iewPoint |
Volume 2 | Number 6 | June 2006
This Month's Features:
Verified Would Like to Welcome...
Verified Now Offers Advertising Red Books Access
Do You Have World Cup Fever?
Using Data to Sell Advertising
BandAds™ Offer New Advertising Opportunity
Events Calendar
Guide to Your Audit: Other Non-Qualified Circulation
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Verified Would Like to Welcome...
Sonoma Valley SunThree House MultiMedia, Inc.
Sonoma, CA
Sonoma Valley Sun is a weekly newspaper serving the city of Sonoma and surrounding communities with fresh and unbiased news reporting, smart graphics, and fresh photography. The Sun is a total market coverage product with its finger firmly on the pulse of the town it serves, allowing its readership to stay tuned in to the issues of the day.
West County GazetteCapital Gazette Communications, Inc.
Annapolis, MD
West County Gazette is a local community newspaper delivered on Thursdays in western Anne Arundel County, MD. It is the only newspaper published exclusively for the residents of Odenton, Gambrills, Piney Orchard, Seven Oaks, Russett, Four Seasons, and Maryland City.
Verified Now Offers Advertising Red Books Access
For more than 100 years, Advertising Red Books has been the industry's leading source for information about advertisers and advertising agencies. The Advertisers Database contains nearly 18,000 advertisers who spend at least $200,000 on advertising annually. The Agency Database contains detailed profiles of almost 14,000 advertising agencies.Verified now offers clients unlimited access to this valuable information for prospecting and other business purposes. Publications can receive data about advertisers and/or agencies by geographic area, company type, company name, advertising expenditures, brand, specialties and other search criteria. You receive a full report including company profile and contact information for all key personnel.
To use this new service, contact your Account Coordinator at Verified. Tell them what information you would like and the search criteria you would like to use. You will receive information electronically in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
You can use the information in any way and keep it as long as you like. You are unlimited in the number of searches you can request per year. The only restriction is that the information cannot be sold to a third party.
For more information on Advertising Red Books and the valuable information they provide, go to www.redbooks.com.
If you have any questions, please call Verified at 415-460-6006.
Do You Have World Cup Fever?
Media agencies and leading analysts expect the soccer World Cup, which runs from June 9 to July 9 in Germany, will take in $1 billion in advertising revenue in over 50 countries across all media. Fifteen major global brands including Adidas, Coca-Cola, MasterCard and McDonald's all have ads referencing the World Cup.Despite the huge ad spending worldwide, most U.S. ad agencies make claims like "the event had 'very little importance' or was 'not important.'" The one exception is the American Hispanic market. In that market, agencies categorized the World Cup as "extremely important."
According to TNS Media Intelligence, a provider of advertising and marketing information, during the first 11 months of 2005, Spanish-language TV networks experienced the most advertising growth. However, over the same period, print media also experienced ad-spending increases ranging from 10.5% for magazines to 1.6% for newspapers.
This year, the U.S. team was ranked fifth overall by FIFA going into the World Cup. Soccer is gaining popularity in the U.S., but the country's fan base remains small compared to sports such as football and baseball.
Using Data to Sell Advertising
Data isn't the same as information. You can tell potential advertisers that your readership is 10,000, the average household income is $75,000, and your CPM is $12, but unless you put that data into context, you won't be able turn it into information that your advertisers can understand and act upon. Your goal is to bridge the gap between data and understanding.Before just throwing data at advertisers, ask yourself two questions:
- What do I need to tell my clients to persuade them to buy advertising in my publication?
- What data can be turned into persuasive information?
Select the relevant from the irrelevant
Each client is motivated by a different piece of data. Don't use every statistic from the media kit every time. Try to determine what exactly about your publication interests the potential advertiser. Is it the CPM or the market penetration? Leave the rest in reserve.
Transform data into information
Any fact can be turned into information. Data can be presented in countless ways. What makes sense for one client might not make sense for another. For example, 22% of your readers have an income of $75,000. In the U.S., however, only 6% have that income. This can be presented in different ways:
- Our readers are 252% more likely to have a household income of $75,000
- Out of every 1,000 reader households, 222 have incomes of $75,000
Context can either play down a point or illustrate it. Comparing apples to apples can showcase your publication's strengths. Comparing your CPM to your competitors can be a very effective sales tool for your publication if it highlights the value of your readership.
Connect information to client needs
Information only sells when it meets the needs of your client. Hard data should only be part of the story. For example, your publication reaches 10,000 readers, and 75% fall into your advertiser's target demographic. Your competitor also reaches 10,000 readers, but only 40% of their readers fall into the advertiser's target demographic.
Be armed with your publication's data, but present it as information. Using data effectively can increase sales and add to your publication's bottom line.
BandAds™ Offer New Advertising Opportunity
HomeStretch Media recently successfully launched BandAds™ with the Los Angeles Times and Disneyland. BandAds are advertisements imprinted on colorful rubber band bracelets that are wrapped around home-delivered newspapers.Disneyland used 300,000 lime green BandAds around the Los Angeles Times to promote the theme park's 50th anniversary and the reopening of Space Mountain.
