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Issue for February 2021

Australia’s Facebook News Blackout Ends . . .

Posted on Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 3:26 PM

In the news: News content and sharing have returned to Australian Facebook users after a temporary standoff between the tech giant and the Australian government.

A standoff between Facebook and the Australia government that temporarily barred Australians from seeing seeing or sharing news on the social network ended this week. Rod McGuirk of the AP reports that Facebook had “struck a deal with the government on proposed legislation that would make digital giants pay for journalism.” The temporary blackout didn’t just affect Facebook news access; McGuirk says that “the blackout also cut access -- at least temporarily -- to government pandemic, public health and emergency services, fueling outrage.”

This story comes at a time when internet giants such as Facebook and Google are under increased pressure to pay journalists and publishers for the content that appears on their networks. Read more here.

. . . But Do the Internet Giants Still Hold the Cards?

Although deals between Facebook and the Australian government, and between Google and News Corp, provide a long overdue boost to publishers and journalists, it’s not all rosy. Kate Kaye of Digiday.com writes: “Some publishing industry members say the agreement to compensate the publishing giant obfuscates the power that platforms like Google and Facebook hold over smaller publishers, which Australia’s proposed media bargaining law is meant to address.” Her article raises an important question: Are Google and Facebook’s efforts to comply with Australian law “a bargaining chip or hush money?” Read more here.

Also Notable

News Production Cost Control

“If your business survived 2020, you can tackle just about anything at this point,” writes Jerry Simpkins in a February 22 Editor & Publisher column. He shares his suggestions to minimize production costs in 2021 and beyond, including reassessing circulation draws, pre-runs, and single-copy sales. He also cautions publishers to “stop padding for runs for ‘insurance.’” Read the full column here.

Visually Depicting Covid-19 Losses

How can a newspaper or magazine with limited editorial space drive home the enormity of 500,000 Covid-19 casualties in the US? A few notable newspapers tried to drive home the magnitude visually in the last week. On the front page of the Sunday (February 21) New York Times is a chart of nearly half a million dots, one for each American who has died of Covid-19. Elsewhere, Artur Galocha and Bonnie Berkowitz of the Washington Post presented three visual analogies to show the scale of the country’s Covid losses. See the NYT graphic here and the Washington Post graphics here.

A 300-Year US Magazine Retrospective

A major magazine retrospective is now on display at New York’s Grolier Club. The exhibit, entitled “Magazines and the American Experience,” features over 80,000 issues from collector Steven Lomazow’s trove of magazines from the 1700s through today, reports Nora McGreevy of Smithsonian magazine. Ultimately, McGreevy says: “As Lomazow himself points out, the exhibition also functions as an ode to the long cultural production of a now-struggling industry.... But in the heyday of print advertisements, magazine flourished and writers reaped the benefits.” Read more about the exhibit here.

Print Magazine Closure: Saveur

Influential food magazine Saveur has shuttered its printed edition after several years of struggle. Most recently, the title was purchased by Bonnier in October 2020. Chris Crowley of GrubStreet.com writes that the closure comes “at a time of some transition in food media, including the rise of more independent magazines like Whetstone and a boom in newsletters bringing in different voices and perspectives not always given space.” Read more here.

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Don't Use Formulaic Ad Sales Management Methods

Posted on Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 3:25 PM

The strategies that carried you through the pre-Covid era may not work in this new ad sales landscape. What changes are likely here to stay?

By William Dunkerley

These days when publishers mention "future tense," they're not talking grammar. It's about what lies ahead in the magazine business.

Advertising sales are an important focus. For many publications ad sales are a major source of revenue. But maintaining sales levels from the pre-Covid era is a real challenge. Indeed, some are finding it to be an unattainable goal.

One obstacle is how we approach ad sales management. Old formulaic management practices are not measuring up.

Traditionally, setting sales goals has been a central feature. We were able to make reasonable forecasts based on previous years' experience, expected market conditions, competitive trends, and whatever new internal plans we had for the forthcoming year.

