and reduce expectations. You've had to deal with a lot of painful choices.

Regardless of which category you're in, and regardless of whether this recession looks to you like it's ending or not, you need to start focusing on making a comeback. Those who experienced little or no hardship may be thinking, "There's no need for a comeback, we're still good." But your competitors may be preparing for a comeback. Competition is bound to be getting stiffer, and you've got to prepare for that.

On the other hand, if you're in a place from which you need to make a real comeback yourself, now is the time to start planning your return.

A New Landscape

It's important to realize that things aren't simply going back to how they were pre-recession. I don't mean just for you, but for the whole field or community that your publication serves. The recession has been an event that has made its mark. There will be a different post-recession landscape.

For one thing, reading habits of many have changed. With favorite publications folding or dropping in page count, many consumers have had to rely more upon online alternatives. Some may welcome a return of more print content. Others won't. Many will have developed a preference for online content consumption. There's a general trend in that direction, anyway. You'll need to find out what's been going on with your readers and prospective readers. That will give you a clue as to how best to serve them with an appropriate mix of print and online content.

Not only have a lot of readers developed a taste for online content, many advertisers have also acquired new respect for online advertising. Some may want to resume a heavier print schedule. Others will be looking to expand online. Start looking at the directions in which your advertisers are going. There are likely many ways you can provide a real service to advertisers by offering added online opportunities.

While this all may require adapting to new circumstances, a sometimes uncomfortable process, it is nonetheless good news. The new landscape portends an increased demand for content on the part of readers, and an upswing in spending by the advertisers.

Focus on Efficacy

Despite whatever the reader and advertiser predilections may be for print vs. online, don't regard what they're thinking and saying as the whole picture. It's still your responsibility as publisher to evaluate how you can provide the greatest value to them.

Here's an example of what I mean. If an advertiser wants to move a lot of advertising from print to online, help him to define his sales or marketing objectives, and to analyze what mix of channels will be the biggest help in achieving the goals. Some advertisers may be focusing on online just because it's trendy. The concrete result of counted clicks also leads many to a greater sense of getting something for their advertising dollars. If image and brand promotion is an important objective, however, you might recommend that they keep print as a key element of their program. Conversely, some advertisers just like print. They're reluctant to use online. But if they are looking for a direct response from their advertising, it would behoove you to get them to try online advertising.

Time of Opportunity

After facing a perhaps bleak existence for some time, it's all too easy to fail to recognize the opportunities ahead. Indeed, this is a time of opportunity. It is an opportunity for you to correct flaws in your business model that may have limited your success of late. It is an opportunity to retool for the new media landscape that has been developing and will continue to develop. And it is an opportunity for you to make strategic plans for riding the wave of economic recovery.

Most importantly, it is time for you to make a comeback. Get ready now. Don't miss that opportunity!

A Reader's Question: How to Collect Advertising Money That's Owed?

Posted on Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 4:12 PM

Q. Right now, my biggest concern is getting paid by advertisers that owe us money. We are a monthly trade magazine with a circulation of 100,000. Throughout the recessionary period, we tried to work with advertisers who couldn't pay net 30. For some longtime advertisers we've been especially lenient. After all, we have relationships with them that go way back. But now we're getting to the end of our rope, and frankly, I'm concerned about how much credit we've extended. Worse yet, the advertisers don't seem so sympathetic to us when we call them requesting that they pay up. What can we do to get out of this spot?

A. The economic conditions have put a number of publishers in precarious positions such as yours. We've seen how advertisers have fallen behind for a number of very different reasons. I'll identify the three main categories, and then suggest ways to deal best with each.

The first category is the advertiser who has a good and established product line that serves a real need. He's continued to advertise as before. But, the reason he can't pay now is because the recession has weakened his sales. Actually, it's good that he's maintained his advertising. Research has shown that those advertisers who maintain their advertising presence are able to emerge from a recession far stronger than those who pulled back their ads. It could be, however, that this advertiser's particular ad strategies and offers have not been adapted appropriately to the current economic circumstances.

So, my advice is to work with the advertiser in three ways:

a. Have your sales staff help him to hone his advertising message. Come up with offers and copy that will appeal to prospective buyers based on where they're at in the recession. (If your sales staff is ill-equipped to do this, give me a call and I'll explain how to get them up to speed quickly).

b. If the advertiser is making non-productive ad decisions, help guide him toward more efficacious ad decisions. For instance, if he's spending money on position, it would be better to steer him toward greater frequency, greater size, or more color. Research has shown that position doesn't impact results very much, contrary to popular beliefs.

c. If the advertiser needs sales, be sure that his ads are actually focused on asking for orders. This may not be the right time for image ads or institutional pitches. Counsel him to run ads that will elicit orders, not just ones that make the company look good.

