REICH COMMUNICATIONS

Newspapers are still bleeding

 

Newspapers, as we know, are losing readers in print, although they seem to be doing ok when you figure in online readership.  But online readership isn't offsetting the drops in ad revenues that papers continue to suffer.

The Newspaper Association of America reports that 3rd Quarter ad income went down by 5 percent, marking the 25th consecutive quarter that ad revenues have declined.  From 2006 through 2011, newspaper ad revenues fell by a staggering 51 percent, from $49.3 billion to $23.9 billion. 

As reported here and elsewhere, publishers are struggling to find ways to improve income -- online paywalls and reduced print editions are two changes that we're seeing.  But when they start cutting newsroom staffing to save money, it seems like publishers are just hastening their own demise.  If a paper doesn't provide something distinctive in its news and information -- whether it's good local news reporting or outstanding analysis and commentary -- readers in print and online will simply go elsewhere.  And then there will be no readers that publishers can sell advertising to reach.

The Fishbowl NY blog, reporting on the decline, says, "We hope this guilt trip is enough to persuade any of you who still don’t pay to read newspapers to finally start forking over some cash."

A good thought, but I think it will take some real innovation and commitment to news by publishers to try to win back readers and, eventually, paying advertisers.  We know that the real money comes from advertising and not as much from subscription and newsstand sales.

 

Is Customer Service the New Marketing?

 

I've asked this question before and I've suggested in previous posts here that excellent customer service may be the way for some companies to stand out from their competition.  

Does marketing still have the greatest impact on brand perception? Or in this digital age, is creating a high level of customer service a better investment? How can public relations fit into this picture?

Next week -- November 28th -- Software Advice will host a live Google+ debate with industry thought-leaders discussing just this. Panelists will dive into whether or not investing in customer service makes more sense in a world of social media, customer reviews and diminishing return on traditional marketing spend.

The panel includes:

• Micah Solomon - speaker, author, thought-leader
• Shep Hyken - customer experience expert, speaker, author, thought-leader
• Denis Pombriant - Beagle Research CEO, author, thought-leader
• Jon Miller - Marketo cofounder, thought-leader

The program will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern time on November 28 in a Google+ Hangout. Questions and comments will be taken from the audience.  You can attend the event by adding CRM Market Analyst Ashley Furness in your Google+ circle and she'll send you an invite to participate. 

I hope to have a follow-up post on the discussion a day or so after it takes place.

An Ongoing Marketing Challenge: Harnessing Social Media

 

Marketers have long recognized the tremendous opportunities presented by social media.  In theory, it can enable them to laser-target their messages, be timely and engage in almost a one-on-one relationship with customers and prospects.

In theory... that's the key phrase that's been tricky for so many marketers to get past.  Theory doesn't always seem to match up with reality.

This is proven by a recent survey of consumers in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France and Germany.  It shows that 65% of respondents said they would stop using a brand if it annoyed them on a social media site. Forty percent said they would be annoyed by receiving messages from a brand they haven’t followed. And even among those who follow a brand, only 48% said they felt positive about receiving marketing messages.  That means more than half don't want to be bothered by blatant marketing messages.

The survey bears out what we already suspected, that social media is a good and accepted source of word-of-mouth recommendations.  Sixty-eight percent of consumers say they've investigated a product recommended by friend online, and 15% actually made a purchase based on an online recommendation.

The challenge for marketers is how to engage and get across marketing information without turning people off online.  We've come to accept ads and other marketing messages on many media platforms like TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, and even online sites like YouTube and Vimeo, where we've learned to sit through the 15-second pre-roll ad before we can see the video we really clicked to see.

But social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have a more personal feel to them, where an ad or marketing message can feel like an unwelcome intrusion ... almost an invasion of privacy. 

I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all solution to this challenge, but some marketers might be able to overcome possible negative feelings if they carefully -- very carefully -- temper what they say and how often they say it via social media.  The trick is to provide useful information --useful to your consumer, not necessarily useful to you the marketer.  And do it only when it's really appropriate.  Too much can be a turnoff, even to loyal customers.  At first, it can be just an annoyance.  But keep peppering people with messages and they may eventually "unfollow" or "unlike you." 

Each marketer must find the mix of messages and frequency that works for their customers -- emphasis is on "works for their customers" and not on what works for the marketer.  It's a slippery slope, for sure, and it's not for everyone.

