ViewPoint
July 2014

Verified Would Like to Welcome...

Evaluation Engineering
NP Communications, LLC
Sarasota, FL
Evaluation Engineering (EE) has published in-depth technical information to the engineering test market for more than 50 years, serving engineers, engineering managers, and corporate managers responsible for test and quality of electronic products and systems. EE is a multimedia resource delivering a monthly magazine and digital edition, weekly e-newsletters, e-product showcases, special reports, trade show events, and a comprehensive website to buyers and specifiers of test equipment in semiconductors, medical, communication, RF, microwave and wireless applications.

14 Ways to Enhance the Power of Printed Magazines

At first glance, a printed magazine seems simple. After all, a magazine is just a bunch of static pages that can't be updated, tweeted, pinned, interstitialed, linked, liked, clicked, popped up, dissolved, cookied, tracked, hacked or search-engine optimized.

But print has its own, often subtle, possibilities – possibilities that are often overlooked by advertisers, 22-year-old ad-agency media buyers and even publishers.

READ MORE AT PUBLISHING EXECUTIVE

Three Steps to Cross-Devise Success for Publishers

The benefits that come with leveraging cross-device identity for advertising are well known. Cross-device campaigns lead to better targeting, stronger campaign metrics and higher return on ad spend for advertisers, plus better user experiences, higher engagement and more value from users as they move across screens. But even with the knowledge of these benefits, many publishers haven't fully embraced cross-device data. When publishers don't have insights about their users, they struggle to maximize the value of their mobile and desktop inventory.

Ultimately, publishers need to follow a three-step path for cross-device success:

1. Understand where the challenges are. Publishers typically face three challenges in an increasingly cross-device world.

First, they don't know who their audience is. Many publishers have added cookies or login systems to learn about users, but even in those cases, they know very little about users' interests and preferences, and it's difficult to find those users outside of a single platform, not to mention across devices.

The second challenge is that publishers want to empower their sales teams to establish more direct relationships with advertisers to command more value for their audiences, versus devaluing inventory through a marketplace. However, the "do it yourself" approach is often not possible for anyone but the largest publishers.

A third common challenge: Marketers are moving ad spend to mobile and want cross-device data for targeting, given that Google reports that 90% of multiple-device owners use screens sequentially to complete online tasks. Though this trend of increasing mobile spend may not necessarily be a burden for publishers with mobile inventory, the issue is that marketers are expecting high return on their mobile spend, which publishers cannot necessarily guarantee due to limited mobile data.

2. Learn how to solve those challenges. By selecting the right partners, publishers can easily make their data work for them. Many publishers already use data management platforms (DMPs), which help profile users on siloed platforms, either desktop or mobile. But DMPs can't necessarily match users across screens. That's where device matching comes into play. There are several companies that have built cross-device pairing technology utilizing either deterministic or probabilistic device matching, the two most common ways to solve for cross-device identity.

The deterministic approach is person-based identification that involves collecting personal data and using that data to connect users across devices, typically through a login system. The probabilistic device-pairing method uses accessible data, from ad requests, for example, to make predictions about users.

3. Leverage cross-device data to add value. The most important value-add of cross-device data is that it enables publishers to participate in audience extension. Whether using first-party audience segments, advertisers' audience segments or third-party DMP audience segments, the ability to leverage audience data to reach desktop users on their mobile devices makes any publisher a valued partner for advertisers.

Once publishers are able to offer cross-device data and retargeting abilities, they can offer their advertisers even deeper features, such as cross-device frequency capping, storyboarding and sequential messaging.

Ultimately, the sophisticated use of cross-device audience data leads to more value for everyone involved. Publishers can command higher prices because their inventory is more valuable, advertisers can run more effective campaigns and users are provided with more relevant messaging.

© 2014 MediaPost Communications

Events Calendar

ASME Next Talks with Eva Chen
August 6, 2014
New York, NY
www.magazine.org

Association for Education in Journalism
and Mass Communications Conference
August 6 – 9, 2014
Montreal, Canada
www.aejmc.org/

Asian American Journalist Association Convention
August 13 – 16, 2014
Washington, DC
www.aaja.org

Digital Transformation and the Changing Role of News Media in the 21st Century
August 13 – 14, 2014
Geneva, Switzerland
www.itu.int

World Library and Information Congress:
80th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
August 16 – 22, 2014
Lyon, France
www.ifla.org

NLGJA National Convention and 10th LGBT Media Summit
August 21 – 24, 2014
Chicago, IL
www.nlgja.org/2014

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

Americans Becoming Self-and-Spend Centered

According to Mintel's annual comparative audit report, American Lifestyles 2014, renewed consumer spending is in line with pre-recession trends, and consumer optimism is higher than it's been in years.

The outlook for 2014 continues the positive trend with spending expected to increase further by 3.6%, more than three times the projected rate of inflation for the year.

