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PRESIDENT’S OUTLOOK & MPA CHAIRMAN’S REVIEW

Nina Link, President and CEO, Magazine Publishers of America

Nina Link opened General Sessions on Monday morning by chronicling some of the initiatives MPA undertook on behalf of the magazine industry over the past year.

"The comprehensive Postal Reform legislation that we succeeded in pushing through has already delivered enormous cost savings for publishers," she said. "This past year, postal rate increases that could have exceeded 20 percent under the old law, were just 3 percent because of the new law’s inflation-based cap."

In addition, she pointed out that MPA defused a number of new legislative proposals involving direct-to-consumer advertising, the MPA's largest health-related sub-category, by carefully explaining the value of DTC advertising and the special role that magazines play in health-related advertising.

Link also noted that independent research shows that magazines lead in purchase intent, online traffic and search. "Magazines are also tops in influencing customers to start a search online," she said. "Better than broadcast and cable TV. Better than newspapers. Better than radio. Better than Internet ads and outdoor billboards. And we’ve got the numbers to prove it."

MPA continues to be a big proponent of faster, more stable and more comparable magazine measurement. "We’ve been working with McKinsey looking at ways to transform magazine measurement to more accurately reflect and convey the value of magazines to advertisers," she said. The plan is to measure – issue by issue – exposure to the magazine and key demographics such as age, gender, income, ethnicity and family status as well as engagement with ads based in issue-by-issue recall measurement of individual ads.

On the digital front, MPA for the first time ever began to chart the growth of visitors to magazine-branded websites.  Link pointed out that in this year’s second quarter, the traffic to consumer magazine websites rose 8.5 percent over the same period last year. Consumer magazine sites averaged nearly 70 million unique monthly visitors in the second quarter and visitors spent 21% more time on magazine websites compared to the second quarter in 2007.

John Q. Griffin, President, Magazine Group, National Geographic

John Griffin, MPA's Chairman, stated that the magazine industry has challenges coming from all sides. But despite the trials the industry faces today, Griffin told AMC attendees to focus on the positives of magazines: the power of the one-on-one relationship magazines have with the reader, the "coziness factor" of magazines, the talent and dedication of people in the industry, the ability of magazines to create communities of like-minded people, and the power of the authoritative editorial voice magazines have.

Griffin noted that MPA will be focused on five programs in the next year and encouraged all MPA members to help in any way possible.

1. Protect the magazine industry's interests in Washington and state capitals. Some of the subjects that will get attention will be a shield law, defending against new taxes on advertising and subscription sales and changes in privacy laws.
2. Promote the effectiveness of magazine advertising.
3. Continue to develop an audience-measurement system. "We need this to compete against other media," he said.
4. Sell more magazines at retail and develop more programs to help make this happen.
5. Work with paper manufacturers, printers, and others in the industry to continue to educate ourselves of magazines effect on the environment and then reduce that impact.

RESHAPING THE MODEL FOR MAGAZINES
Moderator: Jack Myers, President, Myers Publishing LLC (extreme left)
Panelists: Bob Carrigan, CEO, IDG Communications, Inc. (second from right)
Andy Sareyan, Executive Vice President, Meredith Publishing Group (extreme right)
Ed Kelly, President and CEO, American Express Publishing Corporation (second from left)

The panel session "Reshaping the Model for Magazines" revealed that IDG Communications, Meredith Corporation and American Express Publishing Corporation all bring in at least 10 percent of its revenues from outside their print magazines.

Ed Kelly said that magazine brands are the core to his company's business but about a decade ago, American Express started looking into ways to leverage those brands in innovative ways. Now, about 40 percent of the company's revenue comes in from non-magazine revenue. Such things as the company's book business and a membership club bring in dollars.  American Express also extended its events platform, launching new events in a wide variety of target markets.

IDG is in at least 85 countries and roughly 60 percent of the company's revenue comes from non-magazine-related products, such as digital and events. IDG also connects marketers directly with users who are seeking specific types of products. "We're tapping into the sales and field marketing budgets of our advertisers," Carrigan shared, while respecting privacy laws and the desires of users.

Sareyan said that Meredith has changed significantly in just the last few years to become a fully integrated marketing and communications company with diverse platforms. "Nothing is that straightforward anymore.”

