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10.10.2012
The Global Port Tracker report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates found that import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 9.9% in October as merchants wrap up the annual shipping cycle for holiday merchandise.
“NRF’s annual forecast says retailers should see solid growth during the holiday season this year and these cargo numbers back it up,” NRF VP for supply chain and customs policy Jonathan Gold said. “Increased imports show that retailers have gauged the market and expect increased sales.”??
U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.42 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units in August, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 6.7% from July and 3.3% from August 2011. One TEU is one 20-ft. cargo container or its equivalent.??
September was estimated at 1.49 million TEU, up 8% from last year, and October is forecast at 1.45 million TEU, up 9.9%.
August, September and October are the three busiest months of the year as retailers bring merchandise into the country for the holiday season, and volume for the three months combined is up 7%.
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10.10.2012
The ad industry is continuing to ramp up the pressure on Microsoft to retreat from its decision to activate do-not-track headers by default in Internet Explorer 10.
"A 'default on' do-not-track mechanism offers consumers and businesses inconsistencies and confusion instead of comfort and security," the self-regulatory group Digital Advertising Alliance said on Tuesday.
The organization added that it won't require members to honor do-not-track headers from people who use the Internet Explorer 10 browser. While the ad group previously indicated that it won't require publishers and ad networks to respect do-not-track signals set to "on" by default, Tuesday's statement was the most definitive to date.
"It is not a DAA Principle or in any way a requirement under the DAA Program to honor a DNT signal that is automatically set in IE10 or any other browser," the group stated. It noted that the Council of Better Business Bureaus -- which enforces the industry's self-regulatory principles -- as well as the Direct Marketing Association won't sanction companies that ignore do-not-track signals from Microsoft's IE10 browser.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau praised the DAA for taking a position against "machine-driven" do-not-track browser standards, saying that they "restrict consumer control and freedom of choice."
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10.10.2012
Entertainment news source Variety has been sold by Reed Elsevier to digital media and publishing company Penske Media Corporation (PMC). The deal is estimated to be for about $25 million, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Reed Business Information [RBI], a division of Reed Elsevier, announced in March that was putting Variety up for sale—the announcement followed rumors of a possible sale that circulated in 2010. The company has spent the last three years divesting its U.S. magazine properties. In April 2010, 23 RBI titles (including Building Design + Construction, Graphic Arts Blue Book and Professional Builder, among others) shuttered.
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10.10.2012
The historic ‘gan bei’ drinking ritual in China, which is the equivalent of the “Cheers!” toast in the U.S., is being modernized with Anheuser-Busch InBev's (AB InBev) launch of Budweiser in premium metal packaging featuring a full aperture end. The new 200 diameter end was developed by Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) (Crown) (
www.crowncork.com) specifically for this project and represents the first commercial application of full aperture ends in Asia. Branded the 360 End™, the innovation allows the entire can lid to be removed, turning the can itself into a drinking cup.
The 150ml package is slated for limited release in China, with nightclubs and the popular karaoke scene as primary end-use targets.
“China has overtaken the U.S. as the world’s largest beer market, and younger consumers represent a large part of the country’s consumption of 40 billion liters of beer each year,” said Ricardo Dias, Vice-President of Procurement for AB InBev APAC. “The ‘gan bei’ can is a brand new product with a very specific goal: enhancing the drinking experience for Budweiser consumers, who have increasingly sophisticated taste. The unique size, ultra high quality graphics and full aperture end will also reinforce the positioning of Budweiser as a premium brand for aspiring and affluent Chinese consumers.”
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10.10.2012
Costco Wholesale Corporation announced today its operating results for the 17-week fourth quarter and the 53-week fiscal year 2012 ended September 2, 2012.
Net sales for the 17-week fourth quarter were $31.52 billion, an increase of 14 percent from $27.59 billion in the 16-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 ended August 28, 2011. Net sales for the 53-week fiscal year 2012 were $97.06 billion, an increase of 12 percent from $87.05 billion in the prior 52-week fiscal year.
Net income for the 17-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 was $609 million, or $1.39 per diluted share, compared to $478 million, or $1.08 per diluted share, during the 16-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.
Costco ended its 2012 fiscal year on September 2 with 608 warehouses in operation, including 439 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 82 in Canada, 32 in Mexico, 22 in the United Kingdom, 13 in Japan, nine in Taiwan, eight in Korea, and three in Australia. The Company plans to open up to 14 new warehouses before the end of calendar year 2012. The Company also operates Costco Online, an electronic commerce web site, at www.costco.com and at www.costco.ca in Canada.
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10.10.2012
Oil declined from the highest price in a week in New York on speculation that crude stockpiles climbed in the U.S., the world’s biggest user of the commodity.
Futures slid as much as 0.7 percent after surging 3.4 percent yesterday amid increased tension in the Middle East. Crude inventories probably rose 1.5 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before an Energy Department report tomorrow. The American Petroleum Institute will release separate supply data later today. London-traded Brent prices are still high and Saudi Arabia will work toward “moderating” them, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday.
“We’re still in an oversupply situation,” said Filip Petersson, a commodities strategist at SEB AB in Stockholm, who predicts Brent crude will average $110 a barrel this quarter. “There’s upside risk on the geopolitical side, but then of course there are headwinds from slowing growth.”
Crude for November delivery dropped as much as 68 cents to $91.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $92 at 9:46 a.m. London time.
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10.10.2012
NewPage Corporation today announced that it is strengthening its commitment to the uncoated freesheet market segment and broadening its reach for its Ideal® products.
