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MARKETING NEWS Catalogs are part of a balanced marketing diet ........................................................................... 2

NFC: The future is now (Almost) ............................................................................................... 3

Consumers trust advertising in magazines and newspapers more than any other media ........... 4

How to deliver a better experience to today’s multi-touch shopper ........................................... 6

Top advertising vertical in the US? Retail, again. ...................................................................... 8

PUBLISHING NEWS Politico plans print magazine launch as it passes 1,000 Pro Subscriber mark ........................... 9

Women's service mags trade housekeeping for style .................................................................. 9

Is print really dying, or just getting nichier? ............................................................................. 11

Fortune writes articles exclusively for advertisers.................................................................... 12

POSTAL NEWS NAPA Panel Releases Report on Reforming the U.S. Postal Service ...................................... 13

CollectPlus introduces mobile barcode to improve parcel collection ....................................... 14

RETAIL NEWS Bon-Ton Q4 income beats expectations ................................................................................... 15

Costco sales, profits up again in 2Q.......................................................................................... 15

Target sweetens portfolio with Chefs Catalog purchase........................................................... 16

ECONOMIC UPDATE

GDP: 4th

quarter 2012: 0.1 percent. 3rd

quarter 2012: 3.1 percent.

Unemployment Rate: the unemployment rate edged down to 7.7 percent in February.

Consumer Confidence: which had declined in January, rebounded in February. The Index now

stands at 69.6, up from 58.4 in January.

March 18th

, 2013

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MARKETING NEWS

Catalogs Are Part of a Balanced Marketing Diet

Allison Schiff , DM News . 3/11/2013

The Offer: For a supposedly dead channel, print isn't doing too badly. According to the

Direct Marketing Association, roughly 12.5 billion catalogs—often featuring interactive

elements such as QR codes, text codes, and augmented reality enhancements—are printed

and mailed each year.

To demonstrate the continued viability of print as an evolving and thriving channel,

NewPoint Media Group, publisher of The Real Estate Book and a variety of other targeted

magazines, issued its advertisers and prospects the following challenge: collect as many

catalog covers as you can and mail them in to win a cash prize.

“You hear all the time that print is dead and that no one uses it, that it's inefficient—yada,

yada, yada,” says Rebecca Chandler, VP of marketing at NewPoint Media Group. “What we

were trying to do was [create] awareness about how catalogs and magazines are not the

same old print they used to be.”

The secondary goal of NewPoint's “Catalog Challenge” was to open people's eyes to the

sheer number of targeted, welcome print catalogs they receive, especially around the

holiday season. Even e-commerce behemoths like Amazon and Zappos print and mail

catalogs in the lead up to Christmas.

“Online marketers see the value in print, because catalogs drive online sales,” Chandler

says. “Online retailers attribute half of their sales to catalogs—imagine that.”

The Background: Combining print and new technology is the way forward, says Chandler,

who notes that while virtually everyone shops online—there's no secret about that, she

says—catalogs and magazines are interruptive in a way e-commerce can't be. Imagine

walking through a brick-and-mortar store and seeing a, for example, real estate catalog

sitting on a counter or in a rack. Even if buying a house or renting an apartment is only just

a half-thought in the back of your mind, you're probably still going to grab the catalog and

take a look.

“People are online all day long, but usually only when they're searching for something

specific; catalogs and magazines, on the other hand—they interrupt your day,” she says.

“You flip through the pages and an ad for something interests you; then you go online to

check it out. I like to say, ‘You search online, but catalogs search for you.”

In its own effort to blur the lines between online and offline, NewPoint Media started

publishing text codes in The Real Estate Book a little more than a year ago with excellent

results. The codes are printed next to house listings; by texting the code users can take

virtual tours, view slideshows, and map locations.

Although it took a little convincing at the start, NewPoint was able to get buy-in from almost

all its local advertisers. Currently, between 75% and 80% of NewPoint's titles include the

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text codes, which have, all told, generated more than 300,000 direct leads throughout

2012—including 38,000 leads in one month alone.

Introducing interactivity and technology into print is part of a wide-scale trend, Chandler

says. “Catalog retailers like IKEA are using augmented reality so when you scan a page you

find out what something costs and other details about an item, and a lot of catalog retailers

are using interactive codes on their pages to drive traffic online,” she says. “All that clearly

demonstrates that print is not dead.”