THE MOST INNOVATIVE THING I’VE DONE THIS YEAR
Lisa Benenson, Editor-in-Chief, Hallmark

Lisa Benenson of Hallmark spoke briefly about the strong success her magazine has found in the last three years.  One of the reasons for that strong launch, she said, were the 300 online testers who came aboard six months before launch and helped make many decisions along the way. "That database also allows us to email a part of the group for different types of questions," she said. Those ideas and thoughts have found their way into every section of the magazine. Berenson noted that having the power of p arent company Hallmark behind her also helps, since the magazine can send out an email newsletter to eight million of the company's customers or market directly to the company's biggest consumers on certain deals.

KEYNOTE: THE FUTURE OF MAGAZINES IN A POST-INFORMATION AGE
Paul Saffo, Futurist and Stanford University Associate Professor

Futurist Paul Saffo discussed the shift from mass media to personal media.  He encouraged publishers to earn to be comfortable with uncertainty. "We're shifting to a whole new society," he said. "The economic turmoil is part of this shift." This new society will feature Creators, ordinary people who make and consume information, sometimes simultaneously. The companies that will succeed in these uncertain times "are the ones that find the smallest quantum of information," such as Google, which basically makes money using the search terms that are entered into it.

ASME’S BEST COVER COMPETITION
David Willey, Senior Vice President and Editor-in-Chief, Runner’s World

Winners include the following:

• Cover of the Year – New York, March 24, 2008: Eliot Spitzer’s “Brain,” in which an arrow points to Spitzer's groin
• Best Celebrity Cover – Texas Monthly, May 2008: Willie Nelson and guitar, the seventh time Nelson has been on the title's cover
• Best Concept Cover – The New Yorker, February 11 & 18, 2008: “Eustace Tillarobama,” in which the anniversary issue of the title featured an illustration of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton superimposed on the magazine's longtime mascot of sorts, Eustace Tilley. The cover looks like a playing card with the pair of characters sharing a monocle in the middle of the cover.
• Best Fashion Cover (Tie) –New York Look, Spring 2008: Catwalk, the semi-annual fashion magazine from the editors of New York; Vanity Fair, September 2007: Gisele Bündchen
• Best News Cover – New York, March 24, 2008: Eliot Spitzer’s “Brain”
• Best Service Cover – Texas Monthly, June 2008: “The Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas”
• Best Leisure Interest Cover –New York, June 30, 2008: “The Summer Issue,” which features Barack Obama and John McCain sitting next to each other in beach chairs, smiling and bumping fists.

View the Best Cover gallery, featuring the full roster of winners and finalists as well as stories behind the covers, at www.magazine.org/bestcover.

THE MOST INNOVATIVE THING I’VE DONE THIS YEAR
Jonathan Dorn, Editor-in-Chief, Backpacker

Jonathan Dorn of Backpacker told attendees about his magazine's attempt to get greener. Readers were emailing questions to the magazine: "What is your carbon footprint?" So Dorn decided to figure it out. Turns out, each issue of Backpacker used up 1.12 pounds of carbon dioxide. "We made changes," he said. Some were small – different light bulbs – and some were larger – people committing to ride or walk to work. So in 2008, the carbon footprint of each issue is .99 pounds. "It's a process," Dorn said. "We know that you can't get to zero, but we also know that the responsible thing for us is to keep finding offsets."

GETTING TO GREEN
Moderator: John Q. Griffin, President, Magazine Group, National Geographic (extreme left)
Panelists: Avrim Lazar, President and CEO, Forest Products Association of Canada (second from left)
David Refkin, Director of Sustainable Development, Time Inc. (center)
Kim Rendleman, CEO, Metafore, Inc. (2nd from right)
Bryan Welch, Publisher and Editorial Director, Ogden Publications, Inc. (extreme right)

In the midst of all the other pressures publishers are facing, another one of them is the push to become more environmentally sound as an industry. This topic was tackled during the "Getting to Green" panel. Moderated by John Q. Griffin, President of the Magazine Group at National Geographic, the panel included David Refkin, Director of Sustainable Development at Time Inc.; Bryan Welch, Publisher and Editorial Director of Ogden Publications; Kim Rendleman, CEO of Metafore, Inc.; and Avrim Lazar, President and CEO of Forest Products Association of

Avrim Lazar of Forest Products Association of Canada said that some consumers are feeling like they're "out of it" because they are purchasing print magazines and that publishers need to help allay those fears. "You need to appear to them to be part of the solution, not part of the problem," Lazar cautioned. He also pointed out that consumers are feeling like the problem is global, not local and that there is a shared responsibility. "The good news," he said, "is that they think they are just as responsible as you are."