Approach all this cautiously. Put this advertiser on a payment plan to work off the arrearage. And, ask for a partial payment (at least enough to cover your costs) with each new insertion order. Also, get a D&B on the company to assess the risk of an impending bankruptcy. Set clear limits for the credit that you've extended and will extend.

The next category is the advertiser who has many of the good qualities of the advertiser described above. In this case, however, since she has been unable to pay for ads that have already run, she's voluntarily stopped advertising. That in itself may put collection of her debt in greater jeopardy. See if you can get her to resume advertising, albeit with a requirement that some cash start flowing in your direction at the same time, as suggested above. It may sound counterintuitive to solicit more ads from a company that hasn't paid for past advertising. However, if this is a viable company with a product that meets a market demand, the surest route to getting your money may be by helping to stimulate that company's sales.

The last category includes those companies that never were doing very well in the first place. Perhaps their products are mismatched for the marketplace, or they lack customer loyalty as a result of poor customer service, or they've simply been a slip-shod operation. With these guys, you should do whatever is necessary to establish your legal claim for what's owed and press for collection. In the meantime, allow them to advertise only on a cash-with-order basis.

It would have been good if you had instituted these practices earlier. But, the sooner you put them in place, the better will be your chances of collecting what you're owed.

Success Breeds Success

Posted on Monday, September 21, 2009 at 10:39 PM

Did you know that your success as a publisher can actually contribute to the success of the market in which you publish? That includes your advertisers and potential advertisers.

Think about that. Your success can boost the market. That in turn can boost the success of the advertisers. And, when they’re more successful and optimistic, that means more advertising money can flow your way.

Let me give you just one example of how this works: A number of years ago, the publisher of a small quarterly magazine came to us. The publication, which served a small, specialized technical field, was losing money. What’s more, the whole field was in the financial doldrums. Now, the publisher wanted our help to identify publishing expenses that could be cut.

My analysis of the business indicated that the publisher’s problem wasn’t with expenses that were too high, but with revenues that were too low. So, I worked with him to find ways to boost revenues.

We formulated new strategies for selling advertising, and conducted training workshops for the sales staff. We also inaugurated an ongoing coaching program aimed at enhancing the sales effectiveness and to do real-time problem solving on individual accounts. On the circulation side, we developed very effective marketing materials and programs. We also worked with the publisher to upgrade the quality of the editorial content. We started a research program to get answers needed for advertising sales and editorial development. And, we showed the publisher how to focus both content and circulation sales efforts to attract and acquire readers who would produce good results for the advertisers. In a latter stage, we added sponsorship of conferences and meetings to the mix.

Over time, this all produced outstanding results. The little quarterly went to bi-monthly, and finally to monthly. A publication that was once a money-loser was now sporting profit margins worthy of envy.

But in the course of all this, something else happened that was significant.

The field that was served by this magazine improved, too. The market left its doldrums behind, and became a vital and growing field. What happened is that the magazine, through its own success, had inspired the success of the entire market. It did it by providing better and more frequent content, and by bringing together buyers and sellers through the advertising content of the publication.

Not only did this magazine benefit from its own success, but all the players in the marketplace were able to benefit, too. They were all in a symbiotic relationship. The success of one player contributed to the success of others -- and on and on it went. It was an upward spiral!

You can start an upward spiral for your publication and your field, too.

Distressed Print Publications Making Mistakes

Posted on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at 1:49 PM

It's no secret that a lot of print publications are suffering. Advertising is down. Subscriptions are down. The only thing that's up is the number of casualties. Some major publications have already shut down, along with a host of smaller ones.

Many publications, however, are transitioning from print to online as a means of cutting costs. After all, with revenues down, it would seem to make good sense to reduce costs wherever possible. Switching to an online presentation can almost instantly cut out a big chunk of expense: paper, printing, distribution.

For most publications that have been print-only, developing an effective online strategy is long overdue. Today's readers have different expectations for how news and information should be provided to them. The print-only model for many is a relic of yesteryear.

That doesn't mean that there's no role for print in the mix. There are still a lot of things that can be provided with greater utility in print than online. But the idea of all print all the time has little relevance today.

That said, many distressed print publications are making transitions to online that are ill advised.

Coping with a recessionary period has always put a strain on publishers. Usually, when companies that use media advertising start feeling the pinch, advertising budgets are among the first to be cut. As a result, publishers are among the first to feel the pains of recession.

My consulting firm has worked with publishers through quite a number of recessionary periods. As a result, we've been able to observe some general patterns that seem to repeat themselves each time. We've seen publishers that are able to withstand tough economic times with only a minimal amount of sacrifice. For some, business even improves. Others, however, have their very existence threatened.

