Steve Smith's Eye on Innovation: the New Content Model: Reader As Investor Passionate Newshounds Want in on the Experience
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30 YEARS AND COUNTING In my three decades at min, I have gone from “new kid on the block” to grizzled sage as I have seen the media business transform from traditional magazines, newspapers, television and radio into a digital panoply that like the universe is endless. There’s a greater quantity of information now, but quality, if anything, has diminished, as the rush to be first has come at the cost of the “who, what, when, where and how” tenets of journalism. It's no surprise that the public’s mistrust of the media is at an all-time high. That's why my proudest achievement is the trust given by min readers. To err is human, and we’ve had our share, but “you got it right” is the feedback that I've heard most and that I am most grateful for. That's why min’s tagline for years was “the authoritative newsletter for media and marketing professionals” and is now “competitive intelligence for media leaders.” Over my 30 years with min, my goal has been to adhere to the late 60 Minutes producer Don Hewitt’s “Tell me a story,” the late radio commentator Paul Harvey’s “Now you know the rest of the story,” and CBS News reporter Steve Hartman’s “Everybody has a story.” I add to the three what the late min owner Bill Barlow told me on my first day on the job: “Magazines are a people business.” And there you have it. I am forever grateful to Bill for giving me a 30-day trial on June 13, 1986 (a Friday) that has turned into 10,000 days and close to 1,500 Friday deadlines. The support continued under Tom Phillips and, since October 2000, Access Intelligence, LLC, under the leadership of president and CEO Don Pazour. As for colleagues, they include Marty Singer, Ed Papazian, Tony Schwartz, John Masterton, Lane Cooper, Debbie Vodenos, Greer Jonas, Michelle Manafy, Anthony DeRico, Jay Burzon, Michele Magazine, Rebecca McPheters, Bill Mickey, Tony Silber, Marly Dice and Kelsey Lundstrom. At present, they are Samir Husni (all 30 years), Diane Schwartz, Steve Ellwanger, Todd Krizelman, Sophie Chan-Wood, Amy Jefferies, Danielle Sikes, Rachel Feldman, and those most instrumental in putting min out every week: Caysey Welton, Michele Shapiro, Steve Smith, Jameson Doris and Yelena Shamis. And I thank our readers for all the suggestions/corrections/press releases and everything in-between, and for supporting min and me from a time back when word processing was just starting through to this rapidly evolving digital age. “Old soldiers never die,” the late General Douglas MacArthur famously said. Although I am on my “back nine,” it's not yet time to fade away. Sincerely, Steve Cohn Editor-in-Chief min P.S. Hope to see you on the morning of Thursday, April 14th, at the 30 Event in NYC to honor the hottest launches of the last 30 years and celebrate my anniversary with min. You can register here. www.minonline.com © 2016 Access Intelligence, LLC. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines of up to $100,000 for violations. April 11, 2016 | Vol. 69 No. 14 Read more at: minonline.com More's Half-Marathon Swan Song 2 French Elle Goes Global With Beyoncé Torch will be handed to Shape in 2017. In 2004, when then-More publisher Carol Campbell first partnered the brand with 3 Fortune App Needs to Cut the the New York Road Runners Club, the goal of empowering women over forty was Mobile Clutter quickly met by 10,000-plus participants in the More Women's Half Marathon every 5 Meet This Week's 'New Recruits' third Sunday in April in Central Park. Although the lack of advertising to target the demo resulted in More's closure on February 25, the race is continuing. It will be the 8 Politics Drive Social Engagement More/Shape Women's Half-Marathon before More's name is removed in 2017. in March That came about after Meredith Corp.'s January 2015 acquisition of Shape from American Media Inc. Shape would absorb Fitness, and last year's race 12 For David Granger, Going Bald carried the More/Fitness/Shape hybrid. "At first, I was not enthusiastic about it, Was All In a Day's Work because we were unsure about being so vertical on one exercise regimen," says Shape publisher Tim O'Connor. "But when our research revealed that more than 75% of the Shape audience uses running as a discipline when working out, we embraced it. That's why we launched the 'Run Into Shape' feature in print and online in March, along with an e-book." Last year's Shape-produced "Yoga for Runners" program at Bloomingdale's returns on April 16 (the morning before), and O'Connor says that "it follows our January 21 'Ladies' Night' fashion show, when, we were told, the cash registers rang." Continued on page 2 Steve Smith's Eye on Innovation: The New Content Model: Reader as Investor Passionate newshounds want in