News Publishers’ Business Model for Digital Success

February 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The addition of digital agency services is something that every local media company should consider in 2012.

Local Media Innovation Alliance - “The Local Digital Ad Agency: Emerging Opportunity for Innovative Media Companies,” the Local Media Innovation Alliance, December 2011

To better serve local advertisers and compete for online advertising dollars, adding digital agency services is a major opportunity for news publishers, but achieving profitability is the real challenge.

Some newspapers are trying to build the internal capability and capacity to provide a range of digital production services. Many are discovering this is quite expensive operating overhead to carry and it just doesn’t make economic sense. Publishers find it is extremely difficult to outlay new capital to fund the production resources needed, and to do it in such a way that yields positive operating margins.

Another important consideration is that SMB advertisers are highly price sensitive and the price points required to sell high volumes of online marketing services must be extremely competitive.

Despite these challenges, newspapers have had no choice but to plunge into digital services: display ads, iPad ads, websites, mobile, social and video services to balance declining revenues from print. They have to juggle two roles: that of news and content provider to their readers (whether via print or online media) and that of marketing agencies to their customers, providing both digital and print services and helping small-business owners find their way in online marketing.

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Editorial Services for Newspapers

January 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Editorial services from Affinity ExpressIn 2011, we launched editorial services for news publishing clients. I recently had a chance to sit down with Affinity Express Managing Editor Alan Bonini and Vice President of Operations Kristin Meidell to get their perspective on the industry and the future. Outsourcing accelerates publishers’ ability to establish production hubs, re-purpose content, focus on critical value creation activities and cut costs. But I wanted to hear what Kristin and Alan had to say, as they are talking with clients every day and hearing directly about the pain points of news publishers.

What are the current challenges for publishers in terms of editorial?

KM: In markets in North America copy editing and paginating are being combined under one person. Very few papers have  many pure paginators anymore. News publishers have started trimming their own operations and want multi-tasking people. We’ve been able to respond to this demand by starting with pagination and moving into both services.

Has the service been well received by publishers?

KM: Publishers have been most receptive. In contrast, editorial departments do not usually welcome the idea of outsourcing functions. Instead, they want to do everything they can to reduce expenses internally.

For example, newspapers used to have people dedicated only to value-added sections such as travel, food, home guides, etc. Those departments have been collapsing to comprise fewer people. Where there was once a food editor, food paginator, travel editor, travel paginator, etc., now these functions are probably all done by the same person.

Why do you think outsourcing of editorial support services makes sense in today’s publishing industry?

AB: The first reason to outsource editorial is cost reduction. However, quality is a critical consideration. Editors have to be satisfied with the work they receive. In addition, the papers all have a unique voice that must be maintained.

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Enhancing Your Image with Ads about Community Service

January 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment

We were looking through some of our best print ads for our newspaper clients last year. We were surprised by how many had a focus on community service and immediately thought, “we have a blog post!”

Just as people are more inclined to purchase from companies they get to know better on social media and relate to, they are more likely to view companies positively that demonstrate their volunteer and charity programs in advertising. That is, if they do it effectively.

There are three secrets to highlighting good works and doing it well:

  1. Create a strong headline.
  2. Feature images of people.
  3. Make ads about giving back (rather than touting product features and other sales pitches).

For example, this ad for Service King lures in the viewer with the headline: “Looking Out for You . . . on the Road and in the Community.” It ties in well with the company’s business, which is performing collision repairs. This effectively turns around a common distrust of car repair services. I’d be more inclined to trust a service that invests in causes I care about. Read more of this post

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Christmas Ads

December 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

We’ve written previously about holiday-themed ads and how to best tie into the season to encourage customers to buy products and services. As we approach the winter holidays, let’s take a look at some fresh winter ads.

This is another example of adding an image to a standard ad to brighten it up and evoke the season. It’s easy and, quite often effective with minimal work required. Basically, it is an ad for businesses to do just that: pop in an image and some copy and run it in the newspaper.

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Digital Media and the Newspaper Industry: an Interview with Michael Fogel of Hearst

November 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Michael Fogel, VP at Hearst Media

We recently met Michael Fogel, vice president of technology development at Hearst Newspapers. Hearst is a client of Affinity Express. Using our services to become more efficient and proactive is just one of the ways Hearst is adapting itself to the growing predominance of digital media and the decline in circulation and print ad revenues.

This blog post lays out Mr. Fogel’s views on the newspaper industry and explains how Hearst is riding the wave and leading the industry.

Digital Media Has Disrupted the Newspaper Industry

According to Mr. Fogel, the split in revenues for the newspaper industry used to be 80% advertising and 20% circulation. That was prior to double-digit declines in print revenues.

Not only have print revenues dropped dramatically, but newspapers are struggling to offer online services. Even as news publishers find ways to create and deliver digital products, margins on online services are lower and publishers need higher volumes to compensate.