The Results: “Catalog Challenge” brought in 108 entries, with more than 20,000 catalog

covers submitted by mail. California-based realtor Deborah A. Di Memmo took home the

$1,000 prize for sending in a whopping 1,500 covers.

“It was amazing,” Chandler says. “There was some stuff she sent I'd never even heard of!”

The Takeaway: When used smartly and effectively, print can help greatly amplify the

overall effect of a campaign, Chandler notes.

“Traditional media can really crank things up and stimulate people to interact with your

brand,” she says. “With targeted direct mail you can pinpoint your audience and deliver

something interactive and targeted into their home that can also drive traffic online.”

NFC: The Future Is Now (Almost)

Allison Schiff , DM News . 3/12/2013

Imagine that near field communication technology is a train. OK—that's as far as the

metaphor goes. It's time to hop that train or risk getting left in the dust, says Jacob

Beckley, VP of innovation at Chicago-based digital marketing agency Fusion92.

Until now the utility of NFC wireless and touch-to-transfer technology has mostly been

talked about in terms of mobile payments in the retail environment, but according to

Beckley, NFC is set to explode in a serious way and this is the year it's going to happen.

“I would strongly suggest to people to get ahead of the curve before wide NFC adoption,

because it is going to happen and you want to be there first,” says Beckley.

So, how can direct marketers use NFC? How can't they, is more like it.

Beckley says direct mail in particular is set to shine when NFC becomes more widely

accepted and used. If marketers start including NFC stickers in mailers, for example—and

there's no doubt they'll start doing it more and more when costs come down as the

technology improves—they'll need fulfillment houses that can support NFC and print unique

stickers to segmented lists. Marketers will also need NFC quality assurance and testing

infrastructures, and analytics support to keep track of the numbers. (Basically: If you can

get on that train now, get on. If you're already on, good on you.)

Social networking by proximity; accessing movie information from posters; “smart

products” just sitting there on the shelves waiting to tell you about themselves; contactless

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payments—NFC's uses are multifarious, indeed. Some retailers, take Walmart for example,

are even running NFC self-checkout pilot programs in certain locations to see if consumers

are into buying stuff without, as Beckley puts it, “ever even having to touch a cash

register.”

It sounds awesome, but there are a few small rainclouds hovering over the NFC parade. For

one, how many devices out there support the technology? Apple doesn't…though there are

rumors the next iPhone will include an e-Wallet, which would be a big deal and big boon for

NFC.

Another issue is consumer education, with privacy and security concerns topping the list.

But once people realize how convenient NFC is, Beckley says those anxieties will soon go

away replaced by total comfort with the channel.

Beckley envisions a majestic and futuristic future for NFC. Right now NFC chips and stickers

only store a small amount of data, so they mostly act as a way to direct people to digital

content stored elsewhere. But what if the medium became the message? Beckley says

there's no reason why the little antennae inside NFC stickers couldn't include more data.

The technology's here; it's just a matter of implementing it.

“Then NFC could be set up as constant communication,” says Beckley. “Right now you tap

your phone, get some data, and then the chip stops transmitting—but that doesn't need to

happen.” According to Beckley an NFC chip could be set up in such a way that it continues

to transmit data back and forth “so there's streaming content without having to access the

Web, kind of like wireless sharing.”

While we're at it, why not seamlessly assimilate NFC chips right into pieces of physical

paper?

“That would allow people to digitally sign documents and track them based on MD5 hashes

to see how many times they've been copied,” Beckley says. “Standard paper would become

digital paper.”

On the retail side of things, Beckley says NFC will become so integrated that UPC codes are

bound to go the way of the Dodo and cash registers might become a thing of the past.

“NFC is about to be very prevalent,” Beckley says. “It will be a totally accepted part of our

everyday lives.”

Study: Consumers Trust Advertising in Magazines and Newspapers More Than Any Other

Media

Press Release , Whattheythink.com . 3/11/2013

New research has revealed that despite important changes in media consumption in recent

years, consumers continue to have most trust in advertising in printed media. When asked

how much trust they attach to advertising in the various media, consumers gave magazines

and newspapers a score of 63%, TV 41% and Internet 25%. Consumers were also asked

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about the role of advertising in purchase decision making - almost seven out of ten said that

advertising in magazines and newspapers was most important in supporting purchase

decisions. When asked to compare direct mail with social media almost 90% of respondents

valued addressed and non-addressed mail above social media.