"NewPage continues to diversify into new market segments in order to meet the evolving needs of our customers, as well as position us as a long-term, sustainable supplier," stated Kris Morrow, commercial product manager for NewPage uncoated grades.
Ideal attributes include a 92 brightness, brilliant blue-white shade, excellent ink holdout and optimal opacity. Ideal meets the exacting needs of any print application while remaining within a tight budget. It is recommended for end use such as annual reports, brochures, catalogs, coupons, direct mail, financial documents, newsletters and manuals.
Ideal provides superior versatility and is a good choice for the most demanding printing applications. It is designed to perform in heatset web, coldset web and sheetfed printing applications.
Morrow added, "Ideal is known for its top tier properties that meet rigorous printing and finishing demands. Its smooth, even surface yields a high-quality look and feel for a printed piece, and its consistency and reliability allows printers and converters to feel confident in their ability to maximize operational efficiencies."
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10.09.2012
Quad/Graphics, Inc., announced today that it has reached a new, $900 million-plus agreement with Time Inc. that significantly extends and expands its magazine print work for the venerable New York publisher. Under the multi-year agreement, Quad/Graphics will handle more than 85% of the print work for 19 titles that are among the most popular magazines in America, including Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, Money, Real Simple, Fortune, Essence and Golf. The work represents a 35% increase in incremental Time Inc. print volume for Quad/Graphics over the term of the agreement, beginning in January 2014.
Guy Gleysteen, Senior VP of Production at Time Inc., said the new agreement reflects his company’s confidence in Quad/Graphics to continue to deliver superior services for both weekly and monthly magazine production. “We strive for continuous improvement in our operations with the goal of delivering increasingly timely and relevant content through all of our magazine brands,” he said. “Aligning the majority of our magazines with Quad is going to provide a unique opportunity for the two companies to drive innovation and efficiency.”
“We are pleased to be growing our business relationship with Time Inc., and capitalizing on our leading nationwide magazine platform to print more titles and more volume in more places,” said Joel Quadracci, Chairman, President & CEO. “Under this new agreement, Time Inc. has entrusted us with the vast majority of its magazine work, and we will continue to deliver the timely service and quality product they have come to expect from us, a progressive print partner.”
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10.09.2012
SG360°, a Segerdahl Co. and leading direct marketing solutions provider, announced the purchase of two new Komori Lithrone G40 presses (GL640) for its production facility here. These state-of-the art offset sheetfed presses deliver the speed and efficiency required to respond to short delivery deadlines for all types of print applications.
“We are proud to add the cutting-edge Komori GL640 presses to our production capabilities,” commented Rick Joutras, CEO of SG360°. “This has been an exciting month for SG360°. We have a new name, new identity, a redefined business and now two new Komori presses. We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities for us to increase productivity for our clients, enabling them to connect the right messages with their customers faster and more efficiently.”
Yoshiharu Komori, chairman, president and CEO of Komori Corp., toured the printer’s facilities with Joutras and other team members on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012.
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10.09.2012
Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice, said there is "big momentum" for federal legislation that would allow states to require online retailers to collect sales tax – but thinks it would throw the ecommerce world into chaos.
"It's a nightmare coming your way," DelBianco said at last month's National Etailing and Mailing Organization of America fall directXchange conference. "It would be a pretty crushing burden to handle."
Should one of the three pending bills (Main Street Fairness Act, Marketplace Equity Act, and Marketplace Fairness Act) become law, DelBianco said ecommerce and catalog companies would receive free software to help administer the collection of sales tax. "It's free the way a puppy is free," DelBianco said. "It's a nightmare coming your way."
If enacted, the collections of sales tax by online retailers would repeal the 1992 Supreme Court decision, Quill Corp. vs. North Dakota, which said states are not allowed to require out-of-state companies to collect sales taxes unless that company has a physical presence, such as a store or warehouse, in the state. Small companies (those with sales of $1 million or less nationally or less than $100,000 in a given state) would be exempt from the requirement.
Burdening remote sales, including ecommerce, with unrealistic administrative tax burdens will increase the cost of doing business on the Internet, DelBianco said. Pending legislation would require ecommerce sites and catalogs to calculate tax rates for over 9,600 tax jurisdictions, each with its own rates and sales tax holidays; file returns for each of the 46 taxing states; endure potential tax audits from 46 state tax authorities; and invest in computer systems changes and additional accounting resources, DelBianco said.
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10.09.2012
While it is hard for anyone to argue that print advertising is on a growth path, the magazine industry’s trade association, MPA, wants us all to look beyond beleaguered ad pages and newsstand sales for signs of success. As one of the first moves just three weeks into her tenure as new president and CEO of the MPA, Mary Berner says she asked for an audit of all the metrics around magazines. “It occurred to me that the conversation about magazine media is skewed, in that it only captures traditional ways of looking at magazines,” she tells minonline. PIB and ABC numbers around ad pages and circulation are all necessary and fine, but they no longer measure the sum total of what she prefers labeling “magazine media.” According to the MPA count off of recently issued Kantar research, the number of discrete brands advertising across magazine print, tablet and digital platforms is up 57% since 2010 when the iPad first appeared. Kantar found that 9,536 brands were buying into magazines on or more of the three platforms in the first half of 2010, but 14,949 brands advertised in the first half of this year.
To be sure, as almost all measures show, ad pages have been in steady decline in print publications for several years, apart from select bumps and rebounds in some categories. But after years of bad news and bad press surrounding the magazine industry’s decline, Berner is resolved. “The idea is to take the reins of what the conversation is pegged around,” she says. “I am not saying that we aren’t going through challenging times. Every business is going through transformation.” But the digital revolution that has disrupted almost every segment of he American economic holds great upside for magazine media, she contends. “The story is quite good,” she says.