What's the difference? Why do some thrive, while others fail? My own observation is that the publishing companies that ran into the most trouble were operating with troubled business strategies in the first place. When times were good, they were able to coast along and even turn a profit. But when the going got tough, they didn't have the inherent strength to keep going.

That process reminds me of awhile back when my car was overdue for a tune-up. When I cruised along on a flat stretch of road, it ran with no apparent problems. But, if I drove up a steep hill, the engine would start to sputter and cough, and the car had trouble making it up the hill.

In past recessions, when publishing companies in need of a strategic tune-up began having trouble making ends meet, many realized something was amiss. That led them to address the primary dysfunction that existed in their business plans and strategies. As a result, many were able to pull through the recession and emerge even stronger.

The problem today is that instead of having that epiphany and subsequent adoption of new business strategies, the publishers are merely opting to cut out the major print-related expenses and go online. That's a mistake.

It's true that they begin saving money. But in the end they're not saving their publications. That's because they haven't routed out and changed the old dysfunctional business concepts that led them to the trouble they're in. What many publishers are doing is simply taking their print-style content, along with their old business models, and moving them online.

They're buying some time with this move. But they haven't fixed the underlying problems. In effect, they're masking the symptoms rather than addressing the cause.

Solid, sustainable results from publishing operations are best achieved by using a sound, synergistic business model. An economic downturn is a wonderful time to fix longstanding flaws in your business model. Doing so will help you survive the tough period. And it will also put you in a much stronger position for attaining even greater levels of success when economic conditions rebound.

A Unified Strategy

Posted on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at 12:04 PM

A magazine publisher called us in because, she said, they were not achieving the level of success that she wanted at her company. She believed her staff was at fault. But she asked me to analyze things to find out who were the main offenders. I started by meeting separately with key staff members: the ad sales director, the circulation marketing manager, and the editor-in-chief.

When I met with the ad sales director, I asked him, "What's wrong here?" He replied that his sales team was doing a great job selling advertising. The problem is that the circulation manager was selling subscriptions to the wrong people, to people without an interest in buying what was advertised. As a result, advertisers would go away when they got little response to their ads.

Then, I met with the circulation marketing manager and asked her, "What's wrong here?" She indicated that her department did extensive testing and had developed highly targed marketing approaches that were very successful at bringing in new readers. The problem is that the editor was writing to a different audience. The articles he was publishing didn't resonate with the new readers, and they rarely renewed.

Finally, I met with the editor-in-chief. I asked him, "What's wrong here?" He said that he and his staff did a masterful job of creating highly interesting and insightful articles. The problem is that the ad director is filling the magazine with irrelevant advertisements, and the marketing manager was selling subscriptions to the wrong audience.

Each of these key managers believed that he or she was doing a good job. And, from what I could see of their work, they were right. The ad sales team was doing an effective job of salesmanship. The subscription marketing group was using the best practices in subscription sales. The editorial staff was producing really excellent articles.

What was wrong there was that there was no unified strategy. There was no synergy. Each department had its own vision for the magazine. But the visions didn't match up. If ever there was a need for a unified strategy, it was with this company.

The Assessment

Posted on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 at 1:53 PM

The purpose of an assessment (sometimes called an audit) is to survey an organization's strengths and weaknesses, identify problem areas, and indicate likely solutions. It also identifies underexploited strengths deserving of greater attention. The assessment examines the structure of the organization, the quality of staffing, the financial resources, the market position, and the processes it uses to do its work.

Typically, we will examine your:

--organizational goals and objectives,

--structure and organizational dynamics of your team,

--use of technology,

--workflow practices,

--division of responsibilities between staff and outside suppliers,

--management systems,

--staff and freelance competencies,

--resources available for accomplishing your mission, and

--impact upon key constituencies.

An assessment can provide an early warning of impending problems and identify unperceived issues, or it can relieve doubts or fears. The results of an assessment can help an organization to direct its attention and resources in ways that will be most productive for both the short and long term.

The cost of an assessment usually ranges from $3000 to over $50,000, depending upon the size and complexity of the organization and on intricacy of the dilemmas it faces. In cases where an extensive assessment is needed, we recommend first conducting a simple assessment, and, based on its findings, devising a plan for a more thorough and targeted assessment. This is usually the most cost-effective approach.

We are experienced at doing organizational assessments of for-profit and non-profit organizations. That means we'll get to your key issues right away, and won't take up your time unnecessarily. We know exactly what to ask and what to look for. You'll get the insights and advice you're looking for -- without running up an excessive bill. One client had budgeted $30,000 for an assessment. We were able to deliver one for just under $5000, and provided far more insight and specificity than was expected.

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