The purpose of the research was to gain insight into the role of printed media in consumers’

everyday lives as well as gauge consumer attitudes towards advertising in different

channels. The study was conducted by Finnish research institute VTT between April and

August 2012 in 13 European countries. More than 700 consumers took part and the

proportion of well-educated people was high, an interesting factor as these are the people

who have the best possibilities to use a wide variety of media.

Anu Seisto who lead the research at VTT had this to say about the results: “This study

provided very interesting information on the most important factors influencing the choice

of media and attitudes towards advertising. The results show that lifestyle and family

situation explain the choices better than demographic factors alone.”

The research, commissioned by Print Power Europe, covered nine media types (magazine,

newspaper, TV, Radio, Internet, addressed Direct Mail, unaddressed Direct Mail, catalogue

and Social media). Respondents were presented with a series of different media use

situations and were asked to comment on how well these stories described their own media

use. Four distinct consumer segments emerged from this research, Slow bon vivants, Busy

mix-and-matchers, Tolerant surfers and Youthful digilovers. The Slow bons vivants

represent 23% of the respondents and are print users who associate digital media with their

hectic working life. Busy mix-and-matchers (46%) easily shift between digital and print

media and appreciate print media. Tolerant surfers (19%) are digital media users with a

positive attitude towards print media. Finally, Youthful digilovers, the smallest segment

(12%), are pure digital users who do not see the benefit of using print media.

Although advertisers are shifting budgets towards digital channels, consumers continue to

have the highest trust in print and refer to advertisements in magazines and newspapers as

an important source of information to support their purchase decisions. A presentation of

the research findings is available for download on the Print Power website

www.printpower.eu.

VTT is the biggest multi-technological applied research organisation in Northern Europe. VTT

combines different technologies, creates new innovations and a substantial range of world

class technologies and applied research services thus improving its clients' competitiveness

and competence.

Print Power is a European initiative, operating in 13 countries, with the aim to promote print

media. Print Power represents the entire paper, print and publishing value chain and its key

messages are the sustainability and effectiveness of print media.

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How to Deliver a Better Experience to Today’s Multi-touch Shopper

Jonathan Levitt , Multichannel Merchant . 3/12/2013

Many retailers are wary of the omnichannel consumer. How do you capture the attention –

and purchases – of mobile savvy, price sensitive consumers who jump from their laptop, to

tablet, to smartphone, to the store and back again?

The answer is, instead of fearing the omnichannel consumer; retailers should embrace them

to deliver the type of shopping experience they want. Ignoring or fearing omnichannel

shoppers will only result in lost sales. For example, more retailers like Restoration Hardware

are starting to embrace the concept of showrooming.

The company recently decreased its number of stores and has transitioned those existing

stores into showrooms.

So, just what is an omnichannel consumer? These consumers shop seamlessly across the

web, mobile, in-store, beyond. They engage in “showrooming”— visiting stores to look at

products in person, then returning home to buy them on the web at a cheaper price on a

competitor’s website. (Whether retailers like it or not, showrooming shows no signs of

slowing down; by 2020, half of consumers worldwide expect brick-and-mortar stores to

serve solely as showrooms).

Omnichannel consumers are also avid price-checkers. Some 52% of mobile phone users rely

on their phones to look up prices while in-store, doing quick searches to find items at

cheaper prices online or at another store.

Smart retailers know they must do whatever it takes to connect with customers where they

are, anytime and anywhere – and also continually solicit their feedback to improve the

shopping experience.

So what can retailers do to engage these on-the-move bargain-seekers? Here are three tips

to deliver a better shopping experience to today’s omnichannel consumers.

Break down the walls between online and in-store. The majority of shoppers start their

purchase journey online today – searching for products that match their needs at the lowest

possible price. Make sure your website delivers all the information they are looking for in an

easy-to-find fashion, and offer services like in-store pickup to encourage store visits. Then,

when shoppers arrive in store, make a strong connection between their previous website

visit and their in-store experience; include signage with messages such as “we match online

prices.”

