sourcemediagroup
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sourcemediagroup
december 2015
As a valued current or potential business partner of Source Media Group, you are a member of an exclusive club. And one of the benefits you receive as a member of the SMG club — in addition to great advertising opportunities — is this regular newsletter. From expert advertising advice; to upcoming events and publications; to profiles of our friendly, helpful staff; it’s all to assist you in getting the best return on investment for your marketing dollar. Your questions and comments regarding this newsletter or any of our publications may be emailed to newsletter@sourcemediagroup.ca ■
Self-educating
Learning where to learn about magazines
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here’s an old saying that goes something like this: “If you give a person a fish, they eat for a day. If you teach them how to fish, they eat for a lifetime”. Well, magazine research is kind of like that. You can rely on other people to feed you various numbers and statistics, numbers you need to do your job well, or you can ‘self-educate’ yourself on where to find what you need. When you’re talking about magazines, there are several sources you can go to for the critical information you need to make informed advertising decisions. For the bigger, national and international newsstand titles, this might mean subscribing to CARD (Canadian Advertising Rates and Data) or simply asking for an ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) report. For most smaller local and regional publications, however, such formalities are not the norm. In fact, it’s more likely than not that the local magazine in question will
not be distributed via paid newsstands and subscriptions but by ‘controlled’ circulation. From an advertiser’s viewpoint either method, or some combination of the two is fine, as long as the number of copies actually picked up is strong. That’s why it’s important for savvy advertisers to make the distinction between total print run and pick-up percentage. For example, with our own Condo Living and New Home Living magazines, with 25,000 printed and more than 20,000 picked-up our pick-up rate of 80+ per cent is considered high by industry standards. In fact, our pick-up is more than some of our nearest competitor’s total print run. And, with more than 1,000 locations, we’ve only got three or four magazines left in each rack per month. One each would be perfect, but that could be asking a little much. It’s especially true for newsstand magazines, where distribution contract demands usually mean printing and providing distributors with many more magazines than are ever actually
sold. Trust me, we had a newsstand magazine a few years back, RESORTS, and it was available in Chapters and such, which was cool, it was even a Finalist for Best Newsstand Issue, New Magazine in 2005. The problem was the sellthrough in the stores was about 10 per cent which, we were assured, was ‘normal’. Anyways, most smaller local magazines
self-educating
Toolkit
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offer a very targeted readership both in terms of geography and the type of content that interests them. They don’t have the budget or print enough magazines to do ABCs and such. But they do almost always have a website you can check out to see what the content is like and you can call one of the advertising reps and ask for rates and circulation data. One way local companies gain credibility is by belonging to the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (AMPA). This means that they adhere to the industry guidelines set out for such things as ad placement, labeling of advertising features, and various other rules meant to protect editorial integrity. It also means taking advantage of everything else AMPA has to offer not just us publishing industry types, but freelance writers and photographers as well as advertising professionals. AMPA offers various seminars throughout the year focused on different aspects of the magazine industry. One month it might be about distribution. The next, advertising. There’s always a session or two on magazine advertising at the annual conference each spring (see www.albertamagazines.com for details) and, of course, tons of seminars are available in their digital library if you happen to miss them. Every couple of years there’s even a big free breakfast, usually co-hosted by Magazines Canada, which introduces all the latest magazine research . Speaking of Mags Canada, they are another fountain of information about magazines. Seriously, these guys are the motherload, the jackpot, the be all and end all of magazine research. If you check out their website or one of the magazine fact books, the amount of information available is simply astounding. If you ever have the time, go on and just surf
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agazines Canada has created a toolkit that compiles research from the industry’s most current resources. These targeted documents each tell a story about magazine media’s key benefits, making research more accessible and less time-consuming for agencies, advertisers and publishers. This collection of 11 documents includes charts, graphs and videos from the best available research from Canada and around the world. These resources are available now in Mags Canada’s online Information Centre in both French and English. · Targeting High Value Consumers · Throw to Web & Search · Advertising Frequency · Word of Mouth & Social Influence · Ad Receptivity & Engagement · Impact Efficiencies · Focused Attention · ROI & Intent to Buy · Trust · Transition to Digital: The Future of Magazines · Magazine Readers Take Action