 

 

 

social media is a popular source of word-of-mouth recommendations, with 68%  of consumers saying they had investigated a product recommended by friend online, and 15% actually making a purchase based on an online recommendation.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/187775/consumers-punish-brands-which-annoy-them-on-social.html#ixzz2D448cajc

found 65% of respondents said they would stop using a brand if it annoyed them on a social media site. Forty percent of consumers said they would be annoyed by receiving messages from a brand they haven’t followed . And, even when they’ve followed the brand, only 48% said they felt positive about receiving marketing messages.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/187775/consumers-punish-brands-which-annoy-them-on-social.html#ixzz2D43C8LwY

found 65% of respondents said they would stop using a brand if it annoyed them on a social media site. Forty percent of consumers said they would be annoyed by receiving messages from a brand they haven’t followed . And, even when they’ve followed the brand, only 48% said they felt positive about receiving marketing messages.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/187775/consumers-punish-brands-which-annoy-them-on-social.html#ixzz2D43C8LwY

 

Happy Thanksgiving...

from 

New York City

Millennials and the News

 

 

MediaPost reported on a survey they conducted which asked Millennials (ages 14 - 34) how they access the news.  The results are interesting.

TV is still tops with young people, with 73 percent saying they rely on TV to keep up with the news.

A close second, which shouldn't be surprising, is Facebook, with 67 percent saying they regularly check FB to see what's happening.  Twitter keeps about a third of young people informed, the survey found.

The survey didn't differentiate whether those who rely on social media follow the FB pages and tweets of legitimate news sources, or if they rely on links, re-tweets or paraphrasing from their social media "friends."  Where they get their news on FB or Twitter can make a difference in the accuracy of what they're seeing, and that should be of concern.  We know how easy it is to manipulate what gets re-posted.

While social media enables us to select our own news content based on our interests and those of our friends, it also risks giving us a narrowly-focussed slant on what's happening in the world.

Watch TV news or thumb through a newspaper and you'll, hopefully, get a broad view of what's going on.  Or, at least, it's there if you want it.

So while it's great that young people want to know what's happening in the news, it's important that they get their information from sources that provide a broad and reliable perspective.  FB and Twitter may not always be the best sources for that broad and reliable view.

 

Less News Is News

 

 

Advance Publications,  which owns dozens of newspapers nationwide including some major market dailies, seems to be cutting the frequency of its daily paper in Cleveland, The Plain Dealer.

In a letter to its readers, the editor and publisher of the paper said major changes were coming as the newspaper seeks to “embrace dynamic shifts in the way information is consumed.”

“The Plain Dealer has to respond to the sweeping changes we see every day in how consumers are getting their news and information -- and how advertisers are marketing themselves in this increasingly digital age.” All this suggests that the strategy will emphasize mobile and digital distribution at the expense of the print product.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/187555/cleveland-plain-dealer-may-cut-frequency-digita.html?edition=53702#ixzz2Cmi8Wyuv

big changes were coming as the newspaper seeks to “embrace dynamic shifts in the way information is consumed.”

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/187555/cleveland-plain-dealer-may-cut-frequency-digita.html?edition=53702#ixzz2CmhtMrU5

“The Plain Dealer has to respond to the sweeping changes we see every day in how consumers are getting their news and information -- and how advertisers are marketing themselves in this increasingly digital age.”  Erik Sass, reporting on the changes in MediaPost, speculates that the strategy will emphasize mobile and digital distribution at the expense of the print product.

Other Advance newspapers in New Orleans, Syracuse, Harrisburg and several dailies in Alabama have created new companies to combine management of both print and digital products, while cutting the print publication frequencies of the dailies from seven days a week to three.  So far, this hasn't worked too well in New Orleans, reports are saying.

Total newspaper ad revenues have dropped more than 50 percent since 2005, says the Newspaper Association of America. Papers are having another bad year so far in 2012, as total revenues for the first half fell another 6.7 percent.

Cutting print frequency will save printing and distribution costs, for sure.  But publishers seem to be, so far, using these changes to slash newsroom staff as well.  I'm not sure how the publishers expect online ad revenues -- which still command far lower rates than print display ad rates -- to offset the loss of print ads four days a week.  And who's going to visit sites if there's less real news being covered, because of news staffing cuts?

Time will tell.

 

total newspaper advertising revenues have plunged from $49.4 billion in 2005 to $23.9 billion in 2011, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

The industry has suffered another bad year in 2012. In the first half of the year, total revenues fell 6.7% from $11.5 billion to $10.8 billion.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/187555/cleveland-plain-dealer-may-cut-frequency-digita.html?edition=53702#ixzz2CmjS7l8p

 

 

Say it isn't so.... please

Hostess has been having financial problems for a while, including going into bankruptcy in 2004 and again earlier this year.  But this time, it doesn't look good for the maker of iconic baked goods including Wonder Bread, Hostess Cup Cakes and Twinkies.

For those of us who grew up in the '50s and '60s, we all knew that "Wonder Bread builds strong bodies eight ways."  I can't recall what those eight ways were, but it had to be true because Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob told us so.  Wonder Bread was THE key ingredient for all sandwiches.  (This was before bagels became an American food.) 

And Twinkies.  What more could a kid want for a well-balanced nutritious meal?

My favorite was -- and still is -- Hostess Cup Cakes, the ones with either the golden or chocolate topping and the white squiggle down the middle.  I still rely on those to keep me going on a long drive.  It's automatic -- stop to get gas, go to the bathroom, and get a package of Hostess Cup Cakes.