The key to success in omnichannel retailing is to understand the new role of the store; it’s

no longer the end point to make purchases, but a part of a multichannel purchase and

brand experience. Make sure your store associates are well prepared to deal with

omnichannel shoppers. Arm sales staff with iPads or tablets to show shoppers items

available only online, and offer to ring them up right away. And encourage sales associates

to re-route customers to your website to save sales. Our research shows that when in-store

sales staff encourage shoppers to visit their website during or after a store visit, 52% of

these shoppers spend over $100 in store, compared to just 45% of shoppers who are not

encouraged to visit the store’s website.

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Reach out to the non-buyers. Pay attention to shoppers who leave your store without

making a purchase. Many of these shoppers may be mobile price-checkers; they arrive in

store to look at products, but find them cheaper online or at another store using their

mobile devices. The only way to find out why these shoppers did not make a purchase is to

ask them; and the only way to do that is to solicit their honest feedback.

Include signage throughout the store and at exits asking customers for their feedback. Your

signs might say “What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? Let us know!” and

include a scannable barcode and a URL that takes customers to simple dialogue box where

they can enter free-form feedback. You can also place feedback kiosks and tablets

throughout your store asking people to leave their feedback, and give sales staff tablets so

they can ask shoppers to fill out quick in-store surveys – perhaps in return for a small

coupon.

If you only include a URL on the bottom of sales receipts asking customers to take surveys

in return for a discount, you’ll only get feedback from buyers. This means you’re only

finding out some of the things you’re doing right for buyers, but none of the things you’re

doing wrong for non-buyers. The latter is much more valuable when it comes to increasing

sales in an omnichannel world.

Measure the right metrics. Your old sales metrics won’t cut it in an omnichannel world. Now,

instead of just measuring store sales, for example, you need to measure the “store

experience.” And as consumers move between channels, marketers must understand why

consumers are using each channel, and what they hope to accomplish each step along the

way. Since consumers use mobile devices to research in-store, visit stores to showroom,

and often visit multiple websites before making a purchase, “last-touch” conversion figures

no longer provide a clear picture of marketing effectiveness.

The best way to measure omnichannel metrics is to ask consumers for their honest

feedback, and then analyze their natural language and survey responses to find patterns.

Other key components to consider for measurement and reporting include: The alignment of

metrics across channels; Leveraging a single reporting and metrics dashboard to give

visibility into omnichannel performance; Customer journey mapping; Multi-touch

attribution; Action prioritization; Driving change at the location level.

The bottom line is omnichannel consumers are here to stay. Instead of fearing them, listen

to them. Ask for their honest feedback and make changes to your website, mobile, and

store experiences based on their wants and needs. Train in-store sales staff to leverage

your website and mobile apps, and start building more bridges between your online, mobile

and in-store marketing teams.

If you don’t reach out to omnichannel consumers, they won’t come back. Our research

shows that 66% of online-only shoppers would go back to a retailer after having a negative

experience with them, but only 55% of multi-channel shoppers would. Omnichannel

shoppers are more demanding, but they also spend more and more often – so give them

the high quality shopping experience they want.

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Top Advertising Vertical in the US? Retail, Again.

Staff , Marketing Charts . 3/14/2013

The retail industry spent the most on advertising again last year, according to new figures

from Kantar Media. At roughly $16.3 billion – up 3% from $15.9 billion in 2011 – the retail

sector accounted for more than 11% of total US ad spend (excluding FSI/PSA). Given that

Kantar Media only measures display advertising for its online figures, and that the retail

industry is the biggest spender in overall online advertising, it’s possible that the Kantar

figures actually underestimate retail’s contribution to US advertising.

Behind retail, auto took the second spot with $14.8 billion in ad spend, with its 7% year-

over-year growth the most rapid of the top 10 advertising industries. Auto’s ad spend

growth slowed as the year went on, though, gaining most in Q1 (23%), and falling to 2%

growth in Q4. While manufacturers outspent dealers ($8.9 billion vs. $6 billion), the latter

posted the faster growth rate (14% vs. 3%).

Financial services and insurance companies were the only sectors in the top 10 to pull back

last year, each cutting spend by 2%. The insurance sector had been due for a slowdown in

growth rates, with ad spend ballooning in the past few years, per data from a

MarketingCharts report.

All told, the top 10 categories spent $87.5 billion on advertising last year, up 3% from

2011, and accounting for about 5 in 8 dollars spent. (The figures do not include FSI

spending, which was about $2 billion.)