On an audience basis, magazines may still be struggling to monetize eyeballs, but the reach remains. Citing GfK MRI research, the MPA says that combined unduplicated audience for magazines grew 4% across print and all digital platforms between sprint 2011 and spring 2012.
Tablets are especially promising for the industry, Berner says. In fact, according to Kantar’s research, tablets are helping to drive the expansion of magazine media’s ad base. In the first half of 2012 3,374 unique brands were working with magazine media on their tablet products, Berners says, per Kantar. “Of the growth [in overall advertisers for magazines] two-thirds was from new brands going onto tablets,” she says. In addition to the number of discrete advertisers buying into magazine brands on one of their platforms, magazines have broken through as major players in the tablet space. By MPA’s count, 13 of the top 15 highest grossing apps in the iPad Lifestyle section of the iTunes App Store are magazine-branded apps. The sheer number of apps have increased steadily, now standing at 1728 magazine-brand iPad apps (per McPheters & Company’s iMonitor).
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10.09.2012
Google Inc. has reached a legal settlement with publishers over its program of digitizing copyrighted books, providing it with an opening to sell more digital books through its Google Play online store, the company says.
“By putting this litigation with the publishers behind us, we can stay focused on our core mission and work to increase the number of books available to educate, excite and entertain our users via Google Play,” David Drummon, Google’s senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, said in a statement released yesterday by Google and the Association of American Publishers.
A Google spokeswoman adds that Google expects the settlement to lead to more digital books available for viewing and for sale online. Google lets consumers searching for books through its Google Books site to read up to 20% of a chosen book; to make a purchase, they can then click to Google Play to purchase a digital book that can be read on the web or via mobile devices.
Google still faces a lawsuit by authors who complain the search engine is infringing their copyrights.
This week’s agreement settles a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Google in 2005 by five publishers: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., John Wiley & Sons Inc., Simon & Schuster Inc., Pearson plc’s Pearson Education Inc. and Penguin Group. The publishers had sought to prevent Google from digitizing copyrighted books and journals for its Google Library Project. A call to the Association of American Publishers, which announced the settlement with Google this week, was not immediately returned.
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10.09.2012
Active Interest Media (AIM) and Restore Media have agreed to partner in production of their historic home and building brands, the companies announced today.
AIM bought consumer publications Old House Journal and New Old House from Restore Media in 2007. Those two brands, as well as Restore's two professional titles, Period Homes and Traditional Building, are involved in the current deal.
The arrangement, negotiated over the past six months and involving the print, digital and tradeshow properties, puts the companies on "a specific path to an acquisition," according to Andy Clurman, president of AIM.
The brands will remain financially and editorially independent of one another for the time being, but will work together on sales and marketing in an effort to "build and rebuild the business in an improving housing market," he says. Depending on the success of the relationship, AIM may choose to acquire Restore Media at some point during the next three years. A price has not yet been determined.
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10.09.2012
Oil halted a two-day slide as optimism that European finance ministers will make progress in taming the region’s debt crisis countered signs that crude supplies are excessive amid a global economic slowdown.
West Texas Intermediate crude gained as much as 1.1 percent after the European ministers welcomed Greece’s determination to cut spending and reshape its recession-wracked economy. The commitment improves chances that regional aid will keep flowing and stop Greece from abandoning the euro. U.S. oil supplies probably rose after crude production climbed to the highest level in more than 15 years and imports increased, a Bloomberg survey showed before an Energy Department report on Oct. 11.
“The continuing tension between bullish and bearish factors will keep oil trading in a range in the very short- term,” said Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Jefferies Bache Ltd. in London, who predicts Brent crude will slip to about $110 a barrel.
Crude for November delivery climbed as much as $1 to $90.33 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $89.56 at 11:43 a.m. London time.
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10.09.2012
Gannett Co. announced it will implement comScore's viewable impression measurement for ad campaigns running on USAToday.com.
The measurement tool leverages comScore's validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) and Digital Analytix Monetization tools to optimize ad inventory and ensure digital ad impressions have been viewed by the target audience.
The move comes less than a month after USA Today introduced new designs for its newspaper, website and mobile apps. It also added larger ad units.
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10.09.2012
MeadWestvaco Corporation, a global leader in packaging and packaging solutions received its Robinson EN 1230-2 sensory analysis approval for its Printkote® paperboard for chocolate and confectionery packaging. This analysis, required for all confectionery packaging and paperboard, tests the paperboard’s ability to maintain product quality without a trace of taint or odour from the packaging.
Printkote’s approval on the Robinson test confirms its ability to maintain product integrity and value, and provides brand owners with confidence in packaging solutions for their luxury confectionery products.
Printkote meets the high standards of packaging seen in the European chocolate and confectionery market and is safe for direct food contact. Without the addition of optical brighteners, a light creamy warm shade supports colour intensity.
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10.08.2012
New evidence shows that action codes (such as QR codes, Microsoft Tags and digital watermarks) in magazines deliver better response rates than traditional forms of direct marketing, according to a report by Nellymoser Inc., a mobile marketing and technology services company. Based on Companion App campaigns delivered by Nellymoser over the past 12 months, the median response rate using mobile action codes ranged from 4.5 to 5.9 percent. The average, weighted by circulation, was 6.4 percent.
