Archive for the ‘news & media’ Category
NFIB Selects Imagination Custom Publishing to Create Cutting-Edge Small Business Content
8 Jan 2010
by Michelle O'Hagan
CHICAGO—The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business association, selected Imagination Publishing as its new custom publishing partner to help relaunch its flagship magazine, MyBusiness, and create dynamic new content for the NFIB website (http://www.NFIB.com).
MyBusiness, NFIB’s “voice of small business” publication for nearly 20 years, is published bi-monthly with a circulation of 475,000. The March/April 2010 custom magazine relaunch will include a revised feature well, prominent guest columnists, a fresh, modern layout, and expanded, exclusive and actionable content on NFIB.com, including rich media tips and tools to help small business owners own, operate and grow their businesses.
“For years, MyBusiness and NFIB.com have helped the nation’s small business owners run and grow their businesses,” said Dan Danner, NFIB’s president and CEO. “We chose Imagination for its outstanding creative execution, cutting-edge strategic thinking and the passion they brought to the table for helping small business owners. We’re excited to work with Imagination Publishing to reinvigorate the magazine and our site, to make it even more relevant to our audience and advertisers with critical and timely business advice, political and regulatory information and utilize digital opportunities to build community.”
Imagination’s NFIB team will operate under the leadership of company President and CEO Jim Meyers, along with EVP of Design Doug Kelly, and EVP of Client Strategy Laura Chavoen. Editorial Director Simona Covel, formerly of the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, and Account Director Rene Ryan, whose writing has appeared in The Boston Globe and Inc. magazine, will head up print and digital strategies for MyBusiness and NFIB.com. Holly Townsend, president of The Townsend Group, will handle advertising sales for the magazine and the NFIB.com.
“Imagination is the custom content leader in producing editorial for organizations who want to reach small businesses, and this is the strongest strategic and editorial team we’ve ever had,” Meyers said. “Small business is the backbone of the nation’s economy and our mission is to take an already strong publication to the next print and digital levels, to make it indispensable for small business owners and the advertisers who want to reach them.”
Highlights of the March/April issue include:
Unemployment Overload
Unemployment is high, and that means opportunity for small business. How to take advantage of the sudden glut of workers—and how to avoid costly missteps.
The State of the Stimulus
It’s no secret: there wasn’t much in the stimulus for you. Follow five small businesses just like yours that tried to eke out stimulus funds.
The Exit Plan Crisis
Every business owner’s worst nightmare is losing his or her business. But without better succession planning, the majority of small business owners may face that prospect. How to avoid that fate.
Guest Columnist
Famed marketing guru Seth Godin offers his take on small business marketing.
About NFIB
NFIB (http://www.NFIB.com) is the leading small business association representing small and independent businesses. A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its members in Washington and all 50 states. The organization’s powerful network of grassroots activists voices its opinion directly to state and federal lawmakers through a members-only ballot, playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system.
About Imagination Publishing
Imagination (http://www.imaginepub.com) is the leading custom publishing and content marketing agency. We help our clients build relationships and increase engagement with their customers. Our clients include B2B and B2C marketers, industry and trade associations. Imagination combines the strengths of traditional agencies, digital agencies and custom publishers to harness the power of relevant content and targeted distribution to help our clients achieve their business goals.
For media inquiries about MyBusiness magazine, contact Jim Meyers, president and CEO of Imagination Publishing at: 312-887-1000.
For advertising inquiries about MyBusiness magazine, contact Holly Townsend, president of The Townsend Group at: 301-215-6710.
New Custom Magazine for Senior Marketers to Debut Friday
21 Oct 2009
by Michelle O'Hagan
ORANGE magazine to share insight and opinions about custom publishing, branding and integrated marketing programs.
CHICAGO—Imagination Publishing, a custom publishing agency, on Friday will debut a new custom magazine, ORANGE, to be distributed to senior marketing executives internationally.
The custom magazine, and its companion microsite, will share the magic of why custom content is the most powerful marketing tool for creating audience engagement.
“ORANGE magazine fills a void for CMOs; it goes way beyond the content in most marketing and advertising industry publications, says Jim Meyers, president and CEO of Imagination Publishing. “It covers cutting-edge issues developing around custom content, and positions custom publishing as a critical part of an integrated marketing strategy.”
- ORANGE, a custom published magazine for senior marketers, from Imagination
The inaugural issue of ORANGE includes interviews with leaders at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership; Chris Brogan, co-author of New York Times best-seller “Trust Agents;” Anna Malmhake, VP of global marketing for The Absolut Company; Jeremy Gutsche, founder of Trendhunter; and Martin Lindstrom, author of “Buyology: The Truth & Lies About Why We Buy.”
