How About a NewPage-Quad/Graphics Merger?

To contact us Click HERE
After finally emerging from bankruptcy protection, with a much lighter debt load, NewPage Corp. clearly has merger on its mind.

Why else would North America’s largest maker of coated paper choose as its chairman Mark A. Angelson, the U.S. printing industry’s Great Consolidator? And why else would he accept the job?

Only four months ago, the man who led the rolling up of such major printers as Worldcolor, MooreWallace, and Banta quit an apparently successful run as deputy mayor of Chicago so that he could lead “a somewhat less frantic life.”  It seems unlikely that he took hold of the NewPage reins simply to be caretaker of a stable company in a declining industry. As I’ve noted before, even his initials are M&A.

Further consolidation of the paper industry is inevitable, but could Angelson & Co. have something more radical in mind? Like maybe a marriage with a printing company? Like maybe Quad/Graphics, the continent’s #2 printer?

This is pure speculation, and it might be totally crazy, but hear me out:

Natural allies; failed alliance
The idea that the two Wisconsin-centric companies are natural allies has been around for years. Quad, according to several sources, proposed an unusual alliance with a NewPage predecessor a couple of decades ago:

It would build a new printing plant (this was back when Quad and the printing industry were growing enough to need new plants) next to an existing Consolidated mill. Raw logs would enter one end of the facility and come out as printed catalogs and magazines at the other.

Consolidated declined, supposedly because it feared antagonizing Quad’s competitors. The two companies ended up having a fairly public falling out, with Quad reportedly buying no paper from Consolidated for several years despite the obvious logistical advantages of mill-to-printer shipments of only 100 miles or so.

Recent history is even more significant. Only seven months after taking the helm of Worldcolor following its exit from Chapter 11, Angelson helped engineer a takeover by Quad. He reportedly developed a close relationship with Quad Chairman & CEO Joel Quadracci and served on the combined company’s board to help with the transition. He left the board in April 2011 when he agreed to take the job in Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration.

Where are the synergies?
A mill/printer alliance could remove some of the marketing and transaction costs of paper, provide the printer favorable pricing, and enable the mill to run more efficiently.

Printers are also better shippers than paper companies. Shipping is a necessary cost for paper mills, but a core competency for major printers; Quad has its own trucking company.

Paper machines and web printing presses have some similarities. A couple of paper engineers have told me they could teach printers a thing or two about maintaining proper tension of the paper web.

It’s also possible a combined Quad-NewPage could reduce its income tax bill by millions of dollars via Cellulosic Biofuel Producer Credits, better known as Son of Black Liquor. NewPage has not benefited from that program credits because it has not had any taxable income to offset.

I don’t pretend to know whether these potential synergies are enough to justify a merger between a paper company and a printer in general, or specifically between NewPage and Quad. But after its 16-month sojourn in Chapter 11, NewPage will definitely be worth watching.

Footnote: Like some other U.S. paper companies, NewPage in recent years has derived more profit from government handouts like the original black liquor tax credits and Son of Black Liquor than from actually selling paper. So Angelson’s ties to the Obama Administration, via Emanuel, may be another feature of his resume that was attractive to NewPage’s new owners.

Related articles:

• Printing's New Odd Couple Leaves Some Questions Unanswered
• Quebecor World: Has the Stalked Become the Stalker?
• NewPage's Fraudulent Deals Started in 2007, Creditors Claim  
• Did Verso Come To Purchase NewPage Or To Bury It? 
• NewPage Finally Says the B Word

Killah in Manilla: Hearst's Green Reputation Tarnished by Subsidiary

To contact us Click HERE
Hearst Corporation has earned a reputation as a truly green company by systematically measuring, revealing, and minimizing its environmental impacts – until now.

A subsidiary of Hearst – one of the world’s largest buyers of publication papers – is among seven corporate sponsors along with Google of the controversial Paperless 2013 promotion. That campaign has come under criticism (See The Takeover of Paperless 2013) for unsubstantiated claims that organizations become more environmentally friendly when they switch to cloud computing and other paperless processes.