Companion App scan rates are greater than the response rates for other types of printed marketing, as reported by the Direct Marketing Association in the “2012 Response Rate Report.” Direct mail had a 4.4 percent response rate overall and catalogs had a 4.3 percent rate. Email and paid search had response rates of less than 1 percent.
Until now, the major barrier in obtaining hard numbers for the response rates of mobile action codes in magazines was that the applications used to scan codes and the codes themselves were produced by different entities.
The clients in this study used Nellymoser to produce both the Companion App with its universal scanner and the mobile experience that is delivered to the reader. Because Nellymoser manages the app and the scanned experience, it has a unique opportunity to measure campaigns from scan through execution. These two sets of data can now be correlated, providing new insight into the audience’s behavior and the success of campaigns.
The response rates measured across all magazines and adds ranged from 0.7 percent to 26.8 percent. The average, weighted by circulation and removing the high and lowest scores, was 6.4 percent. The app remained open about 10 minutes for each visit. During those 10 minutes, the user viewed nearly 19 mobile pages—an average of about 30 seconds per page. This suggests that users were actively interacting with the magazine while using the app. Visitors on average made return visits 1.4 additional times for additional engagement (an average of 2.4 visits).
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10.08.2012
The Board of Appeal of Stichting Milieukeur (SMK) has rejected an appeal filed by a coalition of NGOs and confirmed that PEFC International conforms to the Dutch Procurement criteria. This rejection comes one year after the Dutch Timber Procurement Assessment Committee (TPAC) rejected an objection filed by the NGOs as unsubstantiated, ending an exhaustive four year process that confirmed at every stage that PEFC delivers sustainability as defined in the Dutch criteria.
"We are delighted that the TPAC assessment and the subsequent challenges during the complaints and appeals process have demonstrated and confirmed that our standards are robust and in compliance with Dutch procurement criteria, which are arguably the strictest in the world," said Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC International.
Five Dutch civil society organisations filed an objection, and subsequently an appeal, against the original TPAC judgement, WWF Netherlands (Wereld Natuur Fonds), Greenpeace (Stichting Greenpeace),Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples, NCIV (Stichting Nederlands Centrum voor Inheemse Volken), the Dutch Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO), and Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Vereniging Milieudefensie).
The main argument of WWF et al. in the appeals hearing was that the umbrella system of PEFC International offers no guarantees that the underlying national PEFC systems conform to the Dutch Procurement criteria, an argument that was rejected by the Board of Appeals and the appeal lodged by WWF et al was dismissed.
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10.08.2012
NewPage Corporation announced today that it has filed an amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan (the "Plan") and Disclosure Statement with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
"The filing of our amended Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement is an important step toward exiting bankruptcy this year with a strong balance sheet," said Jay Epstein, senior vice president and chief financial officer of NewPage.
The amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan and Disclosure Statement are available at www.NewPageRestructuring.com/legal-filings/.
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10.08.2012
Glamour.com set new traffic records this summer, topping 5.3 million unique visitors, almost double the activity of a year ago. And yet, the site itself has not been redesigned in four years. In fact, some of the design and content sense of the current Glamour.com home page has an unintended retro feel. The tri-column layout is dominated by a left column of “latest blog posts,” recalling an age when everyone was aspiring to the blog vibe and market leaders like Engadget and Gawker seemed to have Torah-like scrolls.
But why argue with success? Glamour.com was doing fine, even though it looked more like a complement and companion to the magazine than a standalone entity. But several things happened in the last year, says editor-in-chief Cindi Leive. Not only did traffic growth accelerate to unprecedented levels, but Glamour’ social media presence exploded. “We have a record number of comments, 30,000 a month,” she tells minonline. Across all of the social media platforms, Glamour now reaches 5 million people a month. “Those are not companion site numbers,” she says. And the share of visitors coming from mobile continues to follow the hockey stick trajectory that almost all magazines are now experiencing. “Of the 5.3 million unique users, over 1 million are coming from mobile devices,” she says. Clearly, readers were treating the site as more than a print complement.
And so, after the print magazine experienced its own redo earlier this year, it became clear that Glamour.com needed to follow suit. “This will be a much more visual site,” Leive promises. While blog posts may have been the dominant currency of the Web four years ago, images and the sharing of visual inspiration has become an increasingly important coin of the digital realm for women’s magazines. The new site will let users dive into wells of imagery well-suited for sharing.
The blog-centric structure will be left behind and the site will zero in on the features and content that have been drawing users most, such as fashion and celebrity. But foremost, the site has to be built this time with change itself in mind. “The new site is going to allow us to update it and change the orientation much more nimbly and iteratively, so you don’t have to go four years to do a redesign,” she says.
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10.08.2012
With Facebook announcing it has topped the 1 billion user mark, there’s little question that the social networking site has world-class reach. But a new study from Macquarie Research focuses on what that audience -- in particular, younger U.S. users -- are actually doing on Facebook as the key to its success as an ad-supported business.
The research showed that engagement on Facebook remains strong, but it confirmed the shift to mobile use that has left the company scrambling to catch up with its audience on the ad side. More than half (56%) of Facebook users surveyed are accessing the service from a mobile device, up from 24% a year ago. Macquarie projects that figure will hit about 70% in fall 2013.
For the study, the investment firm surveyed a representative group of 559 15-to 25s, viewing this demographic as the trendsetters for other Facebook users. It also interviewed 420 people in California specifically, since Internet trends flow from the West Coast.
A Reuters poll released in June found that about a third of Facebook users were spending less time on the site than a year ago, raising questions about whether it was losing its appeal.