How Hearst Uses Digital to Its Advantage

Unlike many of its counterparts, Hearst is surviving and even thriving in the digital world. The company was very close to realizing a year-over-year revenue gain in October. To Mr Fogel’s knowledge, no other news publisher can say this. Read more of this post

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Newspaper Publishers Offer Digital Services through BPO

August 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

News onlineAfter years of cost cutting, why are some newspaper publishers actually staffing up their in-house digital production operations and investing in technology and tools for new interactive services like video advertising, deals-of-the-day, social media services, etc.? As newspapers rethink and reinvent their business model, they should engage business process outsourcing to generate profitable revenues that will sustain their businesses and pay for quality journalism well into the future.

In 2010, advertising revenues for newspapers continued to fall, about 6.3% for the year. Print circulation also continued to decline (5% daily and 4.5% for Sunday), according to The State of the News Media 2011, Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. On top of that, the past year saw a surge in expenses, which puts limits on funding both for experiments and for maintaining editorial quality in print and digital formats. Read more of this post

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Cool Things Newspapers Are Doing on Facebook

August 11, 2011 by 2 Comments

You’ve heard it before: newspapers should be using Facebook. But what should they be doing?

Here’s what some of the best newspaper pages on Facebook are doing right. (Instead of looking through all newspaper pages I could find on Facebook, I started out with this list. I also included a few from here.)

Read on to see what Facebook features you should be taking advantage of (even if you’re not in the news business). Read more of this post

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Celebrating Easter: Retail Advertising, Religious Advertising and Egg Hunts

April 25, 2011 by 3 Comments

Easter egg basketEaster Sunday has just come and gone; what a weekend it was!

The last month to two weeks prior to the April 24, 2011, was a very busy time at work. The four-day compressed work week was due to the Easter Holiday, and meant having either Good Friday or Monday the 25th off. The advertising peak for Easter meant brisk business, but Easter also a pleasant weekend for people engaged in social activities such as Easter egg hunts, chocolate gift exchanges and mini-vacations for spring (U.S. and Canada) or summer (Philippines). For many, the Easter weekend marked a central religious observance: the culmination of Holy Week.

As designers, around Easter we have to exercise cultural and religious sensitivity when we chose elements for advertising. Art falls mainly into two categories: retail and religious advertising. Read more of this post

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From Print to Digital: Transform Your Business

April 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

After reading Todd Moshier rave about the presentation by John Paton at mediaXchange, I looked up the video. I have to agree with Todd: that talk was nothing short of inspirational. And while Mr Paton talks of and to newspapers, it struck me that his words are equally relevant for most businesses, including ours.

“the newspaper model is broken & can’t be fixed” #fail #naamxc11#jrc

“There is no general model for newspapers to replace the one the internet just broke.” (John Paton quoting Clay Shirky)

This isn’t true just of newspapers but of many businesses: print is declining. That doesn’t mean the skills or the objectives of print are redundant: you have to figure out what to work on and how to make it succeed. Quoting John Paton again:

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mediaXchange 2011: Affinity Express Helps Newspapers Transform Their Business

March 30, 2011 by 2 Comments

I was at mediaXchange last week with President of Creative Services David Grant. The event could have easily been named, “It’s the Digital, Dummy,” because that’s about all that was discussed. Virtually every exhibitor and speaker focused on the predominance of online content—both editorial and advertising. At times, there was a tone of desperation (“Why haven’t newspapers figured this out yet?”) but it was tempered with optimistic sessions delivered by those who have found a way to capture and retain new online consumers and, perhaps most importantly, how to move online toward being the primary revenue stream for newspapers. Read more of this post

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10 Tips for Newspapers Who Outsource Ad Production

February 23, 2011 by 3 Comments

OutsourcingThe outsourcing of print ad production, interactive services and editorial services is increasingly common among North American newspapers. The benefits have been proven over time and many publishers have achieved significant savings they have channeled into new product and content development.

When asked about a cost-effective way to create and deliver content, Journal Register Company CEO John Paton answered: “It’s a two-part strategy. The first is outsourcing . . . why is outsourcing a $4 billion a year industry? Because outsourcers can do their jobs better than we do. . . . in fact, 66 percent of our cost structure is devoted to things we don’t want to do. Only one-third is content creation.”

If your newspaper is considering outsourcing any of these functions, here are ten tips specific to ad production (but which apply to a variety of services) that can make your transition smoother and allow you to see results more quickly. Read more of this post

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What Does Facebook Mean for Newspapers?

December 5, 2010 by 7 Comments

Sharing Newspaper ContentHaving established our own Facebook page earlier this year, Affinity Express is well aware of the site’s incredible popularity.  In fact, Facebook is the most visited site in the U.S., with more than 500 million users worldwide.

One of our key market segments is newspapers and multi-media publishers.  We’ve been providing print and online ad production for several years and, more recently, launched social media services.  The implication for our clients and prospects is that Facebook might already have more reach in the community than any other media outlet, including local newspapers.  But rather than competing, Facebook can be used by newspapers as a very viable (and affordable) short-term solution to boost traffic and page views for their websites and generate new revenue from advertisers). Read more of this post

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Summing Up 2010

December 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Affinity Express Accomplishments of 2010As we enter the last month of 2010, I have been thinking about what we have achieved this year and how we can do better next year. 2010 was particularly good for Affinity Express. I’d like to share with you some of what we have accomplished.