Manilla, a Hearst unit that offers an online bill-management process, is not just guilty of greenwashing by association. Manilla’s CEO said this month that the company’s sponsorship of Paperless 2013 is “truly representative of Manilla’s overall mission ... to help improve the environment by reducing the overall use of paper.”

Manilla ad

Like Paperless 2013, Manilla presents no evidence that its processes help the environment. In fact, its web site reveals nothing about its environmental footprint or programs.That’s a far cry from the practices of the parent company, which owns such leading media brands as Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Road & Track, A&E Network, and the Houston Chronicle.

Hearst doesn’t just claim that its headquarters “is the most environmentally friendly office tower in New York City history.” It underwent the stringent process of having the innovative building LEED-certified with a Gold rating.

Hearst paper policies

Dead Tree Edition cited Hearst in 2009 as one of “the real leaders in making U.S. magazines greener” because of its multi-faceted work on such matters as encouraging sustainable forestry and promoting the recycling of magazines.

Documentation and transparency have been hallmarks of Hearst’s efforts. When it set up the Hearst Sustainable Forestry Initiative in 2004, it says it found that 38% of the fiber for its magazines was from certified fiber.

“By modifying our purchasing strategy and working proactively with our suppliers, we were able to increase this level to 75% by December 2009. We continue to have a goal of 80%,” says the company’s annual “Being Green” report. It also says it is not averse to “changing mills or suppliers when certification percentages and targets are unacceptable.”

Methinks that Manilla’s vague, self-serving claim about helping the environment does not represent the new Hearst philosophy but is rather a case of the startup division not absorbing its parent's culture. Manilla could learn a few lessons from its not-so-paperless sister companies about business practices that promote healthy forests and other measurable environmental benefits.

Methinks, to paraphrase a Manilla ad, that when it comes to environmental claims Manilla needs to get its “s**t together.”

Publishing Without Profits: What's Behind the Content Marketing Craze?

To contact us Click HERE

American Express web site for small businesses

Since when do insurance company web sites look like this?

Though the publishing industry isn’t exactly booming these days, the hottest trend in marketing is for non-publishing companies to act like publishers.

Consider that Citibank is posting articles like “5 Healthy Snacks Your Kids Will Actually Eat” – not what you expect to find on a bank’s web site.

Or that retailers like Walmart, Target, and Walgreens recently launched or are launching magazines primarily to enhance their brands.

Or that content marketing – AKA brand journalism – is taking a growing share of what non-publishing companies are spending on marketing.

It’s no accident that one of the leading books on the trend is Content Marketing: Think Like a Publisher. It explores how non-publishing companies can use “words, images and multimedia to systematically enhance consumer engagement and conversion rates.” (Note: It does not address such key publishing tactics as stating inflated prices on a ratecard, debating whether print is dead, or blaming all problems on the circulation department).

Many content marketers follow the 4-to-1 rule of thumb: publish four non-promotional items for every one that mentions the company’s products or services. But some eschew any promotional copy and focus only on establishing their companies as “thought leaders”: You have to look closely to see who is sponsoring sites like OPEN Forum (American Express), HouseLogic (National Association of Realtors), or especially Brighter Life (Sun Life Financial).

National Assoc. of Realtors site has a Target ad.

Publishing Executive just published in its January 2013 issue my article, The Content Marketing Craze: 7 Ways Publishers Can Fight Back, which explores how traditional publishers can respond to the challenges presented by so many companies vying for our readers' attention.

But why are profitable non-publishing brands emulating Newsweek – pouring millions of dollars into creating content without much of a revenue model? Here are seven reasons content marketing, which has been around in various forms for decades, is suddenly booming:

