Gannett drops in profilts, rev: Strong TV advertising couldn't offset slump in print

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-16/gannett-falls-most-in-2-months-as-profit-falls-25-on-ad-revenue.html

Big broadcaster/publisher Gannett saw profit and revenue slide last quarter as stronger TV advertising couldn't offset a slump on the print side early in the year.

Net income fell 24% to $68 million from $90 million, in part on $20 million in restructuring costs. Revenue eased 2.6% to $1.22 billion from $1.25 billion.

Broadcasting revenue of $176 million rose 7.5% on strong advertising demand, the company said Monday, citing higher auto spending, advertising associated with the Super Bowl, and an increase of $3.8 million in political ad demand. Gannett owns 23 stations covering 18.2% of the U.S. market.

Retransmission revenue rose 17% to $22.8 million. Television station digital revenues grew 6.4%.

Based on current trends, Gannett expects the percentage increase in total television revenues for the current second quarter to be in the high single digits compared to the 2011 period.

Broadcast operating income of $72.6 million, was up 14.4%.

In publishing, Gannett owns 82 daily papers led by flagship USA Today. Revenues fell to $874 million from $929 million reflecting soft advertising demand due in part to the tepid pace of the economic recovery. January was particularly weak and although activity improved in February and March it wasn't enough to overcome the slow start to the year, said CEO Gracia Martore.

Advertising revenues totaled $551.4 million compared to $601.7 million in the first quarter of 2011. Advertising revenues in the U.S. were 8.3% lower in the first quarter. At Newsquest, the company's operations in the UK, advertising revenues declined 6% percent, in local currency.

Digital revenues in the segment rose 12.5%.

According to market reports Gannett has had a few bad years now.  Is TV marketing just not as successful as it used to be?  What will be the next latest and greatest marketing scheme on TV?

NFL to Permit Advertising by Casinos During Next Two Seasons

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/story/2012-04-13/casino-advertising/54251646/1

The National Football League will allow teams to accept advertising from casinos during the next two years.

A memo sent to all 32 teams yesterday said franchises could sell ads in game-day programs, on club-controlled radio and in stadiums. The casinos must be in a team’s market. Under the altered policy, advertisers can’t take bets on any sports other than horse and dog racing.

“We remain steadfast in our opposition to the proliferation of gambling on NFL games,” Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL, said in an e-mail last night. “There is a distinction between accepting advertising in a limited fashion and gambling on the outcome of our games.”

Other state-licensed gambling establishments will also be able to buy ads, the memo said. Players, coaches and other team and league employees are not allowed to appear in any of the ads or endorse the entities or their products.

Teams are already able to sell ads to horse and dog-racing tracks, municipal lotteries and off-track betting organizations that don’t take wagers on sporting events.

Is this “splitting hairs”?  If gambling is allowed to be advertised should it not be endorsed by the league?

In Response to Rebecca's Post

If this trend continues, what kinds of things will you do in order to cut back on the money you spend weekly on gas? Do you think that people will change their lifestyles to save money?

Gas prices were at record highs around 2005 until 2007.  During this time period automakers realized people's demands are changing.  The trend which used to be SUVs and Minivans, was starting to change.  People wanted smaller more affordable cars that were more fuel efficient.  The auto industry responded in two different and unique approaches.  The foreign manufacturers listened to the wants and needs of the customers.  Toyota created the Prius, Honda created smaller more efficient cars, even the luxury cars such as BMW, added turbos and cut down on the actual size of the engines.  

The American manufacturers on the other hand, tried to push their cars onto the consumers.  This proved to be devastating causing General Motors to declare for bankruptcy, Chrysler nearly went out of business, and Ford nearly going under as well.  After this scare, they responded in a huge way. They created some of the best alternatives out there.  The Chevy Volt is truly revolutionary, and is now a company other competitors are trying to catch up to.  

Although consumers changed some, people still drive by themselves, public transportation budgets are still being cut.  

What is the price of fuel that would really create a change in the "American way"?  Is it $7 a gallon?  $10? $20?  There will be a point in which people will look to carpooling and public transportation again as most other countries in the world do.  Do you see American's having to face that fact in the near future?

In response to Joe's Post-
Do you think Billboard Marketing should be a top choice for marketers to use?