  1. We celebrated our ten-year anniversary. We have grown from a 125-person embroidery digitizing company to an 800-person advertising and marketing production company. This year, we celebrated our success, but also set our sights on what we want to achieve next.
  2. We added several of the largest clients in our history in the category of multi-media publishers and on-boarded them in record time. Read more of this post

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Working with Newspapers: A Success Story

November 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Stack of NewspapersBack in 2007, when the publisher of a daily newspaper owned by a large publishing company considered outsourcing ad production, the idea was greeted with surprise.

At the time, much of the newspaper industry was talking about and testing outsourcing. The publisher sent an employee to another newspaper’s office to learn about their outsourcing project–and that other newspaper was (and still is) an Affinity Express client.

The employee recognized the benefits of outsourcing and recommended moving forward with Affinity Express. So the newspaper became the first property from that publishing company to move forward with outsourced ad production.

Outsourcing gave the client an opportunity to eliminate unproductive staff.  They were amazed at how much more efficient they became. The client went live with outsourced production in late November 2008 and, after several weeks of long hours working on the transition, Affinity Express was performing well by the first week of 2009. Read more of this post

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Get to Know: Mariel Go, Quality Lead for Ad Services

September 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Affinity Express Quality Lead Mariel Go

Mariel Go

Mariel has been with Affinity Express since September 2007, which means she just completed three years here! Yay, Mariel!

Mariel serves as the quality lead for the Advertising Services Quality Group, a pool consisting of production assistants (PAs) supporting multiple newspaper properties. Her day begins when she gets updates on any quality issues, new client protocols, feedback or meetings. Then she meets with the PAs for team discussions or does hands-on quality analysis by getting involved in various teams’ ad production activities. She provides feedback to operations directors, managers, team leaders and PAs, as well as to upper management. Essentially, Mariel is a communications hub for Affinity Express and clients.

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Affinity Express on the Inside Business TV Show

August 25, 2010 by 3 Comments

Affinity Express was featured on the Inside Business TV show on Fox Business on June 26. You can watch the video here, or read the transcript below the fold.

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New Client Implementation Success Story

August 2, 2010 by 2 Comments

New Client Implementation SuccessWe work with clients in media and publishing, but I want to share with you today our success story with one specific newspaper client. I manage new client implementations at Affinity Express, and this is one I’m particularly proud of.

The best thing about this client was that they have been extremely understanding of and smart about the outsourcing process from the beginning. The start date was in April but, with their help, we actually began capturing requirements several weeks early, as the client was so prepared. Their IT department were extremely savvy: they knew exactly what to do and when, with the result that it was easier for us to stay on schedule.

In fact, one group was so anxious to start using the system that they began before the ramp-up week itself and started sending live ads to the Affinity Express team! Read more of this post

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Get to Know: Affinity Express Employee Ted Pusecker

July 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

This is the first of a series of blog posts in which we profile Affinity Express employees and their work.

Ted Pusecker, Production Manager at Affinity ExpressTed Pusecker has been with Affinity Express for three years. He is a production manager and works in Ohio. He and his team of three handle the processing of ads for 22 weekly publications and a parenting magazine, as well as print and deliver products. Ted also helps the NCI team with on-boarding of new accounts.

Ted feels that one of the biggest pleasures of his job is building relationships with clients. Often, it can be hard to convince new clients that the new processes Affinity Express introduces will soon become the norm. But  Ted is glad to have the opportunity to work with so many different Affinity Express team members and accounts to overcome obstacles, develop relationships and deliver results. He says: “We have a very dedicated staff that wishes to give clients the greatest chances of prosperity. Their success is our success.” Read more of this post

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Interactive in the First Person

June 25, 2010 by 1 Comment

We flew high over the Hoover Dam upon our decent into Las Vegas for the Editors and Publishers 21st Interactive Media Conference.

I had recently downloaded the series “America. This is Us” to my iPad and watched the episode where the Colorado River is captured and the massive capital works project to build the dam heralded change, not only for the cities of Southern California, but for the East too.

By complete coincidence, the airline magazine had a great article promoting a new book:  Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century by Michael Hiltzik

The irony stayed with me.  Read more of this post

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New Client Implementation

June 17, 2010 by 3 Comments

As CEO Ken Swanson mentioned in a previous post, being an outsourcing provider isn’t easy!  We have many challenges to tackle and each project is unique.  Plus, relationships can be complex.  In addition to managing change, many include a system implementation as well.  While we may have had a few challenging starts to projects over the past two years, I’m proud to say that we have an almost perfect record of on-boarding on time and budget!

Having spent a majority of my career implementing and supporting newspaper systems, after joining Affinity Express, I had to get up-to-speed quickly on the outsourcing aspect of our partnerships.  And this was no small task! Understanding change management is very important to our success.  Our clients rely on our expertise to start saving money in their organizations and they want this result quickly!

There are three areas that we improved upon in the last two years that I believe contribute to our great track record at Affinity Express. Read more of this post

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