The Macquarie study found that people tend toward passive activities on Facebook, spending more time browsing updates and pictures of others than on posting their own updates or photos or using apps. Women are more likely to post content than males (20% to 17%), while men were more interested in reading or responding to others' updates (33% to 28%).
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10.08.2012
Direct-mail catalogs are not what they used to be, but that can be a good thing for catalog retailers, says Mark Carson, president and co-founder of catalog, web and store retailer Fat Brain Toys. “As online commerce continues to grow, does that spell the demise of the catalog as we know it? Perhaps the opposite,” he says.
Online versions of traditional paper catalogs, complete with flipping virtual pages, have been around for years, but have not widely risen to the level of use of traditional catalogs or e-commerce sites, Carson says. But with the rise in popularity of the tablet computer, the online catalog is primed to emerge as a new armchair favorite of shoppers, he’ll tell attendees next week in a session titled “The new world of tablet catalogs—endless opportunities, new challenges,” at the Internet Retailer Mobile Marketing and Commerce Forum 2012. “With the evolution of the tablet computer, the once familiar shopping activity—sitting in your easy chair, flipping page by page through a catalog—is once again gaining popularity,” Carson says. “But add to this experience the important roles of online video, dynamic pricing, variable inventory, customer reviews and social media—and you’ve built a better catalog. A catalog for a new generation.”
Tablet computers, of course, are still in their early days, and it will take a lot of effort by retailers to learn how to best design e-catalogs for them, he says. In his MMCF session, however, Carson will share how he has dealt with the challenges of making Fat Brain Toys’ e-catalog complement the tablet “all with a focus on figuring out where tablet catalogs will lead us in the coming years,” he says.
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10.08.2012
Crude fell for a second day in New York before a meeting of European officials amid speculation the region’s debt crisis and an economic slowdown in Asia will curb fuel demand.
Futures pared losses after sliding as much as 1.8 percent. Prices capped a third weekly decline on Oct. 5, the longest run of losses since June. Finance ministers meet in Luxembourg today to discuss Spain’s finances and closer banking cooperation. Speculators cut bullish bets on oil in the week ended Oct. 2, a report showed. Economic growth in developing East Asia, including China, will be the slowest since 2001, according to the World Bank.
“Risk aversion is going to continue to increase in the short-term,” said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, who correctly predicted crude’s rebound at the end of last month. “A solution to the Euro-zone crisis is still far away.”
Crude for November delivery dropped as much as $1.61 to $88.27 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $88.80 at 10:15 a.m. London time.
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10.05.2012
Hallmark Cards Inc. will close its Topeka manufacturing plant and shed about 300 jobs as it consolidates its Kansas operations at its remaining facilities in Lawrence and Leavenworth, the company said yesterday.
The Kansas City-based greeting card company said the number of people working at its Kansas plants will fall from about 1,300 now to about 1,000 when consolidation is finished by the end of next year.
Pete Burney, Hallmark's senior vice president who overseas production, acknowledged that increased use of social media such as Facebook has cut into greeting card sales, but he said Hallmark remains bullish about the future of printed cards. He said the industry is still selling 13 million cards a day.
"We absolutely feel that the greeting card still has a very relevant place," he said during a news conference at the Topeka plant. "It is still a very significant business for us, but one that requires a different cost structure today as compared to in years past."
About 500 people work at the Topeka plant, which produces envelopes and about one-third of the company's greeting cards. Hallmark will move greeting card and envelope production to its Lawrence plant, which currently produces envelopes as well as specialty items such as stickers, ribbons and bows. The Lawrence plant will stop making specialty items, and that work will be moved to Leavenworth.
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10.05.2012
Google and the Association of American Publishers have resolved a longstanding legal battle about the search giant's book digitization project, they announced on Thursday.
The settlement allows publishers to decide whether to exclude their books from Google's Library Project. When publishers allow their books to remain in Google's search index, the company will be able to display up to 20% of the work and sell digital versions through Google Play. Publishers who don't remove their books will also be able to receive a digital copy for their use.
Other settlement terms, including any financial component, are confidential.
The publishers said in a statement that the deal "acknowledges the rights and interests of copyright-holders" and that it "will help further book discoverability online." The group added that the settlement "will build upon longstanding individual retail relationships that already exist between Google and most US publishers with our shared goals of furthering eBook awareness and sales. "
While the deal resolves the publishers' battle with Google, the company is still facing a lawsuit by the Authors Guild. U.S. Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin recently said that case could proceed as a class-action, but Google appealed the ruling to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. That case is now on hold while the appellate court reviews whether class-action status is appropriate.
The legal proceedings date to 2005, when the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers sued Google for infringing copyright by scanning books from public libraries. In addition to digitizing the books, Google made them searchable and displayed snippets through its search engine.
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10.05.2012
AAA’s Fuel Gage Report as of 10/5/12
National Unleaded Regular:
Current Average - $3.789/gallon
Month Ago Average - $3.824/gallon
Year Ago Average - $3.399/gallon
Highest Recorded Average - $4.114/gallon on 7/17/08
Diesel:
Current Average - $4.083/gallon
Month Ago Average - $4.106/gallon
Year Ago Average - $3.812/gallon
Highest Recorded Average - $4.845/gallon on 7/17/08
Current Exchange Rates as of 10/5/12
American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 1.019695
American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.158124
American Dollar to Euro = 1.301063
American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.012743
American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.078388
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10.05.2012
Oil headed for a third weekly decline in New York on speculation the biggest gain in two months yesterday was exaggerated amid rising supplies.