I feel billboards have been gradually declining.  Yes they are a great way to get many people to see certain advertisements, but it is impossible to appeal to a unique crowd.  People of all demographics drive on streets so it isn't like Facebook or other avenues that are able to have more specialized ads to hopefully appeal to the potential customer more.  Many years ago Vermont outlawed billboards, and it is illegal for there to be a billboard in the entire state.  New Hampshire is considering passing a law similar to this as well.  Not only are the billboards a detraction from the state's natural beauty but they are a distraction to drivers driving down the highway as well.

Although billboards are still a very viable option to get your name out, it is quite expensive and may not be the best choice.  As time progresses the alternatives will continue to improve whereas billboards don't have much more they can do.  Hopefully billboards will become a thing of the past, and make our nation's highways look a tad bit nicer.  

Do you agree billboards are "ugly"?  Do you think the pros outweigh the cons?

Marketing Crashes Fenway Park's 100th Birthday Party

http://www.fastcompany.com/1829675/fenway-park-turns-100-has-marketing-trumped-its-charm

For generations of baseball fans, Fenway has been baseball Mecca. You don’t just watch a baseball game there, you experience it, with sights, sounds and smells unlike any other sporting venue. Fenway Park turns 100 on April 20, and if you haven’t heard about it yet, you will. Sports Illustrated and USA Today have published special editions. PBS is airing a National Geographic-produced documentary. A Green Monster-green coffee table book just hit the shelves. An official website chronicles Fenway’s history. And that’s just the start.

The Red Sox marketing machine is cranking out a season’s worth of promos, events, and extravaganzas as part of the “Fenway Park 100” campaign. The Boston Pops have even recorded “Fanfare to Fenway,” a musical tribute as well.

 “Our goal is to differentiate the ballpark from all others in sports. We believe Fenway...is an iconic facility that transcends sports,” Red Sox senior vice president of Marketing and Brand Development Adam Grossman said during a talk to the Ad Club of Boston on March 27.

Do you think Fenway has gone too far?  Are they balancing the amount of money they want to make with advertising correctly?  

In Repsonse to Lyndzi

Do you think companies in a consumer market spend more money on marketing than companies in a business market?

Companies in the consumer market spend their marketing money differently than those in the business market.  

Companies in the consumer market do more advertising.  They run commercials, post signs, try to get people involved on social network sites.  They make huge storefront signs and spend a ton of money trying to get their name out.  

Companies that sell business to business do less of that.  They spend more time doing trade shows to get their name out originally.  Then after that, they have a sales team, that are normally salaried or get a nice commission that are in charge of getting a few businesses to buy from them.  They take them out to lunch, they go golfing, they do a plethora of different activities to try and get that one order that is worth a ton of money.  

Neither method is cheap ad campaigns are extremely expensive, whereas wining and dining with potential clients isn't exactly a cheap date either.  

Both sides need to make sure they are spending their money efficiently and in the best possible manner.  Each side has its own challenges.  

Which part of the business would you like to be in?  Would you prefer to work with many customers or a select few?

Adobe Digital Marketing Suite Tackles Big Data with Predictive Marketing

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/adobe-digital-marketing-suite-tackles-big-data-with-predictive-marketing-2012-03-21

 Adobe announced new predictive marketing capabilities within the Adobe Digital Marketing Suite, reducing the complexity of uncovering hidden behavioral patterns in big data.  These advancements will help marketers more quickly sort through an increasing amount of data to find the most impactful insights as well as leverage vast amounts of historical data to predict future results.  Adobe is putting predictive analytics and more intelligent, forward-looking decision-making into the hands of digital marketers.

More specifically consumers can-

·         Change key metrics in various what-if scenarios to see how those changes will potentially impact business outcomes, such as orders and revenue

·         Forecast campaign results across search, social and display, and develop optimized media mix models, generating higher returns on multi-channel advertising initiatives

·         Identify leading indicators that point to upcoming risks and anomalies and adjust marketing strategies before a problem occurs or to take advantage of an opportunity

·         Identify interactions (leaving a comment, reviewing a product, etc.) with the highest probability to convert

·         Move from testing content to prescribing content based on what the predictive model predicts will be best

This is all able to be accomplished due to the sheer number of servers located worldwide.  There are over 23,500 servers that record over 5 trillion transactions annually and store 27 petabytes of data. 

Do you think this latest development will help adobe stay competitive in the technology sector?  They have recently done a revamp of their entire company’s leadership, do you think it is betteroff than it used to be?