Online-exclusive content includes interviews with international pollster John Zogby and Ruy Teixeira, senior fellow with The Center for American Progress.
ORANGE’s original content and striking design demonstrate a custom publishing program at its very best. The publication’s masthead describes it as “both inspirational and aspirational, and sometimes confrontational.”
One department, titled “Buy This Idea,” features complete concepts for new custom content packages, along with a suggested ideal sponsor for each.
“Imagination has been a leader in custom publishing for fifteen years,” Meyers says. “With ORANGE, we’ll share our knowledge, insight and opinions with senior marketers around the country through our own ideal custom publishing program.”
To learn more about ORANGE magazine, or to request a subscription, visit www.imaginepub.com/orange
Custom Publishing Special Report
12 Oct 2009
by Michelle O'Hagan
Imagination Publishing’s own Jim Meyers is interviewed in a Custom Publishing Special Report in the October 12, 2009 issue of BtoB Magazine.
Here’s an outtake from the article:
The ecosystem where b-to-b marketers, trade publishers and ad agencies interact is changing. Increasingly, b-to-b marketers are acting like publishers. The Internet has forced marketers to populate their Web sites with white papers, webcasts and other content that will attract the attention of search engines.
Read the complete article:
Custom Publishing Agency Named one of Best Magazine Publishing Companies to Work For 2009
1 Oct 2009
by Michelle O'Hagan
Custom media expert excels in employee survey, workplace best practices.
CHICAGO–Imagination Publishing recently was named one of the Best Magazine Publishing Companies to Work for 2009. The annual list of “Best Magazine Companies” was created by Publishing Executive magazine and Best Companies Group. The complete list – along with profiles of each company’s benefits package and corporate policies – is published in the November issue of Publishing Executive magazine.
Jim Meyers, president of Imagination, says the recognition is a direct result of Imagination’s rigorous and strategic hiring practices. “Over the years, we’ve evolved from a small custom publisher to a custom media expert with B2B and B2C clients across the country. Hiring the highest caliber custom media and marketing professionals is one of our highest priorities.”
Imagination’s Vice President of Talent, Andrea Scott, coordinated the required anonymous employee survey. “Our employees are so enthusiastic about their careers and their clients, and that enthusiasm came through in the survey,” Scott says. “We’re very proud of the work we do for our clients, and that makes Imagination a great place to work.”
Companies from across the country entered the two-part survey process to determine the “Best Magazine Publishing Companies to Work For.” The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company’s workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration, survey and analysis process and determined the final rankings.
About Imagination
Imagination is a custom publisher and custom media agency. We help B2B and B2C marketers and associations build relationships and increase engagement with their customers.
Survival of the Smartest
7 Jul 2009
by admin
Let’s not bury the lede: the publishing industry is in trouble.
Magazines are struggling to survive as advertising revenue evaporates, and the rules of engagement–literally–change. In the first half of 2009, 279 magazines folded according to a MediaFinder.com survey cited by FOLIO:
Given all of that it would seem logical–nay, imperative–that publishers, CEOs, COOs editors and the rest of content generating masses reach deep into their creative souls to fix the problems that plague the industry.
Alas, a quick read (or even a slow, thorough one) of FOLIO: magazine’s So What Business Are You In feature seems to indicate that the C-suite at most major publishing houses still does not get it. And by “it,” I mean the severity of the situation.
In this series of articles penned by noted magazine professionals (including Hearst’s vice president and general manager, John Loughlin, and New York’s Larry Burstein), we get the same rote recantation of standard operating procedure,i.e the “same ol’, same ol’,” namely:
- We’re platform agnostic
- We’re diversifying our revenue streams
- We’re investing in technology
It’s almost as if each of the interviewees is more concerned with presenting a brave face, instead of taking the conversation in a new direction. In fact, not a single one of these leaders within the industry mentions the one “buzz word” that they actually should: Innovation.
To be fair, there are some good ideas here.
The Atlantic’s president, Justin Long, gets points for talking about a holistic business strategy for creating profitable brands to lessen the dependence on advertising dollars, and Technology Review’s Kathleen Kennedy hits it out of the park with her emphasis on diversifying the content distribution model using new delivery methods, specifically mobile apps and Kindle apps.
But by and large, the majority of these folks put innovation and R&D below the fold. Not a single mention of trying to harness the power of social networks (though everyone talks about community), and working to create new ways to engage the audience with new forms of content. In addition, there’s very little mention of organizational changes to get away from the highly-inefficient publishing process that soaks up time and resources.
