Comag Marketing Group, LLC » Web

AOL Launches Daily Mag App

Kim — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:48:48 +0000

With magazines being so well-received into the tablet world, AOL is jumping on the bandwagon with Editions, a free daily “magazine” that pulls content from a variety of sources. Sources, topics, and style are tweaked by each reader so they can have a more personalized experience. Readers can pick from 16 different topics such as sports, entertainment, music and travel. A keyword function lets readers choose or exclude keywords within articles to further tailor their reading experience. (Aug. 4) Folio

Marsh Supermarkets Integrates Digital Platform

Kim — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:12:07 +0000

Marsh Supermarkets joins 112 other grocery retailers who use My Web Grocer services which enables customers to select and purchase groceries from the comfort of their computer. Shoppers will have access to planning tools including online circulars, personalized shopping lists and recipes, enabling them to plan meals and stay informed about sales and specials that are relevant to them. The experience will also be offered for shoppers who prefer to shop from their mobile devices instead of home computers. The planning tools easily integrate from computer to mobile, so that updates are automatically made from one platform to the other. Marsh customers also have the option to access the weekly circular via Marsh’s Facebook page. (Aug. 3) Progressive Grocer

Magazines without The Price Committment

Kim — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:42:35 +0000

Zinio, a digital magazine and newsstand provider, is offering up a pretty enticing deal through the discount phenomenon Groupon. Jeanniey Mullen, global executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Zinio, took a chance with Groupon by offering $35 worth of subscriptions to any of the 4,300 titles available on Zinio for just $15. It allows people to take their choice of the entire newsstand, so customers can stick with the magazines they already know they like or pick up a new magazine without paying steep prices for a full subscription. The deal was tested live this week in Anchorage, AK; Baltimore, MD and Chattanooga, TN and so far it’s been paying off. Audience Development (Jul 6, 2011)

Magazine Tumblrs Creating Buzz

Kim — Fri, 27 May 2011 16:03:13 +0000

Tumblr, a rapidly maturing microblogging platform recently passed 250 million page views per day. There are currently at least 61 publications active on the platform, including Newsweek, GQ, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, The Economist, and the most followed, Vogue. These publications use Tumblr as a behind-the-scenes look at the magazine, an outlet for voicing opinions that may be too feisty for the publication itself.

Newsweek has used Tumblr to defend the publication’s sale and subsequent newsroom turnover. GQ uses Tumblr to point out impressive features in the latest print production and thinks it helps show that the magazine goes beyond fashion. However, when magazines fail to utilize the platform on an interactive level and simply as an RSS feed, as was the case for People magazine, their Tumblr fails to take off.

Tumblrs are helping create buzz around magazines and hence, attracting new readership. The Atlantic believes Tumblr has been really useful in attracting a younger audience than their website. “There are plenty of incredibly thoughtful, intelligent, creative people that publish in new media, and Tumblr as a platform tends to attract creative types; as a result, it’s been a great source for really brave thinking and brave ideas…” said Jared Keller of The Atlantic.

Business Insider (5/25/11)

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)

Popular Mechanics Launches iPad App

Kim — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:14:34 +0000

Though it’s not Hearst’s first magazine app, it is their first completely homegrown one. All of Hearst’s magazines already are available in digital format via third-party platforms, but Pop Mech is the first to be built directly by Hearst. The iPad version has a similar look and feel to the print magazine, as the reader moves through the app with horizontal swipes meant to mimic the print reading experience. So far, only a scaled-down introductory version is available, but the complete magazine will be released in the coming months. MediaWeek (July 8, 2010)

Rupert Murdoch’s Plan to Save Newspapers

Kim — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:05:14 +0000

In an effort to get back revenue that his print outlets have been losing, Rupert Murdoch is planning to charge for subscriptions to all of NewsCorp’s online content. This would probably include news websites like Dow Jones, Marketwatch, Financial News, and The New York Post to name a few. NewsCorp-owned Wall Street Journal was one of the first websites to implement a pay wall and has seen increased circulation over the last year.

The subscription-based access will also affect e-book devices like Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s new iPad, which Murdoch recently said would go “unloved and unsold” without content from companies like NewsCorp, which owns HarperCollins books. Murdoch disagrees with Amazon’s famous $9.99 Kindle book price, saying the low price devalues books and hurts hard-cover retailers. As of now, Murdoch has put a hold on HarperCollins e-books sold through Amazon and is in the process of negotiating new pricing. Business Journal (2/3/2010) PC Magazine (2/2/2010).

New Life — and Mission — for Portfolio.com

Jennifer — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:15:03 +0000

While Condé Nast’s Portfolio, the glossy, covered big business and its celebrity elite, the new Portfolio.com provides service journalism for small business owners. The site now features content from some 40 local, weekly business journals and websites of American City Business Journals — itself a unit of Advance Publications. The New York Times Dec. 7, 2009

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.

Condé Nast Traveler Partners with High-End Travel Website

Jennifer — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:09:14 +0000

Condé Nast Traveler has entered into a no-cash-exchanged, marketing partnership with the Gilt Groupe to promote the magazine on the luxury travel, discount website Jetsetter.com. The New York Times Oct. 21, 2009