Lazar revealed the things consumers want, broken down into five categories:

• Legally harvested wood
• Paper that is regenerated promptly
• Recycling and recovery
• Independent scrutiny
• Reduced greenhouse gases.

Time Inc.’s David Refkin encouraged publishers to promote and encourage more forest certification to make it more meaningful and credible. He noted that only 17 percent of magazines are recycled and that there is a long way to go to help consumers be better in this regard. Time Inc. is one of the biggest proponents of ReMix, which helps readers in several cities recycle magazines.
 
Meanwhile, Kim Rendleman of Metafore encouraged publishers to use EPAT, a two-year-old tool that can be found off the MPA website that helps publishers and paper manufacturers define what paper is environmentally friendly. "This was created in response to a challenge to try and figure out the environmental impact of the paper we were buying," she said.

Ogden’s Bryan Welch, whose family raises its own grass-fed cows, said that it’s important to communicate anything you are doing to your consumers, no matter how big or small. “Replace Styrofoam cups with washable coffee cups. Give better parking spots to people who carpool. Give your employees subway cards or bus cards,” he said. “Whatever you do, tell your consumers so they see that you are out ahead of the curve – that you are on top of it.”

WHAT MAKES GREAT MAGAZINE ADS?
Moderator: MaryAnn Bekkedahl, Executive Vice President and Group Publisher, Rodale Inc. (left)
Panelists: John Butler, Executive Creative Director, Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (center) 
Jeff Goodby, Co-Chairman, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (right)

John Butler from Butler, Shine, Stern, and Partners discussed how his business has changed rapidly in the last five years along with the expansion of so many ways to reach consumers. "Print is only one of them.  It's very relevant but things have changed." Butler went on to encourage publishers to work with advertising agencies to find innovative ways to get a message out. "We have to re-invent how we engage consumers," he said, "and find nontraditional ways."

For one of his clients, Mini, Butler had Mini owners go online and opt in to a program in which they would receive an RFID chip to put in their car, so when drivers passed by a billboard, a personalized message would appear. Another program had Mini drivers receive special glasses in the mail that would allow them to see a secret message in a print advertisement. The message sent them to a website that helped organize a cross-country rally of Minis.

"There are many ways to marry traditional publishing with innovative advertising campaigns," Butler said. "The idea is to create something new together," such as flipbooks and advertising in the margins. He also suggested that publishers break down the wall between advertising and editorial a little bit. "I don’t want anybody to harm their integrity."

Jeff Goodby of Goodby, Silverstein and Partners said that the idea of connecting with people through advertising seems to have been forgotten.  He told the story of a Honda campaign in which the company wasn't actually named in any print advertisements. Instead, there was a website, thinkaboutit.com, that was mysterious to the reader. When people visited the site, it busted common myths about Honda. "Magazines are still an important part of the conversation," he said.

KEYNOTE
Tom Rogers, President and CEO, TiVo (right)
Interviewed by Dan Colarusso, Managing Editor, Portfolio.com (left)

Tom Rogers, who once ran Primedia pointed out that there are now 25 million homes with TiVo or DVRs, and the number is expected to double in the next few years, spelling trouble for advertisers who aren't adjusting. He encourages advertising agencies to try and figure out ways to work with the new technology, noting that the music and newspaper industries have had real difficulties wrestling with the digital environment and that there is no reason broadcast television should go through the same growing pains.

"Just because people are scrolling past all the advertisements doesn’t' mean there aren't ways to get them to watch advertisements," he said. "The most important thing is that you need to have some form of accountability for advertisers."

Rogers said the magazine industry could benefit from the fact that so many consumers are skipping broadcast advertisements. Some advertisers could move those dollars into magazines where advertisements are more difficult to skip.