In other data, the top 100 advertisers increased their ad spending by 3% (to $60.5 billion).

While small advertisers (ranked 1001+) kept spending flat at around $32 billion, mid-size

advertisers (ranked 101-1000) boosted spend by about 6%.

The top 10 advertisers reined in spending by about 2%, to $15.3 billion. Procter & Gamble

retained its position as the top advertiser, although its advertising spending fell by 5%.

Comcast moved into the second position by virtue of its 10% increase, overtaking GM (-7%

to $1.6 billion) and AT&T (-14% to $1.6 billion).

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PUBLISHING NEWS

Politico Plans Print Magazine Launch as It Passes 1,000 Pro Subscriber Mark

Bill Mickey , Folio . 3/13/2013

Politico, the politics and policy journalism site, says it has broken the 1,000 subscription

mark to its Pro news service. Like other content-based sites, Politico has supplemented its

revenues through paid subscription service that includes original content, but in this case

offers robust personalization features to add value for subscribers.

The subscriptions are generally sold on an enterprise level, and Politico says about 7,000

individuals are subscribed to the two-year-old service through their organizations. The

renewal rate is at 96 percent, says the company.

"We launched it because it was crystal clear for us that there was an appetite for reporting

on these policy areas," says Politico executive editor Jim VandeHei. "To us, it was a pretty

simple formula—hire the right reporters, have the technology and go in heavy."

VendeHei describes the Pro service as an early morning news feed, scoop machine, tipsheet,

conventional reporting vehicle and, importantly, a highly personalized experience.

At the core of the service is the "whiteboard alert system," bursts of information—an

important announcement, scoop or quote—sent throughout the day to subscribers'

smartphones. And the underlying tech allows subscribers to tag their preferences so they

receive only the content they want to.

"The idea is to make people's lives easier," says VandeHei.

Going forward, Politico is launching a new afternoon newsletter as a follow-on to its crack-

of-dawn version, called the Pro Report, along with a quarterly policy magazine.

Politico already has a newspaper distributed around the Washington, D.C. area and plans to

have the magazine follow a similar distribution strategy. It, however, will feature longer

content more along the lines of the Pro service, acting as an enticement for Washington

insiders who have yet to subscribe. The magazine will be free with a circulation of almost

40,000.

Women's service mags trade housekeeping for style

Emma Bazilian , Adweek . 3/15/2013

Traditionally the purveyor of recipes and cleaning tips, women's service magazines have

come a long way, but apparently not far enough. More than a decade ago, Real Simple and

O, The Oprah Magazine packaged service as lifestyle, forcing the category to pivot en

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masse. The Web also has made free service content easily accessible, and young women

are more inclined to search online than pick up a magazine.

So, in the past year, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal and

Woman’s Day—all facing long-term advertising and newsstand sales declines—further

downplayed their bread-and-butter housecleaning, parenting and relationship advice in

favor of fashion, beauty, shopping and entertaining.

While service titles indulge readers with style and home decor and put stars like Lauren

Conrad on their covers, looking too much like fashion and beauty titles risks alienating loyal

readers.

Avoiding that trap means delivering the content in a way their readers expect. So instead of

serving up fashion trends, Woman's Day gives women tips on dressing for their body type

and saving money by shopping their closets. Unlike the typical fashion magazine, it also

shows women of varying sizes and ethnicities.

Redbook, rather than confining plus-size style tips to their own page as fashion books often

do, sprinkles them prominently throughout the style department.

Meanwhile, Better Homes and Gardens' beauty writers are foregoing long pieces and going

straight to action steps, said Gayle Butler, editor in chief of BHG as well as executive

vp/executive creative content director at parent company Meredith's National Media Group.

"I don’t see lifestyle and service as mutually exclusive," she said. "No matter what type of

content category you’re in, service is helping her move forward in her goals."

Not by accident, this shift comes amid a rocky economic and political climate. "Everybody's

dealing with things they never thought they’d be thinking about, and you feel safe when you

go back to the idea that 'If I look good, I feel good,’" said Ellen Levine, editorial director of

Hearst Magazines and onetime editor of Good Housekeeping, Redbook and Woman’s Day.

Not for nothing, the subjects popping up in women's magazines are also where the money

is. While overall ad pages across all magazines declined 4.7 percent in 2012, according to

MediaRadar, apparel and accessories ad pages in women's fashion magazines grew 6

percent and toiletry and cosmetics brands grew 15 percent.