Futures slid as much as 0.6 percent after surging 4.1 percent yesterday on concern tension between Turkey and Syria will disrupt Middle East output. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest crude producer, sees no difficulty in meeting demand, according to Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi. Investors are awaiting a report today which may show the U.S. jobless rate increased last month even as employment growth accelerated.
“The situation with the oil market is that current and forecast future demand levels over the next 12 months are well covered by supply and that’s been the driving factor behind the decline we’re seeing in recent weeks,” said Ric Spooner, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “I don’t think the markets are likely to come out of tonight’s employment figure with a significantly altered view of oil demand.”
Crude for November delivery fell as much as 55 cents to $91.16 a barrel and was at $91.24 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 4:02 p.m. in Tokyo.
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10.05.2012
Summit Business Media, which covers the insurance, financial services, legal and investment advisory markets, announced the creation of a Customer Solutions Group.
The unit, which represents 13% of the media company's revenue, integrates several Summit businesses into a single group dedicated to developing multichannel marketing programs.
Summit tapped b-to-b media veteran Jeff Patterson as senior VP-customer solutions to lead the new unit. Prior to joining Summit, Patterson was CEO of Mile 21, where he advised b-to-b media companies on new-product strategy.
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10.05.2012
Avery Dennison Corporation and 3M Company have terminated the definitive agreement under which 3M would have purchased Avery Dennison’s Office and Consumer Products business, the two companies announced today.
Avery Dennison will continue to pursue a divestiture of the Office and Consumer Products business.
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10.05.2012
August 2012 US commercial printing shipments were $6.9 billion, down -$205 million (-2.9%) compared to 2011. On an inflation-adjusted basis, shipments were down -$325 million (-4.5%). For the first eight months of the year, shipments are down -2.1% in current dollars, and -4.1% after inflation adjustment. Our forecast models indicate that the year will finish at approximately $80.5 to $81.0 billion. It is more likely that the models are slightly high, and that the year will probably finish at approximately $79.5.
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10.05.2012
The United States will investigate the government aid package that helped a Nova Scotia paper mill reopen last week, prompted by “troubling questions about potential injurious and/or WTO-inconsistent subsidies.”
Pacific West Commercial Corp. last week reopened the Port Hawkesbury paper mill in Point Tupper, N.S., thanks to a $124.5 million aid package from the provincial government. Paper started rolling off the mill’s production line yesterday, according to the Chronicle Herald.
Those in Maine’s paper industry say the Nova Scotia mill, with the help of government assistance, will have a negative effect on Maine mills that produce similar types of paper.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk wrote in a Oct. 1 letter to Rep. Mike Michaud that his office would, “on an expedited basis,” confirm information provided in news reports about the paper mill deal and would request details from the Canadian and Nova Scotian governments on the type of assistance they “have agreed to provide or plan to provide.”
“I can assure you that we will work speedily to obtain the facts of this matter,” Kirk wrote in response to a Sept. 26 letter from Michaud requesting such an investigation. “Based on what we find, we will consider all feasible and effective options — doing so aware that this is a time sensitive matter.”
Kirk added that the United States also would raise the matter of the Port Hawkesbury mill deal later this month at meetings of the World Trade Organization’s Committee on Subsidies.
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10.05.2012
Stein Mart, Inc. today reported comparable store sales increased 2.4 percent for the five-week period ended September 29, 2012. Total sales for the period were $102.7 million, an increase of 3.9 percent from the same period in 2011. For the year to date, comparable store sales increased 1.3 percent and total sales increased 2.0 percent to $761.5 million.
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10.05.2012
Rite Aid Corporation today announced sales results for September.
For the four weeks ended Sept. 29, 2012, same store sales decreased 0.7 percent over the prior-year period. September front-end same store sales increased 2.8 percent. Pharmacy same store sales, which included an approximate 911 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, decreased 2.3 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 4.4 percent over the prior-year period.
Same store sales for the 30-week period ended Sept. 29, 2012 increased 0.9 percent over the prior-year period. Front-end same store sales increased 2.1 percent while pharmacy same store sales increased 0.4 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 3.6 percent over the prior-year period.
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10.05.2012
Gap Inc. today reported that September 2012 net sales increased 8 percent compared with last year.
Net sales for the five-week period ended September 29, 2012 were $1.45 billion compared with net sales of $1.35 billion for the five-week period ended October 1, 2011. The company’s comparable sales for September 2012 were up 6 percent compared with a 4 percent decrease for September 2011.
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10.05.2012
Kohl’s Corporation reported today that for the five-week month ended September 29, 2012 total sales decreased 1.4 percent and comparable store sales decreased 2.7 percent from the five-week month ended October 1, 2011. Quarter to date, total sales increased 1.7 percent and comparable store sales increased 0.2 percent. Year to date, total sales increased 0.8 percent and comparable store sales decreased 0.9 percent.
The Company opened 12 new stores in September 2012 and now operates 1,146 stores in 49 states, compared to 1,127 stores at the same time last year.
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10.05.2012
Nordstrom, Inc. today reported a 4.4 percent increase in same-store sales for the five-week period ended September 29, 2012 compared with the five-week period ended October 1, 2011. Preliminary total retail sales of $1.01 billion for September 2012 increased 7.4 percent compared with total retail sales of $943 million for the same period in fiscal 2011.
Quarter-to-date same-store sales, which reflected a shift in the timing of the Anniversary Sale event, increased 11.1 percent compared with the same period in fiscal 2011. Preliminary quarter-to-date total retail sales of $1.88 billion increased 14.9 percent compared with total retail sales of $1.63 billion for the same period in fiscal 2011.