events
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e are active at many Cochrane and Okotoks Chamber of Commerce events plus many CHBA-Calgary and CHBA-Central Alberta member events — from annual awards and conferences, to golf tournments, not to mention literally 100s of show home openings. We also participate in the spring Home + Garden Show, Homexpo, and the Fall Home + Interior Design Show in Calgary. Homexpo…………………………………………………………………… January 15-17 Calgary Home + Garden Show…………………………………… February 25-28 Okotoks Trade & Lifestyle Show………………………………… April 15-16
2016
CHBA-Calgary SAM Awards Gala……………………………… April 16 Cochrane Trade Show………………………………………………… April 30
for a while. There’s surveys and studies and reports and graphs, etc. on everything you could possibly imagine, and probably some things that will surprise you, at www.magazinescanada.ca. Another useful resource that requires a little less personal effort but nonetheless has solid info from the publishing industry across many different levels of publishers is actually another magazine. Masthead magazine is the magazine about magazines. Whether you are an industry insider, or consider
yourself a magazine expert, you should be reading Masthead (www.mastheadonline. com). Consider the time spent an investment in your professional development. So, you see, when it comes to magazines it’s easy to self-educate. No doctor’s prescription necessary. It’s an ongoing process, this learning about magazines, but if your job involves buying media, including print, then the more you learn about them the better — and knowing where to learn about them is a great place to start. ■
What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it. — David Ogilvy
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FORE!
What the experts say
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ource Media Group employees have been hard at work supporting good causes and clients by playing in various golf tournaments this past year.
About the future of magazines
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july 23 publisher Norma Robertson, associate publisher Jim Zang and sales executive Andrea Glowatsky enjoyed a round of nine holes at the Cochrane Chamber of Commerce Tournament.
here’s an old TV ad that used to say “When EF Hutton speaks, people listen”, referring to a wellrespected brokerage house. There are certain people and organizations whose words carry that kind of weight. In the magazine publishing industry in North America, one of those companies is Hearst Magazines and one of the people is Michael Clinton, Hearst’s president, marketing and publishing director. Following are a few highlights from an interview he gave with Mr. Magazine a little more than a year ago (for full story visit http://goo.gl/JYvuyh).
august 13 associate publisher Jim Zang and advertising executive Heather Dougall joined the Brad Remington Homes crew at Heather Glen in support of the Heart and Stroke Fund.
mr. magazine (MM): And why is it that Hearst is among the very few who have been promoting new magazines, talking about new launches; what’s the rest of the industry doing?
august 17 publisher Norma Robertson
michael clinton (MC): That’s a great question, but I don’t know. I think that as the chairman of the MPA, we always talk with encouragement when it comes to new product launches and bringing new magazines to the marketplace, because we now have new proof points that if you put out a great product, the consumer will come and the consumer will pay. We now have three proof points on that. We’d love more of our peer companies to step out and put out a new magazine and a new concept. But we’re happy to continue to innovate on that front. We now have the perception in the marketplace that we are the innovators in regards to new magazines in this time period. That we’re the ones that will innovate and put out new products and feel strong about new print products as well as all the other things that we’re doing digitally.
june 5 advertising executive Cindy Marks joined members of the Canadian Home Builders Association – Central Alberta region at Alberta Springs just outside Red Deer.
june 15 publisher Norma Robertson teed off at the Peanut Butter Classic at Heritage Pointe Golf Club to raise money for the Calgary Food Bank.
invited CHBA-Calgary CEO Donna Moore to join her for the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre (AARC) tournament at Silvertip in Canmore.
august 20 Cindy Marks took on official photographer duties at the Calgary Home Builders Foundation (CHBF) Presidents’ Charity Golf Tournament at Priddis Greens. september 1 Condo Living, New Home Living and DOMUS editor Pepper Rodriguez took up the challenge at the Qualico Homes invitational at Heritage Pointe.
september 10 the Source Media Group fearsome foursome of associate publisher Jim Zang, production administrator Colleen Leier, sales executives Andrea Glowatsky and photographer Don Molyneaux joined forces with Landmark Homes at the Elks Club with proceeds to the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter. ■
MM: So are you a believer in print?