Now many publishers place their hopes on an eventual return to pre-Covid conditions. Meanwhile ad sales may continue to languish.

Serious questions are arising, however, as to whether a complete return to the good old "normal" is in the cards. That's a consideration that some publishers really want to ignore.

A few market segments have seen modest increases in ad spending. They reinforce the conviction that we're on the way back. The results of mass Covid vaccinations are boosting expectations. However, those increases may possibly result from advertisers developing false hopes from the vaccine results. They'd like to see a return to normal, too.

However, there are reasons to believe that the Covid crisis has made an indelible impression. Some things have changed that may never go back to the previous era. Things have evolved. It's high time that we fully adapt to that notion.

So let's apply that realization to ad sales. How can we take immediate steps instead of waiting for the old days to come back?

Realization One

There is still no scientific certainty about the final outcome of the Covid curse. According to ABC News, presidential advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci recently said, "Hopefully, by the time we start entering 2022, we really will have a degree of normality that will approximate the kind of normality we've been used to."

Notice the word "hopefully." And "approximate." And the phrase "degree of normality." In other words, it is a hope-based estimation, not a forecast. There still exists uncertainty about long-term vaccine effectiveness, the impact of mutations, and possible future health consequences from Covid infections. Remember, at one time an alarming 250,000 American deaths were forecasted. Now they've exceeded half a million.

Realization Two

Covid has produced societal change that is likely to be sustained.

In early February, The Verge reported, "Salesforce declares the 9-to-5 workday dead, will let some employees work remotely from now on." Inc. magazine ran the headline, "Is the Office Dead Forever? Studies Suggest Working From Home Is the Way of the Future."

What did the studies say? According to a 2020 Prodoscore survey of US-based workers, 80 percent said they're just as productive or more productive from home, and 91 percent appreciate the flexibility to manage their own schedules."

"A CareerBuilder survey of 1000 workers in business services and other jobs found that nearly two-thirds of them say the 9-to-5 workday is fast becoming -- or has already become -- extinct," according to ApprenticePersonnel.com.

Realization Three

It's time to discard the idea of an annual ad sales revenue budget. It's unrealistic. Too much hinges on external market and economic flux, not on staff performance.

The new reality is uncertainty. You need to limit your planning to quarterly or, even better, monthly. Don't even think of formulaic sales quotas. Adjust your expectations month by month.

This approach will require the publishers play a more active role in figuring out what can be achieved each month. Rely heavily on input from your ad sales manager. Make joint decisions based on current circumstances.

While a formula for sales results may not be presently possible, you can quantify certain aspects of staff performance.

Instead of measuring staff performance based on sales results, set behavioral goals. How many sales calls on average per day should a sales agent make? How many of them must be cold calls? Set goals for analyzing and reporting on how competitors are reporting, and how market conditions are faring. To put this into an OKR (objectives and key results) framework, those behavioral goals are the objectives. Compliance with them will be the key results.

This all leaves hanging the matter of compensation for salespeople. It is now especially important to keep good people and reward them for good performance. Old salary/commission formulas are likely no longer appropriate. Instead, focus on the OKRs.

Some instances may call for an exception to that approach. If you have a star performer who can produce outstanding sales results despite today's negative conditions, continue to reward him or her appropriately. Don't spoil a good thing.

This recognizes that a one-size-fits-all approach may not be best. While a work-at-home option will help you keep some people, others may lack the needed self-discipline or home workspace for that. Flexibility and appropriateness are called for.

William Dunkerley is principal of William Dunkerley Publishing Consultants, www.publishinghelp.com.

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Free Assistance and Recovery Help

Posted on Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 3:25 PM

During this time of crisis, we stand ready to answer privately any specific questions our readers may have, time permitting. You can contact us at:

crisis-help@stratnewsletter.com

When the national health crisis subsides, publishers unfortunately should not expect to easily resume business as usual. Economists are predicting tough times ahead. In addition, the impact of the crisis may well result in different expectations of us on the part of our audiences. STRAT will provide a series of articles to help you all through the period of recovery and readjustment.

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