As of today, Canadian marketers are realizing the challenge that American marketers have had to live with since 2003 – the dreaded Do Not Call list.

News reporters speculate that over 60 per cent of Canadians will add their names to the DNC list as quickly as they can. (Note that the DNC registration site launched today, but has been down all morning!)

The concept of the Canadian DNC list was first heard in December 2004, just one year after it had launched in the US, but back then, there were issues in determining who and how the program would be managed and funded. There was so much speculation and confusion that most of us in the industry assumed it would take a lot longer to put in place and didn’t give it much thought. The day has come however, and many of us need to think about how we are going to approach outbound activity moving forward, in light of the Do Not Call list.

Businesses as a whole will have to find clever ways of acquiring new private customers and unfortunately, the DNC list in Canada comes at the time when traditional publishers are just now starting to intensify their outbound teams. The good news though, is that larger publishers shouldn’t have too much of an issue continuing business under the DNC rules and guidelines enforced by the CRTC:

• If you have an existing relationship with the person you are calling, you are exempt from the DNC guidelines and the term “existing relationship” is loosely defined when reviewing the details of Bill C-37. Larger publishers should have databases of names and phone numbers of customers who have placed a private ad online and or in print. I would suggest running any new private consumer call list against your incumbent client list and the DNC list, which you now have to purchase.
• Newspapers selling subscriptions are also exempt from the DNC. Technically then, newspapers and niche magazines could change their scripting to lead off with subscription services and then move into the request for an ad – just a thought.
• Businesses cannot participate in the DNC program, leaving a publishers inside b-to-b teams to function as normal.

By the end of 2007 in the US, the FTC Do Not Call list had received 145,498,656 phone numbers, but the greatest fear came just only three months after it was launched in the US, when a whopping 10 million numbers had been registered. Because of its immediate success, many thought the FTC’s Do Not Call list would have grown a lot faster than it has. In addition, a recent Harris poll of Americans who have added their names to the DNC list, we read that 59% of them claimed that they still receive telemarketing calls, but the amount if far less than before. This all shows signs that the DNC initiative will not be an easy one to manage in Canada and that Canadians who register on the DNC list should not expect to be exempt of telemarketing calls out the gate.

To conclude, my general thought is that the DNC guidelines are too loose to really provide those Canadians who have been asking for it the protection they had in mind.  My guess is that we will see Bill C-37 transformed even further within the next five years.

written by Beverly Crandon

Life magazine, even though generally classified as one of the “boutique” publications, has not been exempt from the challenges that come with the changing advertiser market place and the need to re-invent oneself, all in the name of “continued readership”. So through understanding the challenge the above poses, Life magazine executives have gone ahead and forged a relationship with Getty Images, to create a specialized Life.com.

The site, which is scheduled to launch early in 2009, will house archive photos from Life magazine, with some additions from the Getty database itself and the site will use the Getty Images search technology to expand the users functionality and capability to interact with the site. Bill Shapiro, editor of Life.com, said: “Only 3% of the Life archive has been seen by the public. This site will put everything on display. You’ll be able to look at the biggest events of yesterday and the stories making news today with just a couple of clicks.”

What the Life.com launch will do, aside from putting it the ranks of Flickr, is take the historical and brilliant Life magazine coverage of news and events and make it readily available to the reader online, in a manner that is geared towards them. In addition, Life as a brand or publisher has a chance to further embed in the minds of users, the roots of the magazine and its ability to serve the people with relevant and timely information, for almost 80 years - and there isn’t a “pure play” online competitor that can say the same.

The Life.com formula is another great way for any longstanding publisher to show their roots in a culture, city, town and community. Daily and suburban weekly magazines should review the Life model, as their own archives and the attention they could potentially draw from its local depth of content, would be powerful and unique to only them. Perhaps this could be the product that puts readers back in tune with the publisher’s brand, considering that a site such as this could be used widely by students performing research and by the general local community interested in learning more about their city.

Lastly, with Life.com, visitors will be able to create their own Life branded custom-made coffee table books of personal favorites, or purchase albums made by other users

written by Beverly Crandon

Chrysler has announced a plan to provide their franchise dealers with a completely new Internet marketing system as of October 1. The shift in applications and tools is designed to help those dealers looking to excel as an “interactive” dealer, do just that easily and affordably, according to the OEM.

The first phase of Chrysler’s new dealer Web service will include both dealer Web sites (SEO maximized) and an Internet lead service. Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep Web site visitors will be able to easily access dealer content, including inventory, local messages, dealer special offers and other related information.

“The way people shop has changed dramatically in recent years. Chrysler understands today’s consumers well. These new tools represent a fundamental shift in the way we go to market,” said Deborah Meyer, vice president and chief marketing officer, Chrysler LLC. “Because our brand and dealer websites will be fully integrated, consumers will now be able to move more easily through the shopping experience and our Dealers will be able to respond faster to them.”