The news reports are saying Hostess has filed a motion to shut its plants, lay off 18,000 workers and liquidate its business.

Please... say it isn't so.

 

 

The mouth that roared shuts his wallet

 

My friend Robin, a Brooklyn girl through and through, called me today from her home in L.A. to see how I had weathered the storm.  Thank goodness, we had no damage and only suffered through the relative inconvenience of having no power for four days.  Compared to what some in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and New Jersey lost, I'm one of the lucky ones.

Robin said she wonders why some New York and New Jersey-born  celebs haven't stepped up to make major donations to help feed and shelter the 40,000 or so newly-homeless.

I reminded her that Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Billy Joel headlined the fundraiser on NBC.  Others have, I'm sure, offered financial help, even if they haven't publicized it.  And some, like Barbara Walters, George Stephanapolous and Diane Sawyer did publicize their donations -- which I feel diminishes the act of giving -- but they gave, nonetheless.  (Perhaps ABC pushed the word out, so their stars would look good after NBC hosted the on-air fundraiser.)

But Robin reminded me that one prominent New Yorker -- who NEVER forgets to publicize anything he does -- was silent and invisible after our ordeal here.  Where, she asked, was Donald Trump, who has made his riches from real estate in New York and also in Atlantic City.  His wealth, in fact, came largely from his father, who owned many apartment buildings in Queens -- one of the harder-hit boroughs.  We haven't heard a word about any money from Trump to help his fellow New Yorkers.

Instead, it seems, he's been busy touting his friendship with Mitt Romney and then, following the election, crying like a spoiled baby who didn't get his way.  For a man who had been considering a run for the nation's top office, he has not acted Presidential or even like a responsible leader by making crazy statements like "the election is a sham and a travesty" or calling for "a revolution in this country."

He took his crazy tweets down after there was a public outrage, but still... he made these and other divisive statements publicly.

When NBC's Brian Williams called him out for this, he started name-calling and compared the ratings for his "Apprentice" show to Williams' newscast, saying, "Wouldn't you love to have my ratings?"

Trump would better serve his own reputation and his brand if he reached out to help the get the city that made him rich through the aftermath of the hurricane. I've heard from many people who would never choose to live in a building bearing his name, because he has done such damage to his name.  To many, rather than representing luxury and elegance, Trump represents tackiness and hucksterism.

By the way, I do agree that the Electoral College system is antiquated and needs to be replaced by a simple popular vote.  But calling for a revolution is not the way for a supposed leader to try to bring about change.

 

Disaster marketing...the best and the worst

Disaster tends to bring out the best and the worst in us. 

Some marketers recently exhibited some of the worst as they tried to capitalize on the hurricane.

Retailers like Gap, Urban Outfitters and American Apparel launched and then quickly withdrew campaigns and sales that lamely tried to play cute with taglines that referred to “flood,” "storm,” "wind” and “power.”  Those attempts didn’t play well at all with people who lost loved ones, homes, cars and/or power and the everyday conveniences that come with electricity.

Who knows what the marketing execs at these companies (and their agencies) were thinking.  Or perhaps they simply weren’t thinking at all.  Those companies were called out loudly online and in social media, and they suffered further embarrassment in major media including The New York Times.

Linking to major events can be a good idea, but that’s when the events are things like Super Bowl, The World Series, daylight savings or Halloween.  But to hitch your wagon to the most devastating hurricane in memory is… just plain dumb!

At the same time as some companies were making bad marketing moves, others were doing really smart things to bolster customer relations and build goodwill.  Duracell, the battery company, had portable power stations in high-visibility locations like Times Square, where people could plug in for free to charge cellphones and laptops.  Photos, with the Duracell logo clearly shown, appeared in newspapers and online.  Stuart Elliott featured it in his Times column on Thursday.

Other companies did smart things to help customers and non-customers alike, not necessarily aimed at generating publicity, but certainly cementing relationships with customers and possibly bringing in new customers over time. 

In midtown Manhattan, where power didn’t go out, banks, stores and cafes opened their doors and floors to people looking to recharge their mobile devices.  At the Chase branch where I bank, on Second Avenue and 43^rd Street, the ATM lobby became a recharging center.  Dozens of people sat on the floor or on the window sills, recharging and talking on their phones and working on their laptops.  The folks at Chase had put out extension cords so many people could plug in.  They put up free coffee, and they opened their restrooms to the power-deprived.

I saw similar scenes at local Staples stores, where they also offered use of the floor model laptops.  And Starbucks, Cosi and other coffee shops were also filled to the brim with people nursing a cup of coffee while catching up on the phone or online.

For Chase, it’s already paid off beautifully in publicity.  A 1/3-page photo in Friday’s New York Times showed people at the Chase branch, with the Chase name boldly and clearly visible four or fives times over the ATMs shown in the picture.

The lesson here… think before capitalizing on a big event.