Slapping more makeup and fashion pages in their titles is no guarantee of a positive

response from ad buyers, though. "It's going to be critical for their success for them to

really talk to the consumers all the time and make sure that they stay relevant," said

Brenda White, an svp of Starcom. "Now that all of them have gone through a refresh, what

I want to see is how the consumers are relating to that content."

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Is print really dying, or just getting nichier?

Anika Anand , Upstart Business Journal . 3/11/2013

Samir Husni says don't let stories about the imminent death of print—especially

magazines—fool you. There is more than enough opportunity to launch print magazines in

the current media environment.

It's no surprise why Husni— founder and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the

University of Mississippi, who is known as "Mr. Magazine—would be talking up the virtues of

a printed product. Lots of headlines these days suggest otherwise, especially after

magazines like Newsweek stop being published in a print format or when Time Warner says

it's going to spin off all the Time Inc. magazines into a separate company after it posted a

6.6 percent revenue decline last year.

But where some see closure, Husni sees birth. On his website, Husni tracks the number and

names of magazines that have launched every month. "January opens with a blast," says

his last post on launches as it notes that 66 new titles debuted on newstands in the first

month of the year.

Another tracker of new titles is MediaFinder.com, which says 195 print magazines launched

in the United States in 2012; four weekly and 20 monthly. That's up from 181 total print

magazines launched in 2011. "There's a lot of money to be made with new magazine

products," Husni said.

Then why would Time Warner want to get rid of its magazines?

"The head people at Time Inc., they aren't magazine people," Husni said. "They are more

interested in money than the product."

A former Time Inc. employee told The New York Times last week, "Greed came to the

company in the '90s. It was just a huge company: huge bonuses, huge salaries, stock

shares for the big guy, not the little guy."

Husni said when you don't have a love for the product, why would you take care of it?

Paige Roselle is one of those people still in love with print. "I grew up in newspaper family

and I love the feel of paper whether it's a magazine or a book," said Roselle, whose

publication is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. "I like the ability to mail a picture to

someone. I'm maybe the only person who keeps our post office alive."

In April, she and Craig Moon, the retired president of USA Today, launched SOCIETY

Charlotte. It's a 12,000-circulation monthly magazine that covers local, non-profit events. It

provides bare bones, not-for-profit businesses, exposure they otherwise couldn't afford. The

publication employs 20 freelance journalists, and Roselle said it's profitable and is looking to

increase distribution.

"People are driven toward something they can pick up. I think a lot of that is by virtue of

our content," she said. Roselle, who declined to give revenue numbers or talk in detail about

the publication's finances, said she's currently unconcerned with building up the online

product but would be open to the possibility if her readers want it.

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Ratchet+Wrench, a monthly trade publication based in St. Paul, Minnesota, launched in

July. The magazine, which is the sister publication of the 13-year-old collision repair pub

FenderBender, serves 100,000 franchise centers.

To launch the magazine, the publication spent about $20,000 in marketing and $35,000 to

$40,000 to build out the office space, said Jay DeWitt, president of the magazines'

publishing company 10 Missions Media.

He started the magazine because the auto service center market was poorly covered and he

already had a base of almost 500 advertisers—the magazine's main revenue stream. Minus

general and administrative costs, it takes $70,000 to $75,000 on average every month to

publish the magazine. Because of an aggressive sales campaign, the magazine was able to

turn a profit with its first issue.

Although about 90 percent of the magazine's readership still prefers information in a print

format, in January, it did start posting daily news content and emailing a daily newsletter.

DeWitt said the daily quick hits work better via email and the longer pieces work better in

print.

"The magazine itself is the core of the brand," DeWitt said. "I don't see any time in the near

future that digital is going to take that over."

Fortune writes articles exclusively for advertisers

Lucia Moses , Adweek . 3/13/2013

Advertisers looking to escape the dreaded advertorial trap and give consumers content

they'll actually read has helped create the boom in native advertising or branded content. At

the same time, publishers continue to seek ways to make their editorial work harder for

them.

Fortune is rolling out a new response to this dilemma in the form of a program called

Fortune TOC—Trusted Original Content. Similar to licensed editorial content, TOC involves

creating original, Fortune-branded editorial content (articles, video, newsletters) exclusively

for marketers to distribute on their own platforms. The publisher has set a price range from

$250,000 to $1 million.