RETAIL 2013
Moderator: Peter Kreisky, Chairman, The Kreisky Media Consultancy, LLC (extreme right)
Panelists: Glen Clark, President, The News Group, North America and Executive Vice President, Jim Pattison Group (second from right)
Michael Duloc, President and CEO, Kable Media Services, Inc. (extreme left)
John P. Loughlin, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Hearst Magazines (second from left)

The three panelists of "Retail 2013" agreed that much progress could be made in the costly retail and distribution end of  magazine publishing during the next five years.

Moderator Peter Kreisky showed a copy of Hearst's latest launch, Food Network magazine, which will hit newsstands next week with only 300,000 issues. "Imagine how many more there would be in a healthy market," he said, wistfully.

Hearst's John Loughlin expressed fears that magazines will lose valuable real estate at retail in the short run, which could hurt publishers in many ways. "Magazines at retail have a multiplier effect," he said. "They display our brand. They let potential purchasers sample it." One of key ingredients to getting retail back into a better spot for magazine publishers, Loughlin said, is to have a better way of tracking the information on how many copies are actually sold at each store. "It all needs to be much more trackable," he said. He also encouraged publishers to become engaged on this issue since it is such a big part of a publishing budget.

And the massive amounts of cost inefficiencies need to be removed from the chain, Laughlin said. This, of course, would require wholesalers, distributors and publishers to all communicate and work together, something all three panelists claimed to desire.

Michael Duloc of Kable Media Services blamed some of the retail problems on the downturn in store traffic due to the overall economic slowdown, but also encouraged open communication between all sides: "We need to have consistent policies and best practices" across the system, he said, mention scan-based trading and third-party auditing services as key ingredients to a saved system.

Glen Clark from The News Group preferred to view the current poor situation at retail as an opportunity. "Maybe this will result in comprehensive reform," he said. "Maybe the archaic way we run this will disappear."

ONE-ON-ONE WITH SHERYL SANDBERG: LESSONS MAGAZINES CAN LEARN FROM SOCIAL NETWORKING
Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook
Interviewed by Stephen J. Adler, Editor-in-Chief, BusinessWeek

Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg encouraged publishers to use the social network's wide audience to their advantage. She said she is a big believer in information that is trusted and verified. "That is important to consumers all around the world while there is such a proliferation of information," she said. Facebook is currently planning on expanding globally.

NEW USES FOR USER-GENERATED CONTENT
Moderator: Kevin McKean, Vice President and Editorial Director, Consumers Union (extreme right)
Panelists: Mitchell Fox, President and CEO, 8020Media (extreme left)
Edward Grinnan, Editor-in-Chief and VP, Guidepost Publications and Guideposts.com (second from left)
Chris Johns, Editor-in-Chief, National Geographic (third from left)
Susan Kane, Editorial Director, The Parenting Group, and Editor-in-Chief, Parenting (third from right)
Alexandra Bandon,  Multimedia Editor, This Old House (second from right)

Each panelists in this concurrent session chronicled how her or his publication is utilizing user-generated content.

Alexandra Bandon from This Old House talked about an entire issue of the magazine that was user-generated. "When you start a dialog with your readers, they talk back to you," she said. "It went beyond the letter-to-editor kind of stuff." The issue included editors getting advice from readers and a reader-remodeling contest to anchor the issue, among other things.

Susan Kane of The Parenting Group spoke of a monthly column called "What Nobody Told Me About" in which readers write in advice about the subject at hand. User-generated content is also used in feature stories such as "Bad Mommy!" about horrendous mistakes mothers have made. "Moms want to hear from moms," Kane said, "so we try to find ways to facilitate that conversation."

At National Geographic, Chris Johns started a very successful project called “Your Shot” in which readers submit photos every month with one chosen for publication. “We receive 300 to 800 submissions a day!” Johns said. He is considering creating a newsstand special that would include 500 of the best submitted Your Shots.

Guideposts has been constructed solely of user-generated content since it was launched in 1945. Edward Grinnan shared how the process works and how the magazine is constructed each month.

Mitchell Fox of 8020 Media discussed how his company puts out a title that is 100 percent user-generated: JPG. His company builds online communities with contributed content. The users all vote on content and the best is used in the 40,000-subscription title. Fox says the site is getting 10 million views a month but he's much more excited about the one million comments and email that "fly around the site each month. We care about the metrics surrounding the site's interactivity between members."