Now, I’m not saying I have all the answers, but it just seems a tad disturbing that the level of this conversation hasn’t moved much in the past year. Perhaps that’s just being in shock. Or maybe it’s simply nature’s way of showing us who will and won’t survive, because at the end of the day it’s not about who gets it right, it’s about who gets it right first. Call it an imposition of Darwinian logic, call it a reckoning, but in the end the magazines left standing will the ones who took a risk and tried to do something new.
Marketing In A Recession
15 Apr 2009
by Joel Witmer
New Yorker financial columnist James Surowiecki discusses the possibilities made available to bold companies who don’t shy away from marketing their products and services during a recession.
[N]umerous studies have shown that companies that keep spending on acquisition, advertising, and R. & D. during recessions do significantly better than those which make big cuts. In 1927, the economist Roland Vaile found that firms that kept ad spending stable or increased it during the recession of 1921-22 saw their sales hold up significantly better than those which didn’t. A study of advertising during the 1981-82 recession found that sales at firms that increased advertising or held steady grew precipitously in the next three years, compared with only slight increases at firms that had slashed their budgets. And a McKinsey study of the 1990-91 recession found that companies that remained market leaders or became serious challengers during the downturn had increased their acquisition, R. & D., and ad budgets, while companies at the bottom of the pile had reduced them…
When everyone is advertising, for instance, it’s hard to separate yourself from the pack; when ads are scarcer, the returns on investment seem to rise. That may be why during the 1990-91 recession, according to a Bain & Company study, twice as many companies leaped from the bottom of their industries to the top as did so in the years before and after.
Interestingly enough Kellogg, the cereal company, established its market dominance during the Great Depression when it doubled its advertising budget while Post, its leading competator at the time, cut its own ad budget. Since then Kellogg has been the best selling cereal company in the United States.
Why Newspapers Are Failing
14 Apr 2009
by Joel Witmer
This early frontrunner in the Most Misleading Headline of 2009 comes from Martin Langeveld, a 30-year newspaper veteran writing for the Nieman Journalism Lab:
Print is still king: Only 3 percent of newspaper reading happens online
This is so mind boggling I hardly know where to start. But I’ll give it a shot.
First, Langeveld’s claim is based on two key assumptions: 1) that 2.128 readers read each daily print copy and 2.477 readers read each Sunday print copy; 2) that each reader looks at 24 pages per copy. That equals 87.1 billion “page views” per month for printed newspapers. Meanwhile online newspapers averaged only 3.2 billion page views per month. All told that’s 90.3 billion page views. 87.1 billion is 96.5% of that total, ergo only 3% of newspaper reading happens online.
I have no idea if each printed copy of each daily newspaper is read on average by more than two people each day, but something about that figure sure seems suspicious unless there are communes of newspaper sharers tucked away in the Appalachian Mountains passing around daily copies of the paper like its a roach at a Phish concert. Regardless, I’m willing to grant Langeveld the benefit of the doubt.
The second flaw in his assumption is that page views in print are comparable to page views online. They aren’t. The cost of a page view online for the reader is much, much higher than the cost of a page view in print, where a page view is achieved simply by flipping to the next page. Online reading doesn’t work the same way. Offline each page of newsprint may contain three, four, five, or even six articles. Online pages almost exclusively contain one article. A page view online equals an article picked out by the reader because it was of interest. Therefore in terms of news consumption a page view online is tremendously more valuable than a page view off line, where a page view is counted, again, simply by flipping the page, which may happen because the news on the previous page was never interesting to the reader to begin with. In other words, Langeveld is counting as page views on par with online page views the act of a reader avoiding news that does not interest him. This is an obvious problem for his argument.
But the biggest problem is that his argument completely misses the spot. Newspapers are now the least popular means by which people consume the news. The newspaper battle isn’t between offline and online newspapers. It’s between newspapers and the internet (and television). Right now more people get their news on the internet than through newspapers and that trend is continuing to increase each year at a breakneck pace. CNN.com is one of the most popular news websites in the world but it’s excluded from Langeveld’s analysis because it’s not a newspaper. Likewise the BBC. Or Politico. Or Salon. Or Slate. Or, or, or.
If you want to know why newspapers are failing I’d say you don’t need to look any further than people like Langeveld. His article is testament enough.
Rebecca Rolfes in “Association Publishing”
6 Apr 2009
by Michelle O'Hagan
Rebecca Rolfes, Imagination’s EVP of association strategy, was a major source in an article in the Jan/Feb edition of SNAP’s Association Publishing. “Piloting through Publication Politics” is a feature story that covers association leaders’ understanding of product development. Check it out at: SNAP online.