Chrysler touts that its Web service will serve only the highest quality Internet leads to dealers at a rate that is 30 to 40 percent below retail costs. To ensure dealer satisfaction, all dealers will receive a free 30-day trial and there is no long-term commitment required for participation. We’ll only know once the service launches how disruptive it could be to other automotive portals that make millions per annum doing the same thing for dealers today. In the end however, it looks like Chrysler LLC and the Chrysler Dealer Internet Advisory Committee, sat down and studied what newspaper sites and third party automotive sites provide them with today and asked that Chrysler’s interactive team do the same for franchise dealers, but just better integrate it with the OEM site. Therefore, they get no points for innovation, but they do get points for acting on their strengths. Today, franchise dealers receive the most qualified leads from their OEM sites and Chrysler’s interactive plan ensures that they will build on top of that steam and make money from the dealers while doing so.

written by Beverly Crandon

Mediamark Research and Intelligence have finally released magazine audience numbers from the first part of 2008 and the numbers show that readership is up. Even given the decline in page count and the lessening circulation dollars, “audience” appears to be on an upward trend.

MRI’s audience study compared 95 leading consumer magazine titles from spring 2008 and spring 2007 and found that 70 (74%) of them saw their audience increase and further according to MRI, the combined total growth for all of the magazines studied was 4.3 percent.

What is important to note is that the increase in audience was not unique to the boutique magazines only, newsweeklies and automotive magazines also saw an increase in audience, within MRI’s study:

• Newsweek, audience growth of 4%
• The Economist, audience growth of 40%
• Motor Trend, audience growth of 13%
• AutoWeek, audience growth of 10%
• Popular Mechanics, audience growth of 8%
• Hot Rod, audience growth of 6%

written by Beverly Crandon

Many are saying this will be the solution for newspaper publishers who are looking for more affordable ways to make their print product portable -

written by Beverly Crandon

According to Barron’s, eBay plans to layoff 10% of its staff by the end of this year, as a result of slowing revenues and stagnation on the part of the online auction giant.

What Barron’s telling of eBay’s future brings to mind is how docile eBay has been when it comes to executing on any of their growth plans over the past three years. Aside from the success they have been having with eBay Motors in the US and now to a lighter degree in India, they haven’t been able to penetrate the most attractive markets (China and Japan for example) with their online auction format, thus impeding their plans for growth through their core competency business model. What eBay didn’t bank on was that in the many geo’s where online auction commerce was strong, a dominant market leader already existed in that space, holding the peoples transaction trust and this type of penetration makes it difficult for anyone to co-exist successfully, even eBay.

So, what’s next for eBay? The trepedatious launch of motors in India, which has now proven to be somewhat successful, may be the path to further success for eBay. What eBay Motors showed its creators was that niche eBay spin off sites for items that perform well on eBay proper, can work as a standalone, opening up incremental revenue streams. Aside from niche sites, we also cannot forget the success they have had with online classified sites such as Kijiji and Marktplaats. I suspect much of their energies will surround expanding the Kijiji model to other parts of the world and then monetizing it, since today the platform is completely free and extremely popular in the areas where it does exist.

Whatever the future holds for eBay I think their relative quietness on the online auction front is a clear indication that its model is changing and they are in the process of reinventing themselves and core business focus. Their furtive behavior should not be confused with complacency.

written by Beverly Crandon

Through review of a recent ‘Local Commerce Monitor’ report by the Kelsey Group, we learned that the economic pressures we see so heavily covered in today’s news media, does not seem to be having an effect on the small to medium sized business owner.

The Kelsey Group surveyed 300 small business owners and of them an overwhelming 81 percent said that they would maintain or increase their ad spending over the next 12 months. The report also offered some valuable information for media companies surrounding the SMB segments primary influences on their advertising spending decisions:

• Performance/return on investment (31 percent)
• Business partner or competitor (25 percent)
• Information from media such as newspapers, TV and trade publications (14 percent)
• Friends or family members (12 percent)

written by Beverly Crandon

Due to financial woes, the New York Sun has reported that it may close its doors at the end of September, unless the papers publishers can raise sufficient moneys.

Readers of the New York Sun were given a heads up of the newspapers potential closing in an article released yesterday and written by Seth Lipsky, the editor. Others in the industry are looking to the papers newness as another reason for its closure – the New York Sun was launched in April of 2002. Tenure in the newspaper industry could be a valid attributor the Sun’s announcement, as the cost of the necessary supplies for printing and distributing a newspaper (gas, and paper itself) have increased substantially since 2003 and newer publications lacking entrenched supplier relationships have suffered more from rate hikes, versus those with multi-decade old supplier footholds. It is important to note that the cost attributed to producing a newspaper is another reason new players on the scene have chosen a Web only play – perhaps this could be a viable option for the Sun.

According to Seth Lipsky, the New York Sun is “one of the few newspapers in America to see substantial increases in print advertising revenues not only last year and the year before but also so far this year”. Lipsky went on in his piece to explain, “the expense of producing and distributing the paper exceeds our revenues.”

written by Beverly Crandon

US headquartered Pluck, a social media platform provider, will announce today that it will provide the Sun-Times Media Group with social media and networking tools, across the newspaper groups suite of Web sites.

The Sun-Times group is in good hands with Pluck, as the company is headed by Richard Rosenblatt, the individual who was responsible for selling MySpace to NewsCorp. Nonetheless, through the Pluck relationship, Sun-Times online readers will be able to take part in discussion forums, comment on blogs, and share content, along with a plethora of other community tools

“By adding new capabilities to our site, such as reader comments, photos and blogs, we are significantly expanding interactivity with our readers,” said Catherine Lanucha, director of content for the Sun-Times News Group.

Other publishers using the Pluck platform in some fashion are Belo, Cox Newspapers, Hearst, Gannett, and the obvious NewsCorp, and this is just a sampling of their very impressive client list.

written by Beverly Crandon