"The day the Disneyland BandAds were wrapped around the LA Times, people of all ages were seen wearing the bands on their wrists all over Southern California, especially the younger demographic," says HomeStretch Media President and CEO Eric Corwin. "With so much attention currently focused on high-tech advertising, BandAds is a simple low-tech item that stands out from the rest of the crowd and really connects with consumers."
BandAds are akin to Lance Armstrong's popular "Live Strong" bracelet. According to HomeStretch Media, they come in a wide range of colors and start at $25 cpm. In addition to advertising, bracelets can be used as free collectibles or coupons and are eco-friendly and biodegradable.
Newspapers and rubber bands go back to 1923 when Mr. William H. Spencer started Alliance Rubber using rejected Goodyear inner tubes he cut into rubber bands in his basement. After seeing the Akron Beacon Journal blowing across lawns, Spencer persuaded newspapers managers to try his bands.
HomeStretch Media recently reached agreements with the San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee and LANG (Los Angeles Newspaper Group). Others using BandAds are the Gannett Company's top 25 newspapers (excluding USA Today), Boston Globe, and Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania).
Events Calendar
National Society of Newspaper Columnists Convention
June 29–July 2, 2006
Omni Parker House, Boston, MA
www.columnists.com
American Press Institute
Circulation Executives: Best Practices for Increasing Readership, Revenue and ROI Seminar
July 9–14, 2006
Sheraton Reston, Reston, VA
www.americanpressinstitute.org
California Newspaper Publishers Association 2006 Conference: Courage & Credibility
July 13–15, 2006
Sheraton Universal Hotel, Universal City, CA
www.cnpa.com
Oregon Newspaper Association Summer Publishers Conference
July 13–15, 2006
Resort at the Mountain, Welches, OR
www.orenews.com
North Carolina Publishers Association Annual Convention
July 13–16, 2006
Holiday Inn Sunspree, Wrightsville Beach, NC
www.ncpress.com
Midwest Free Community Papers Conference
July 14–15, 2006
West Des Moines Marriott, West Des Moines, IA
www.mfcp.com
North Carolina Press Association 2006 Advertising Conference
July 15–16, 2006
Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center, Research Triangle Park, NC
www.ncpress.com
American Society of Business Publications Editors National Editorial Conference
July 20–21, 2006
Embassy Suites Hotel – Chicago Downtown Lakefront, Chicago, IL
www.aspbe.org
Alabama Press Association Summer Convention
July 21–22, 2006
Perdido Beach Resort, Orange Beach, AL
www.alabamapress.org
Arkansas Press Association 2006 Convention
June 21–24, 2006
The Arlington Hotel, Hot Springs, AR
www.arkansaspress.org
Kentucky Press Association Newspaper Association Managers Annual Convention
August 1–6, 2006
Hyatt Regency, Louisville, KY
www.kypress.com
West Virginia Press Association Annual Convention & Membership Meeting
August 3–5, 2006
Stonewall Resort, Roanoke, WV
www.wvpress.org
SPJ Convention and National Journalism Conference
August 24–27, 2006
Hyatt Regency Chicago, Chicagol IL
www.spj.org
If you have an event that you would like to announce, please send your information to e-newsletter@verifiedaudit.com.
Guide to Your Audit: Other Non-Qualified Circulation
All publications audited by Verified report other non-qualified copies on their Quarterly Printing and Distribution Report (QPD). In the normal course of business, some number of copies do not ultimately end up in the hands of readers. For example copies uses by sales and office staff, tear sheets, and samples. These are properly classified as non-qualified. Any copies that do not meet Verified's definitions of qualified paid or free circulation are considered non-qualified.
Tracking non-qualified distribution is a requirement of your audit. It helps you to reduce costs and waste by only printing what you need. Paying attention to non-qualified copies helps you maximize your printing investment.
Here is a summary of the most common types of non-qualified distribution:
Office Use
Copies used exclusively for business are non-qualified. Office use copies include tearsheets, sales copies, staff copies, archives, back issues, etc. If the copies for office use are included on a Carrier route, or are included in a Target delivery route list, please be sure to subtract these copies from the totals reported on your QPD.
Special Event
Special event distribution is non-qualified. Copies used for trade shows, street fairs or for promotional events are all non-qualified. This special distribution can be footnoted on the Audit Report and Publisher's Statement.
Press Overruns
Extra copies received from the printer (overruns) are normally considered non-qualified. Publications must account for all copies received from the printer whether or not they are distributed. Be sure that the total printed reported on the QPD includes any overruns received from the printer. If the overrun copies are regularly distributed, they can be reported as qualified.
Samples/Extras
Copies delivered outside the normal delivery area are non-qualified. For example, copies distributed to non-subscribers as a promotion to encourage subscription sales are non-qualified. However, if samples are delivered continuously for the period specified below, they can be reported as qualified free circulation:
| Publishing Frequency | Minimum Sampling Term |
| Quarterly | 1 quarter |
| Monthly | 3 months |
| Weekly | 5 weeks |
| 2 or more times per week | 5 weeks |
Verified's online reporting Wizard software automatically calculates the non-qualified total for each issue, and will not allow you to submit the QPD with a zero or a negative amount in non-qualified. Please make sure the total printed and all data reported to Verified are accurate.
If you have any questions, 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
Phone: (415) 461-6006
Fax: (415) 461-6007