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10.04.2012
When Evan Schnittman took over as executive v-p and chief marketing officer of Hachette Book Group in May he was charged with integrating the sales and marketing functions at the company as well as bringing more analysis to both operations and as part of the implementation of that strategy Schnittman has created a new structure for HBG’s sales force. The goal of the realignment, HBG “is to bring the sales and marketing functions in line with the changing book market – unifying print and digital sales, and integrating research and analytics into HBG’s overall sales strategy.”
Under the new structure Chris Murphy has been promoted to senior v-p of the newly created Retail Sales department, which will consist of five sub-departments: National Accounts, CBA, Clients and Nashville, Young Reader Sales, & National Field Force. Joining HBG as senior v-p of sales strategy & operations, a new group within the sales department, is David Bowers. Bowers had been at Oxford University Press where he was global v-p of business development and publisher, Oxford Academic Dictionaries. He will oversee both operations in sales (analytics, retail promotion, retailer services, e-book platforms services, metadata optimization, business modeling, and key author liaising) and online retailer and jobber accounts. Both Murphy and Bowers report to Schnittman as does Jean Griffin who remains v-p International, Canada, & Special Markets (ICS) and publishing director, Ansel Adams.
HBG has combined the ID and field sales teams under Mike Heuer who has been named executive director, national field force. Reps in the unit will now call on both ID and indie accounts. Heuer report to Murphy as does Rick Cobban who has been promoted to v-p of national accounts. Reporting to Bowers are Rich Tullis who has an expanded role as channel director, online retail & jobbers, and Karen Torres who was promoted to to v-p account marketing & retail operations. Andy LeCount and Linda Jamison have both been promoted to channel director, chains, and channel director, merch & clubs, respectively, reporting to Cobban.
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10.04.2012
In a novel twist on activating print with digital complements, Entertainment Weekly is bringing a live Twitter feed into its Oct. 5 issue. The ad for TV network CW includes an LED screen that receives a wireless feed of comments from and about the CW network and its programming.
The screens will also run video clips from the fall season premieres on the CW.
Alas the special advertisement is not available in all issues of EW. According to reports only 1,000 issues in the New York and Los Angeles areas will get the embedded technology.
Mashable did a teardown (photo from Mashable to the right) of the device to find that the embedded technology was really a very basic Android-based cellular wireless unit. Mashable discovered that most of the major components of a smartphone actually were part of the tech running the ad, including a QWERTY keyboard and T-Mobile 3G card for wireless connectivity.
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10.04.2012
“Viewability” may not be a word according to spell-check, but it’s an important concept for online advertising, as advertisers fear their messages may end up “below the fold” or otherwise tucked away in some obscure corner of a Web page. With that in mind, USA Today is partnering with comScore to guarantee the viewability of online advertising appearing on its Web site, promising greater accountability and transparency for advertisers.
The new campaign uses comScore’s Validated Campaign Essentials and Digital Analytix Monetization tools, which the online measurement firm introduced earlier this year.
The services allow publishers and advertisers to confirm that digital ad impressions were actually seen by the target audience, and are part of USA Today’s attempt to position itself as a premium ad environment through the combination of large, eye-catching ads and viewability guarantees.
This isn’t the only big new ad initiative from the Gannett-owned entity.
The iconic national newspaper is following up a comprehensive redesign of its print and digital platforms -- revealed in September as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations -- with a new competition highlighting print advertising’s versatility and potential.
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10.04.2012
At HP’s annual Securities Analyst Meeting, being held today in San Francisco, the company’s leadership is mapping out strategic priorities for the future and providing a detailed multiyear roadmap to turn the company around.
During her keynote, HP’s president and chief executive officer Meg Whitman outlined progress made over the past year to stabilize the business and lay the foundation for a multiyear turnaround. The operating and organizational models have been integrated, centralized and streamlined, and a talented executive team is in place to execute the strategy.
The company is positioned to extend its leadership into the major trends driving IT investment—cloud computing, information optimization and data security. In May, HP initiated a multiyear restructuring designed to realign its cost structure and create investment capacity to drive innovation against its strategic priorities, strengthen market leadership and rebuild its balance sheet while returning capital to shareholders. Despite the challenging environment, the company has maintained research and development (R&D) spending, along with a steady focus on preserving the long-term health of the business. The company is on track to deliver on its savings targets and complete the restructuring by the end of fiscal 2014.
Whitman walked through a multiyear roadmap to turn the company around. By 2016, she expects the company’s revenues to be growing in line with gross domestic product (GDP), with operating profit growing faster than revenues, industry-leading margins and disciplined capital allocation.
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10.04.2012
California Governor Jerry Brown gave his pen a workout yesterday. In addition to signing legislation prohibiting social network snooping by employers and colleges, he also signed off on a proposal for the state to fund 50 open source digital textbooks. He signed two bills, one to create the textbooks and the other to establish a California Digital Open Source Library to host them, at a meeting with students in Sacramento.
According to a legislative summary, the textbook bill would "require the California Open Education Resources Council to determine a list of 50 lower division courses in the public postsecondary segments for which high-quality, affordable, digital open source textbooks and related materials would be developed or acquired." The council is to solicit bids to produce these textbooks in 2013. The bill makes clear that the council has the option to use "existing high-quality digital open source textbooks and related materials" if those materials fit the requirements.
The law specifies that the textbooks must be placed under a Creative Commons license, allowing professors at universities outside of California to use the textbooks in their own classrooms. The textbooks must be encoded in XML, or "other appropriate successor format," to facilitate re-use of the materials.
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10.04.2012
There’s no such thing as a “free” textbook, although one organization is trying to sell that concept.
