ViewPoint
April 2013

Verified Would Like to Welcome...

Pollution Equipment News
Rimbach Publishing, Inc.
Pittsburgh, PA
Pollution Equipment News features products and services used by those who design or are responsible for the pollution abatement systems and policies for their organization. Pollution Equipment News informs and educates professionals in the water and wastewater, air pollution control and hazardous waste disposal industries.

Clovis News Journal
Clovis Media, Inc.
Clovis, NM
Cloves News Journal is a publication that is distributed locally in Clovis, New Mexico. It covers local news including community events, entertainment, sports, business, real estate and classifieds.

Newspaper Ad Revenues Drop Again

Newspaper advertising revenues have been dropping steadily for some years now, and the end of 2012 brought no respite for publishers. Total ad revenues (including print and online) fell 8.5% from $6.83 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $6.26 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the latest figures from the Newspaper Association of America.

Over the same period, total print revenues tumbled 10.8% from $5.93 billion to $4.36 billion. Online ad revenues increased 6.9% from $906 million to $968 million. This marked the 26th straight quarter of year-over-year declines for total advertising revenues.

For the full year, total ad revenues – including niche publications, direct marketing and nondaily publication advertising – fell 6.5% from $27.1 billion in 2011 to $25.3 billion in 2012. Focusing on the combined Sunday and daily ad revenues, including both print and online, total revenues slipped 6.8% from $23.9 billion to $22.3 billion. The latter figure is just 45% of peak newspaper revenues of $49.4 billion in 2005, equaling a 55% decline in seven years.

As in previous reports, newspaper advertising revenues declined across all the major categories in 2012, with classifieds down 8% to $4.63 billion, retail down 7.6% to $10.98 billion and national down 11.7% to $3.34 billion. In the fourth quarter, classifieds fell 8.9% to $1.31 billion, retail 10% to $3.1 billion, and national 16.2% to $875 million.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, online advertising contributed 15.5% of total newspaper advertising revenues, up from a 13.3% share in the fourth quarter of 2011.

© MediaPost Communications 2013

Millennials Spend More on Family Entertainment

According to new research from Mintel on family leisure preferences, Millennial (aged 18–35 in 2012) moms and dads have family entertainment spending habits that contrast with their older counterparts. While 42% of parents surveyed are spending less on family entertainment now than they were a year ago, more than one-third of Millennials are spending more, compared to just 17% of non-Millennial parents.

Younger dads' (aged 18–34) spending habits in this sector show a disparity with older fathers and all mothers. 79% of younger dads spend less than $300 per month on family entertainment. However, 21% of this segment spends more than $300 a month, versus only 11% of men over 35 and 7% of women 18–34 years old.

"Dads take a more relaxed approach to family activities compared to moms who are typically the budget makers and enforcers," stated Gretchen Grabowski, a travel and leisure analyst at Mintel. "Dads see their role [as] choosing fun activities that instantly gratify their kids."

Nearly three in 10 parents say budget restrictions prevent their families from participating in their entertainment activities of choice, and 25% say that kids' extracurricular obligations lessen their available time.

Work obligations are also a primary barrier for young parents. One quarter of 18–34-year-olds say their spouse or partner doesn't have time for family activities due to time spent working, a larger share than any older age group surveyed.

91% of parents surveyed agree their family usually has a good time when they're together, 77% of kids aged 6–11 say they like spending time with their family and 73% of 12–17-year-olds say they really like to be with their family.

"The likelihood that dads are the primary spenders in this sector opens the door for marketers to target this group, [and] the fact that kids enjoy family bonding is important to their development," said Grabowski. "Marketers should focus their promotions on family activities that are recreational, educational and promote [the] social development of young children." | READ MORE

© MediaPost Communications 2013

Events Calendar

Digital Analytics Association
Washington, DC Symposium 2013
June 4, 2013
Washington, DC
digitalanalyticsassociation.org

MPA Retail MarketPlace 2013 Conference
June 10 – 12, 2013
Philadelphia, PA
magazine.org

MPA Magazine University –
Summer 2013 Program for Magazine Interns
June 20 – 21, 2013
New York, NY
magazine.org

AABP Summer Conference 2013
June 20 – 22, 2013
Nashville, TN
bizpubs.com

Investigative Reports & Editors Conference
June 20 – 23, 2013
San Antonio, TX
ire.org

American Society of Newspaper Editors Annual Conference
June 24 – 26, 2013
Washington, DC
asne.org

2013 MPA Digital: Technology
June 25, 2013
New York, NY
magazine.org

If you have an event that you would like to announce,
please send your information to e-newsletter@verifiedaudit.com.