"As marketers fight to engage with users [and] readers in a noisy, competitive world,

marketers have all become publishers," said Jed Hartman, group publisher of Time Inc.

news and business, with oversight for Fortune. Capital One has signed on as the first client,

using Fortune to create content about small-business strategies.

TOC represents the first formalized process by a Time Inc. title to make good on outgoing

CEO Laura Lang's promise of "next-generation" advertising products that join its magazine

content with marketing in new ways. Time Inc. titles like People and InStyle have run ads

that combine their own content with an advertiser’s message.

"There have always been ways to license content," said Paul Caine, evp, chief revenue

officer and group president, advertising at Time Inc. "But what's emerged is the ability for

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advertisers to populate their owned and earned media with our content. That’s part of what

some of these solutions represent. What we need to do is create easy ways for them to get

to our content."

While brand-created content has gotten better, it often falls short of quality editorial

product. By creating the TOC edit, Fortune ostensibly will avoid that pitfall.

Yet creating content expressly for an advertiser creates other questions for editorial,

particularly at a prestige title. That's why Fortune insists TOC would keep church-and-state

separation—clients would agree on the topic and how the material is distributed but

wouldn’t see the content until it’s ready to run. Like any piece of editorial, TOC content goes

through the normal Fortune editing process, and editors have the final say over it. And

Fortune TOC is likely to rely on trusted freelancers, which will keep its staff writers far away

from the process. "Nothing we’re doing is compromising editorial integrity," Caine said.

Will advertisers want to give up that much control over the process? Fortune is betting that

the ability to run its original content will make the trade-off worth it for some. "They take

white-label content, but they would so much rather have fresh, new branded content,"

Hartman said. "They like the brand rub-off, and they like the exclusivity."

POSTAL NEWS

NAPA Panel Releases Report on Reforming the U.S. Postal Service

Press Release , Printing Impressions . 3/15/2013

An independent Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration today issues its

findings and conclusions from its evaluation of a new hybrid public-private partnership

concept for U.S. Postal Service (USPS) operations put forward by four nationally-recognized

postal experts. David Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States, chaired the

Academy’s Panel that conducted the ten-week review of the "Thought-Leader White Paper."

The Paper advocated that mail processing, collection, and transportation be performed by

private-sector companies and that the delivery function—“the last mile”—be reserved for

the USPS.

“The Thought-Leader Concept is creative and deserves serious consideration,” noted Panel

Chair Walker. “However, more study in several important areas related to the proposed

hybrid public-private partnership is warranted before a decision on implementation can, or

should, be made. In addition, the Postal Service faces a range of challenges not addressed

by the concept that must be addressed to ensure its longer-term sustainability.” The Panel

report comments on other postal reform initiatives under consideration by the USPS and

Congress, thus providing broader analytical context for this concept.

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The Thought-Leader Paper was put forward to address the USPS' long-term financial

viability and the Panel reviewed ten separate issues put forward by the Thought-Leader

Paper. The Panel noted that the Thought-Leader Paper contributes to a wider dialogue on

postal reform and proposes a Concept intended to leverage synergies between public and

private sectors evidenced in postal upstream operations. The Panel pointed out that many

upstream mail services are already provided by private sector companies and that the USPS

could use its current authorities to pursue many aspects of the partnership concept.

Dan G. Blair, president and CEO of the Academy, thanked the Panel for their work and

contributions to the postal reform debate. “I am pleased that the Academy was given an

opportunity to contribute to this important topic. The study that we reviewed represents a

‘break-through’ contribution to the postal stakeholder community, and I am confident that it

will be a catalyst for a more robust and beneficial discussion about how to increase the

Postal Service’s effectiveness and efficiency.”

CollectPlus introduces mobile barcode to improve parcel collection

Staff , Post & Parcel . 3/12/2013

Customers are now sent a unique barcode direct to their smartphone when their parcel

arrives at the selected store.

They can use this code on their phone instead of having to print out a confirmation for the

shopkeeper when picking up their delivery.

CollectPlus, a joint-venture between parcel carrier Yodel and payment company PayPoint

said the new system could “significantly” improve transaction time.

Neil Ashworth, the CollectPlus CEO, said the innovation was part of his company’s constant

effort to provide customers with a personalised and streamlined way to collect their online

purchases.