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MC: Big time. I think what we see, and once again I’ll go back to today, Dr. Oz, we have 300,000 subscriptions in hand. It has been one of the fastest ramp ups, one of the highest pay rates, where the consumer actually wrote the check; and as you know we sold out on the newsstand and went back to press. So I think even if it was 2008 when it was Food Network, people might say, well okay, that was then and then we did HGTV in 2011 and people might say, that was then, but it’s 2014 and it’s happening again people. I think the trick is in finding a fresh voice in a cluttered marketplace and I think those three examples really had a fresh voice in their market. MM: What do you think is the most problematic issue we have today in the magazine marketplace? MC: I think that we’re in a state of confusion and disruption in the media landscape in general. And I think that if you’re a CMO today of a brand and you think about everything that is coming at you, the big headline in Adweek: is TV dead? Video is taking over. Every media platform seems to have big issues as part of the overall media ecosystem that marketers are challenged with. So the print medium has a long history of tried and true audience and audience measurement, but in a world of disruption everything is sort of up for grabs. So I think what a lot of marketers are finding and what I’m seeing is that it’s all about the media mix and magazines play a part in that mix. That when you have the correct media mix in your media spends it can actually lift all boats. There’s a lot of noise and disruption and I think the overall noise and disruption affects all media, not just magazines. ■
upcoming deadlines FEBRUARY EDITION Ad Booking: Thursday, December 31 Ad Material: Thursday, January 7 Publication: Thursday, January 21
FEBRUARY EDITION Ad Booking: Thursday, January 7 Ad Material: Thursday, January 14 Publication: Thursday, January 28
SPRING EDITION Ad Booking: Wednesday, January 20 Ad Material: Wednesday, January 27 Publication: Friday, February 12
2016 ISSUE Ad Booking: Wednesday, January 27 Ad Material: Wednesday, February 10 Publication: Thursday, February 25
2016 EDITION Ad Booking: Friday, January 29 Ad Material: Friday, February 5 Publication: Monday, February 29
Suite 207, 5809 Macleod Trail SW Calgary, Alberta T2H 0J9 newsletters@sourcemediagroup.ca www.sourcemediagroup.ca Telephone: 403.532.3101 Fax: 403.532.3109 Toll Free: 1.888.932.3101
key contacts Richard MacQuarrie, Publisher t: 403.532.3101 ext. 224 e: richard.macquarrie@sourcemediagroup.ca
Norma Robertson, Publisher t: 403.532.3101 ext. 223 e: norma.robertson@sourcemediagroup.ca
Jim Zang, Associate Publisher Editor: Okotoks Living, Cochrane Living and Central Alberta Homes & Lifestyles t: 403.532.3101 ext. 222 e: jim.zang@sourcemediagroup.ca
Jean Faye Rodriguez, Art Director t: 403.532.3101 ext. 236 e: jean.rodriguez@sourcemediagroup.ca
Pepper Rodriguez, Editor
SPRING ISSUE Ad Booking: Wednesday, February 3 Ad Material: Wednesday, February 10 Publication: Friday, February 26
Condo Living, New Home Living and DOMUS t: 403.532.3101 ext. 233 e: pepper.rodriguez@sourcemediagroup.ca
Colleen Leier, Production Administrator t: 403.532.3101 ext. 226 e: colleen.leier@sourcemediagroup.ca
SPRING EDITION Ad Booking: Friday, February 12 Ad Material: Friday, February 19 Publication: Friday, March 4
SPRING EDITION Ad Booking: Wednesday, February 17 Ad Material: Wednesday, February 24 Publication: Friday, March 11
SPRING EDITION Ad Booking: Thursday, March 3 Ad Material: Thursday, March 17 Publication: Thursday, March 31
SPRING EDITION Ad Booking: Thursday, March 31 Ad Material: Thursday, April 14 Publication: Thursday, April 28
Heather Dougall, Account Executive Condo Living and DOMUS t: 403.532.3101 ext. 241 e: heather.dougall@sourcemediagroup.ca
Cindy Marks, Account Executive New Home Living, Cochrane Living and DOMUS t: 403.532.3101 ext. 228 e: cindy.marks@sourcemediagroup.ca
Andrea Glowatsky, Account Executive Okotoks Living, Profile and CHBA – CR Membership Directory t: 403.532.3101 ext. 242 e: andrea.glowatsky @sourcemediagroup.ca
James Pearce, Account Executive DOMUS, Central Alberta Homes & Lifestyles t: 403.532.3101 ext. 237 e: james.pearce@sourcemediagroup.ca