"After five years of slow growth, Americans have passed the tipping point of prolonged economic worry, cautiously accepting that things are better," said Fiona O'Donnell, Category Manager at Mintel. "Confidence in personal finances (allows) consumers to think about the future and look forward rather than linger over the past."

The report forecasts that total U.S. consumer expenditures will grow by 20% from 2013 to 2018 to reach $12,025 billion. The categories that appear to be poised to show the greatest gains over the next five years are many of the same ones that performed the strongest from 2012 to 2013:

• Nonessentials such as leisure and entertainment (+28.5%)
• Vacations and tourism (+27.3%)
• Technology and communications (+25.2%)
• Alcohol on premises (+23.7%)

Over the course of one year, the share who say they spend extra money on vacations nearly doubled. This is the greatest gain for any one area of consumer spending and is a sign of improved finances, or at least optimism, says the report.

Fiona notes that "Adults aged 18–24, in particular, are looking at the world around them and see all the possibilities ahead. Owing in part to social media and the ability to share instantaneously with others, young adults are placing a higher value on 'experiences' as opposed some of the more traditional purchases of their parents' generation. A desire for experiences over stuff, coupled with a record number of Baby Boomers reaching retirement, has seen expenditures on categories such as dining out, vacations, leisure and entertainment, and alcohol outpace spending overall, a trend that is expected to continue over the next five years."

Americans are also focused on self-improvement for 2014. Top goals for 2014 include:

• Increased family time (88%)
• Healthier diet (88%)
• Exercising more (87%)
• Getting household finances in order (84%)
• Achieving a better work/life balance (82%)
• Taking care of personal appearance (81%)

Breaking down some of the winning categories paints a picture of optimism and growth.

Vacations and tourism spending has outpaced total U.S. consumer expenditure growth and, over the next five years, steady growth is expected in this category, with total expenditures forecast to reach $282.4 billion by 2018, a 27.3% increase over 2013 spending.

It appears that Americans are more likely to indulge in vacation spending, says the report. While previously, 41% of respondents indicated they were spending less on vacations than they had in the year before, this share has now declined dramatically to just 30%. Baby Boomers are a driving force behind vacation spending, though families headed by young Millennials will also contribute to the market.

Leisure and entertainment is the star performer with expenditures forecast to increase by 28.5% to reach $431.6 billion in 2018, nearly $150 billion more than the total forecast for vacations and tourism.

Similar to vacations and tourism, young adults, particularly men aged 18–34, are most likely to say they are spending more on leisure and entertainment, says the report. In 2013, nearly half of the spending in this sector is attributed to membership dues for clubs and fees associated with sports centers, parks, theaters and museums.

Millennials' average spend per year on entertainment is about $716 dollars less than the average American's spend. Despite this difference, Millennials have increased their spending on leisure compared to prior years and plan to spend more in the coming two years. The 18–24 age group is more likely to experience this leisure time alone.

As the relatively wealthy Baby Boomer generation moves on to its next life stage (retirement), this group will have more time to devote to leisure and entertainment. In 2014, the youngest of the Boomers turns 50. At 76 million strong, their shift from the work place to leisure space will positively impact the category.

"Consumer spending for leisure and entertainment will continue to increase over the next five years. Growth will be impressive, with spending in the sector expected to outpace all others as recessionary cutbacks fade from memory," says Fiona. "The importance of 'affordable playtime' is recognized as a priority for Americans, regardless of demographics or financial standing,"

Many of the staple consumer electronics products and services have struggled to maintain their historically high growth levels, due largely to market saturation for electronic items such as televisions and the consolidation of functionality to multipurpose devices. Aside from smartphones (two out of three consumers own one), and tablets (four out of 10), the rate of increase in consumer spend on hardware and electronic equipment has slowed considerably.

With more content going digital, consumer interest in streaming, VOD (video-on-demand) and other Internet media will rise rapidly, with projected sales of streaming TV and movies doubling between 2013 and 2018, says the report. Furthermore, nearly half of consumers reported they watched some form of streaming video (purchase, rental or free) in 2013.

"Many segments of technology and communications are at a turning point, given the prevalence of hardware in consumers' lives," concludes Bryant Harland, Technology Analyst at Mintel. "A major emphasis for 2014 will be on the quality of the software and services that those devices provide access to rather than the hardware itself."

© 2014 MediaPost Communications

Join our LinkedIn Group!
Connect with Others in Your Profession

Verified Audit Circulation has created a LinkedIn group so you can keep up to date on the latest auditing guidelines, industry trends and research.

Connect with other publishing professionals and participate in discussion topics, share your thoughts, ask questions, read what your peers and thought leaders have to say.

This LinkedIn group is for you! We encourage you to make the most of it! | JOIN NOW

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

Verified Audit Circulation
900 Larkspur Landing Circle, Suite 230
Larkspur, CA 94939-1758
415.461.6006
415.461.6007 fax