Verified Has Approved California Marketing Group's New
Voice Broadcast Subscription Order Confirmation Tool

Verified Audit Circulation has given approval to California Marketing Group's (CMG) new voice broadcast subscription order tool for short-form subscription requalifications for B2B publications.

The new interactive voice response (IVR) tool allows publishers to update subscriber requests to keep them within the three-year qualification window using automated calls instead of live telemarketers. The IVR can also update name, title and address information for subscribers, as well as document opt-outs. At this time, complete business/industry qualification IVR calls are not approved by Verified.

"This innovative new subscriber contact tool will provide publishers with a user-friendly technology that will help them offset their subscription renewal investment," said Samantha Tremble, Vice President of CMG and 14-year veteran of the industry. "We are very excited to partner with VAC because it ensures publishers will have additional tools to ensure their requalification order. This will have an immediate impact and improve the user experience and our client's budgets." CMG's IVR order confirmation tool allows magazine subscribers the ability to quickly and easily confirm their subscription using a few strokes of their phone keypad.

"In addition to the valuable role telemarketing orders play in the industry, we view this exciting new VAC-approved service as another valuable tool that our clients can use to quickly and easily renew their targeted subscribers," said Kinjal Husges, Sales Director at CMG. "Publishers that diversify their marketing channels have the most client interaction and survivability in this changing media landscape. As partners with VAC, we can give our clients additional options to meet their circulation goals."

Be sure to have the IVR script approved by Verified prior to launching the requalification campaign. Until further notice, please include a personal idenitifying question (PIQ) in the script even though the IVR calls are being recorded.

If you have questions regarding IVR requalifications for your publication, please contact Verified at 415-461-6006 or CMG at 858-634-1072.

Tips & Techniques: Free (Non-Paid) Requester Circulation

Free (Non-Paid) Requester circulation is defined as free (non-paid) individual subscriptions for which the request is not more than three years old. If the request is not renewed within three years, the subscriber may be reclassified as Association/Group/Directory or Free Mail/Carrier. Free requester copies can be delivered via mail or carrier.

For the audit, the publisher must provide documentation of the request via phone, email, online, mail or in person. Types of requester documentation include telemarketing recordings, signed and dated requester cards, emails, etc. All requests must be within three years to qualify as free requester circulation.

Free requested subscriptions that don't have a signature and date in writing or aren't recorded must include a personal indentifying question (PIQ). Examples of PIQs are month of birth, first pet's name, city of birth, etc. PIQs must be changed annually. If the subscriber refuses to answer the primary PIQ, an alternate question may be used. Requests without a response to the PIQ may be considered non-qualified.

Free requester subscriptions must be delivered for a minimum period:

Publication Frequency (Minimum Term)
Quarterly (1 quarter)
Monthly (3 months)
Weekly (5 weeks)
2 or more times per week (5 weeks)

In addition to the request documentation, records must be kept of the delivery, including detailed carrier route list, carrier payroll, etc. or postal statements.

Clear instructions on how to opt-out of the requested subscription must be published in each issue. The subscriber must have the option to opt-out when being contacted to renew the subscription as well.

For questions regarding Free (Non-paid) Requester circulation, please contact Verified at 415-461-6006.

Please send comments and story ideas to
e-newsletter@verifiedaudit.com or contact us at:

Verified Audit Circulation
900 Larkspur Landing Circle, Suite 295
Larkspur, CA 94939-1758
415.461.6006
415.461.6007 fax