The 20 Million Minds Foundation, a group representing numerous open-source publishing funders, produced an infographic about new California bills that support funding for the development of “free college textbooks.” Simple fact-checking proves its voodoo math and trumped-up claims.
For example:
--these “free” textbooks will, in fact, cost California taxpayers, including college students, tens of millions of dollars to develop, distribute and maintain
--the initial funding is not going toward the creation of textbooks for “50…courses” but the development of some unstated lesser number of “strategically selected textbooks”
--no credible report or source supports the inflated, seven-year-old figures for student spending or textbook publishing touted by the infographic
…and so on and so on and so on. Follow the Association of American Publishers roadmap that shines a light on the falsehoods and provides the facts here.
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10.04.2012
Oil rebounded in New York after dropping the most in more than three months as tensions between Syria and Turkey fanned concern exports from the Middle East may be reduced.
Futures advanced as much as 0.8 percent as Turkey fired into Syrian territory for a second day and called for United Nations intervention. The euro gained against the dollar before a European Central Bank meeting, boosting the appeal of commodities. Oil plunged 4.1 percent yesterday after the Energy Department reported that U.S. crude production climbed to the highest level in more than 15 years while fuel usage decreased.
“Turkey-Syria jitters are adding to general concerns in the Middle East,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London, who correctly predicted crude would fail to advance last month. “There’s some buying on the lows after losses yesterday, and the greenback is also a touch lower.”
Crude for November delivery gained as much as 68 cents to $88.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $88.78 at 11:43 a.m. London time.
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10.04.2012
Walgreens had September sales of $5.48 billion, a decrease of 7.8 percent from $5.94 billion for the same month in fiscal 2012.
Total front-end sales decreased 0.4 percent compared with the same month in fiscal 2012, while comparable store front-end sales decreased 1.5 percent. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 2.3 percent while basket size increased 0.8 percent.
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10.04.2012
The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. today announced comparable store sales in the five weeks ended September 29, 2012 increased 0.6%. Total sales increased 0.7% to $288.9 million in the current year compared with $286.9 million in the prior year period.
Year-to-date comparable store sales decreased 0.1%. Year-to-date total sales decreased 0.2% to $1,705.3 million compared with $1,709.4 million in the same period last year.
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10.04.2012
Costco Wholesale Corporation today reported net sales of $9.31 billion for the month of September, the five weeks ended September 30, 2012, an increase of eight percent from $8.61 billion during the similar period last year. This year's five-week period includes week 53 of the Company's 53-week fiscal year 2012, and the first four weeks of its fiscal year 2013. Last year's five-week period includes the first five weeks of the Company's fiscal year 2012.
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10.04.2012
Limited Brands, Inc. reported a comparable store sales increase of 5 percent for the five weeks ended Sept. 29, 2012, compared to the five weeks ended Oct. 1, 2011. The company reported net sales of $773.6 million for the five weeks ended Sept. 29, 2012, compared to net sales of $818.6 million last year.
The company reported a comparable store sales increase of 7 percent for the 35 weeks ended Sept. 29, 2012, compared to the 35 weeks ended Oct. 1, 2011. The company reported net sales of $5.992 billion for the 35 weeks ended Sept. 29, 2012, compared to net sales of $6.196 billion last year.
September 2011 and 2011 year-to-date net sales included $96.5 million and $614.9 million attributable to the third party apparel sourcing business, which was sold in November 2011.
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10.04.2012
Macy’s, Inc. today reported total sales of $2.358 billion for the five weeks ended Sept. 29, 2012, an increase of 2.7 percent compared with total sales of $2.297 billion in the five weeks ended Oct. 1, 2011. On a same-store basis, Macy’s, Inc. sales were up 2.5 percent in September 2012 as compared to September 2011.
Same-store sales for August/September combined were up 3.6 percent in 2012 as compared to the same period in 2011.
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10.04.2012
Target Corporation today reported that its net retail sales for the five weeks ended September 29, 2012 were $6,075 million, an increase of 2.6 percent from $5,923 million for the five weeks ended October 1, 2011. On this same basis, September comparable-store sales increased 2.1 percent.
The company also announced today that beginning with its 2013 fiscal year it will no longer report monthly sales.
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10.03.2012
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., a global provider of content and workflow solutions in areas of scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly research; professional development; and education announced today that it has agreed to acquire Deltak.edu, LLC, a privately held Chicago-based leader in higher education and online learning services, for $220 million. The acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of October, will significantly accelerate Wiley’s digital learning strategy and diversify the company’s service offerings to include operational and academic solutions for higher education institutions. For the fiscal year ended September 2012, Deltak’s revenue was $54 million. Deltak will contribute solid growth to both Wiley’s Global Education business and Wiley overall.
Deltak is a high-growth company that works in close partnership with leading colleges and universities to develop and support fully online degree and certificate programs. The business, founded in 1997, provides technology platforms and services including market research validating program demand, instructional design, marketing, and student recruitment and retention services to leading national and regional colleges and universities throughout the United States to achieve strategic outcomes with online and hybrid program offerings. Today, Deltak supports more than 100 online programs.
A growing number of colleges and universities are looking to enter, expand, and succeed in the online education market. These same institutions often lack the required experience, expertise, and dedicated resources to move rapidly and successfully. Institutions choose to partner with Deltak for their proven model, extensive capabilities, deep experience in higher education, and cultural alignment. The partnership with Deltak allows institutions to achieve strategic objectives by launching online programs, increasing enrollments, and extending their brand with minimal risk and investment.
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