on the experience. Can a highly diffused marketplace of digital dimes really support the kinds of enterprise journalism and quality content that characterized our storied, analog past? There's more than enough hand-wringing over this question, to be sure. But at this week’s OMMA San Francisco, media companies new and old were asked to imagine five years down the road to which models might survive past 2021. Continued on page 4 GfK MRI's Top Noted Ads: Automotive Magazines November was big for both Chevrolet and The Enthusiast Network. Just as low gas prices are a boon to SUV and truck sales, so were two different ad formats used by Chevrolet in Novem- ber 2015 automotive magazines for its Silverado pickup. This helped the automaker tie for two of the three top Noted print recall ads based on reader surveys by GfK MRI’s Starch Advertising Research. A standard Silverado unit in Motor Trend —with a Noted score of 90— tied for first place with a special advertising section featuring the Silverado in Autoweek. Continued on page 7 © 2016 Access Intelligence, LLC. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines of up to $150,000 for violations. minonline.com More's Half-Marathon Swan Song (continued from page 1) Media Industry Newsletter Other race partners include CARE (the beneficia- Editor-in-Chief: ry), Danskin Now, Lane Bryant, Maui Jim and Steven Cohn ([email protected]) NBC, which will be showing remotes on "Week- 203/899-8437 end Today" featuring hosts and runners Erica Hill Digital Media Editor: and Natalie Morales. Steve Smith ([email protected]) They'll be among 30 participants from the net- 302/691-5331 work (including a contingent from the Olympics unit min Editorial Director: Michele Shapiro ahead of the summer games in Rio de Janeiro), and ([email protected]) O'Connor hopes to create a corporate challenge in 2017. Will we see a Meredith-Hearst run-off? 646/745-4152 Group Editor: Caysey Welton ([email protected]) Elle: Vive Beyoncé! Vive L'Amérique! 203/899-8431 Editorial Assistant: Jameson Doris The U.S. Elle joins the French flagship as a global content provider. ([email protected]) VP/Publisher: Amy Jefferies Elle's U.S. launch in 1985 was perhaps ([email protected]) the most successful French "invasion" Director of Market Development: Laurie M. Hofmann since the American Revolution. It wasn't ([email protected]) until 1998—two years before Robbie Senior Marketing Manager: Danielle Sikes Myers became editor-in-chief—that ([email protected]) Lagardère Active gave the U.S. edi- Marketing Manager: Rachel Feldman ([email protected]) tion editorial autonomy from the now- Senior Account Executive: 70-year-old parent. Still, until Hearst Tania Babiuk Corp. licensed all of Elle's non-French ([email protected]) Production Manager: editions, as part of its 2011 acquisitions Sophie Chan-Wood of Car and Driver, Woman's Day, etc., the perception was that Paris remained Elle's trendsetter. ([email protected]) No more. The U.S. Elle's June 2014 and December 2015 covers of Angelina Jolie and "Star Graphic Designer: Yelena Shamis ([email protected]) Wars—The Force Awakens" star Daisy Ridley were published globally, and Beyoncé is joining Data and Analytics Manager: them in May. The French edition boasts the cover line: "We tell the secrets of the most power- Stacy Hill ([email protected]) ful woman in the world." Access Intelligence, LLC President & By contrast, the U.S. interpretation of the Tamar Gottesman cover story is the subdued Chief Executive Officer: Don Pazour "talks freedom, feminism." The reason for the French hype could be because European maga- SVP, Media Group: Diane Schwartz zine circulation is almost wholly dependent on newsstand sales. Rate bases are nonexistent. Chief Operating Officer: Elle U.S. publisher and chief revenue officer Kevin O'Malley tells min that "[we] have be- Heather Farley Subscriptions/Client Services: come a primary source for content syndication in the Elle global network." 888-707-5814 List Sales: MeritDirect, 914-368-1090 BY THE NUMBERS ([email protected]) NE Gets Boost From Cruz Dirt Twitter Replies Advertising: 203-899-8498 Reprints: Wright’s Media, Last month, the National Enquirer saw a startling increase in replies 877-652-5295 ([email protected]) on Twitter (+1,010%), according to our Social Media Boxscores. Editorial Offices: 10 Norden Place, This was largely due to the "news" the publication broke that "Per- 1,010% Norwalk, CT 06855; 40 Wall Street, National Enquirer 50th floor, New York, NY 10005; vy Ted Cruz was Caught Cheating—With 5 Secret Mistresses." had a good month Faxes: 203-854-6735, 212-621-4879; The original tweet the brand sent out when it unveiled the of replies thanks www.minonline.com to Cruz Access Intelligence LLC, 9211 story on March 23 has been retweeted nearly 1,900 times and Corporate Blvd, 4th Floor, Rockville, MD has been liked over 1,700 times.