“The new collection code is a fantastic time-saving innovation, developed in conjunction

with the team at PayPoint, making our Click&Collect+ service even quicker and easier to

use, and complementing the busy lives of our customers,” he said.

CollectPlus now has more than 5,000 convenience stores and filling stations in its network of

parcel collection points. The company offers collection points for retailers including Amazon,

House of Fraser, ASOS and Very.co.uk.

15

RETAIL NEWS

Bon-Ton Q4 income beats expectations

Staff , Retailing Today . 3/13/2013

The Bon-Ton Stores reported that its net income for the fourth quarter was a better-than-

expected $74.4 million, compared with $78.2 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue for the three months ended Feb. 2 increased 3.2% to $1.02 billion, missing the

Street’s view of $1.04 billion. Same-store sales increased 1%. (Results for the fourth

quarter and fiscal 2012 are impacted by the inclusion of an additional week in each period,

resulting in a 14-week and 53-week reporting period.)

“We were pleased with our fourth quarter results and our accomplishments throughout

2012. We sequentially improved the business each quarter through a number of key

initiatives, including a better balanced merchandise assortment, more disciplined inventory

management, enhanced marketing efforts and upgrades to our e-commerce business,” said

Bon-Ton CEO Brendan Hoffman.

Bon-Ton operates 271 department stores, which includes 11 furniture galleries, in 24 states

in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston

Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers nameplates.

Costco's sales surge continues

Staff , Retailing Today . 3/12/2013

Second quarter sales increased 8% to $24.3 billion and profits, aided by a sizable tax

benefit, increased 39% to $547 million, or $1.24 a share.

The surge is profits for the 12 week quarterly period ended February 17 was driven by a

$62 million, or 14 cent a share, tax benefit that resulted from the portion of a special

dividend payment made in December to participants in the company’s 401(K) program.

Costco authorized a one time special dividend of $7 a share last year to return cash to

shareholders in advance of a 2013 tax hike on dividend income.

Without the tax benefit, Costco’s profits would have increased by a still respectable 23% to

$485 million, or $1.10 a share. Solid growth in membership income contributed to the

performance. Membership income increased 15% to $528 million for the quarter and was up

14.6% to slightly more than $1 billion for the first six months.

The company’s profits for the first half of its fiscal year reached $963 million, or $2.19 per

share, compared to $714 million, or $1.62 per share last year

Net sales for the quarter increased 8% to $24.3 billion, from $22.5 billion last year and for

the first half of the year sales increased 9% to $47.5 billion, from $43.7 billion last year.

16

As previously reported, total company same store sales advanced 5%, consisting of a 5%

increase at domestic clubs and a 6% increase at international locations. Without the benefit

of higher gas prices and favorable currency trends, U.S. comps were 5%, but the

international comp was lower at 4%.

Costco ended the second quarter with 622 warehouses, consisting of 448 in the United

States and Puerto Rico, 85 in Canada, 32 in Mexico, 23 in the United Kingdom, 13 in Japan,

nine in Taiwan, nine in Korea and three in Australia. The company plans to open up to an

additional fourteen new warehouses prior to the end of its fiscal year on September 1,

2013.

Target sweetens portfolio with Chefs Catalog purchase

Staff , Retailing Today . 3/15/2013

Target has agreed to buy Chefs Catalog from JH Partners, LLC, a private equity firm

specializing in investing growth capital in consumer-focused companies.

Chefs Catalog is a leading direct-to-consumer specialty retailer of top-rated cookware, bake

ware, cutlery, kitchen tools and cooking utensils including such brands as All-Clad, Cuisinart

and Kitchenaid. JH Partners acquired Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Chefs Catalog from

The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. in 2004.

Upon completion of the transaction, Target will combine Chefs Catalog with the acquired

assets of Cooking.com to create a new, wholly-owned subsidiary of Target aimed at

expanding the company's presence in the growing cooking and kitchenware market. Both

brands will continue to operate under their current names.

"We're delighted with the outcome of our work with Chefs Catalog's management team, led

by Tim Littleton," said Michael John, partner at JH Partners. "Chefs and the JH Partners

teams have worked together to transform Chefs from a single channel catalog company into

a true multichannel retailer of great cookware with exceptional revenue and margin growth

driven by our online business."