Comag Marketing Group, LLC » Research/Trends/Forecasts

Condé Nast Launches New Marketing Services Division

Kim — Fri, 27 May 2011 16:44:53 +0000

Ideactive, a new marketing services division of Condé Nast, will offer custom-content creative in print, digital, video and mobile platforms; web design and development; social media marketing and community development; and app development and mobile marketing, among other services. Lou Cona, who is Condé’s Chief Marketing Officer, will oversee the new division, with Janine Silvera at his side as Vice President of Ideactive. The new division will offer preferred pricing to current Condé clients, and “standard market rate” to all others. Condé enters the marketing services game along with many others, like Hearst with iCrossing, Source Interlink with Mind Over Eye, and Meredith with Integrated Marketing division (MIM).

Folio (5/23/11)

Win $25,000 through Hearst E-Mail Promo!

Kim — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:32:15 +0000

The Hearst Challenge is back for the second year in a row. Starting on June 1, contestants will get a shot at winning $25,000 in cash is they can crack the riddle of click-through email promotions. Three entrants will be picked to attend the DMA2011 Conference in Boston to explain their solutions. The winning model will be announced at the conference, October 1-6. The goal of the contest is to create an analytical framework that successfully predicts an individual’s “response” to a given email promotion program. The winning model should predict an individual’s likelihood of opening an email blast.

Audience Development (5/26/11)

2010 Shaping Up Quite Nicely

Kim — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:26:22 +0000

The first half of 2010 is looking better and better according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Along with what was reported about Women’s titles, it seems that categories across the board are seeing improvements – either in gains or just significantly fewer losses. A whopping 130 titles increased ad pages during the second quarter. The three-month period between April and June marked the first time in nine long, hard quarters, that consumer magazines reported gains in both rate card-reported advertising revenue and pages. The most uplifting category was Celebrity titles, with all but one in the category (Us Weekly) reporting double-digit gains. Let’s keep this trend going! Folio (July 12, 2010)

Consumers Weigh-In on Online Subscriptions

Kim — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:29:39 +0000

The Neilsen Co. surveyed more than 27,000 consumers in 52 countries to find out their feelings about paying for online media subscriptions. Movies and music top the list of services that people would be willing to pay for online, approaching 60%. Games, professionally produced video and magazines hover around 50% and newspapers are just above 40%. Talk radio, podcasts, social commentaries, and music radio come in slightly ahead of consumer-generated videos and blogs, which are low on the list of content consumers are willing to pay for. More than 78% of those surveyed said they believe if they already subscribe to offline services like magazines, newspaper, and television, they should be able to use online services for free. In addition to that, 71% said the services would have to be considerably better than what is currently free before they actually pay for it. Also, most people surveyed believed that if they pay for content, there should be no advertisements. Tampa Bay Business Journal Feb. 16, 2010

Women’s Titles Paid Subscriptions On the Rise

Kim — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:18:52 +0000

ABC’s Rapid Report has some promising news for Women’s Titles. Paid subscriptions saw meaningful improvement during the second half of 2009. Most major titles in the Women’s category saw slight to moderate increases compared to the same period the year before. The titles that saw the biggest increases are Time Inc.’s InStyle, Meredith’ Siempre Mujer, Condé Nast’s Glamour, and Hearst’s Cosmopolitan and Seventeen. Alongside the paid subscription increase, total paid and verified circulation for the category remained stable. Industry experts predicted that the steep Newsstand decline we saw last year would start to slow down in the second half of 2009, and it appears they were right. ABC is scheduled to release its latest Fas-Fax report next Monday. Folio 2/4/2010.

Analyst Forecasts Bleak Period for Magazines Through 2014

Jennifer — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:42:17 +0000

The current tough economy is an aggravating factor, but the principal cause of a projected $16 billion industry-wide loss from 2007 to 2014 will be the “relentless adoption of digital formats.” MinOnline Jan. 26, 2010

Nielsen to Integrate Online Views to Its Ratings

Kim — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:59:15 +0000

The Neilsen Company is hoping to provide combined ratings for TV and internet viewing. With more consumers watching TV episodes via the Internet, Neilsen has been under pressure to track viewership more effectively. These ratings are vitally important to the TV industry because they are used to sell an estimated $70 billion in advertising each year. Though Neilsen has not said when the ratings will be available, Internet meters are already being installed to measure TV views online. New York Times Dec. 2, 2009.

HDS Advises on Pulling Sales Data from Magnet and Data Pro Systems

Jennifer — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:24:16 +0000

The following text is from an HDS Retail North America memorandum released yesterday. WHEN VIEWING HDS RETAIL NORTH AMERICA DRAW/SALES INFORMATION ON THE MAGNET AND DATA PRO SYSTEMS YOU MUST TAKE THE FOLLOWING IN TO CONSIDERATION: HDS RETAIL NORTH AMERICA has several business entities associated with it. These include The HDS Retail North America stores (Airports and CTNs), Martin’s Newsstands, and the former NGSI/Delstar locations that are now listed under the HDS Retail North America umbrella in both systems. THE FAILURE TO LOOK AT ALL OF THESE ENTITIES WILL RESULT IN GREATLY UNDERSTATED DRAWS/SALES OF 15%-20%.

Designer Fashion — an Engine of Magazines — Faces Uncertain Future

Jennifer — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:45:37 +0000

“As another [fashion] show season rolls out across [New York City], against the chilliest retail climate in years, many believe this is not merely a difficult moment for high-end fashion but a defining one as well.” The New York Times Sept. 10, 2009

Nielsen Study Says the Affluent are Big on Coupons

Jennifer — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:43:03 +0000

In 2009, consumers have upped their use of coupons for CPG product purchases compared to 2008, and affluent consumers ($70k per year or more) are more likely to use coupons than the population as a whole (39 percent compared to 35 percent, respectively). The Nielsen Company Press Release on BusinessWire.com Sept. 3, 2009