1. The Web: In the pre-internet days, freedom of the press applied mostly to those who owned a printing press. Now everyone can be a publisher. 
2. Social media: Who would think of turning to an insurance company to read about The Year’s Most Inspiring Athletes or a deodorant to see Seriously Dangerous Snowboard Stunts? It doesn’t matter. With Facebook, Twitter and other social media now rivaling search engines as the means for discovering information on the Web, relevant content can find an audience that wasn’t even looking for it. 
3. Search engines: Algorithm enhancements have made search engines less prone to being tricked by keyword stuffing, link baiting, and other gimmicks. Now they look for quality, which means real people spending time on a page, sharing it with others, and linking to it. Acting like a publisher has become one of the best ways to get “Google love.” 
4. Consumer changes: With so much information at their fingertips, both consumers and businesses are doing more research these days before making purchasing decisions. When considering potential vendors, I often look at their blogs, news releases, Twitter feeds, etc. to get insights on their expertise and mindset. 
5. Banner blindness: Ads in print publications tend to be part of the reading experience; they’re noticed without being intrusive. But, unless they're really obnoxious, Web ads are easier to block out, causing many brands to look for more engagement with consumers rather than just shouting “Buy!” at them. 
6. Measurability: Determining whether branding efforts are working is a notoriously difficult process. After all, what value did the U.S. Postal Service gain from the $30 million or so it spent sponsoring Lance Armstrong and his teammates? (Maybe USPS should get Lance to do ads promoting mail-order drugs.) At least with content marketing, companies have metrics like page views and social-media shares that enable them to figure out which content reaches the most people. 
7. It’s hot: "Clients come to me saying they need a content campaign -- that's a solution. When we ask, ‘What's the problem?,' often it's that every other CMO [Chief Marketing Officer] has one," Kyle Monson, founder of a content strategy agency, told Ad Age recently.Bob Hoffman, a content-marketing skeptic who blogs as “The Ad Contrarian”, puts it more succinctly, "There's no bigger sucker than a gullible marketer convinced he's missing a trend." 

Footnote: My friend BoSacks has some interesting commentary on this article, including the question of whether "content marketing" has become such a broad term that it no longer means anything. It's a valid point: I've seen the term applied too broadly, including to what was basically just an ad campaign. I'm defining the term very narrowly, to mean non-promotional articles, graphics, videos, and other content published by non-publishers.

For other Dead Tree Edition commentary published in conjunction with my "View from the Tree" columns for Publishing Executive, please see:

• Lessons About the New World of Publishing from an Unlikely Source  
• Printed Magazines or Digital Magazines: Do We Have To Choose?  
• Mailers Getting Cold Feet About Postal Service Cuts  
• Censor Me: The Magazine Slogans That Were Too Hot for Publishing Executive

 

The Law Is On Donahoe's Side Regarding Saturday Delivery

To contact us Click HERE
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe confused both the news media and fuming Congress members today with his explanation of why Saturday mail service can be ended without Congressional approval. But he appears to be on solid ground legally. In fact, the case for the U.S. Postal Service making this move was laid out more than three years ago.

Here is Donahoe's somewhat cryptic statement at today's press conference on the legal question: "Is it legal? Yes it is. It is our opinion that the way that the law is set right now with the continuing resolution that we can make this change. The good news is that the continuing resolution that governs the Postal Service that way expires on the 27th of March, so there is plenty of time in there so if there is some disagreement we can get that resolved. I encourage Congress to take any language out that stops us from moving to this five-day mail schedule."

That was interpreted in some circles as meaning that Donahoe was basing his claim on the federal government not currently operating under an approved budget. But some reporters managed in the question-and-answer session to untangle, at least partially, Donahoe's case.

Bloomberg News, for example, reported that Donahoe "said the service decided it can ignore language, first placed in appropriations law in 1981, requiring it to deliver mail six days a week, because it receives its money from Congress differently than other U.S. agencies do."

Rep. Gerald Connolly, an influential Virginia Democrat, accused Donahoe
of "directly violating Public Law 112-74, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012, which states that '6-day delivery and rural delivery of mail shall continue at not less than the 1983 level.'" That quotation, however, takes on a different meaning when read in context.

The law Connolly cites calls for "payment to the Postal Service Fund for revenue forgoneon free and reduced rate mail, pursuant to subsections (c) and(d) of section 2401 of title 39, United States Code, $78,153,000,which shall not be available for obligation until October 1, 2012:Provided, That mail for overseas voting and mail for the blindshall continue to be free: Provided further, That 6-day deliveryand rural delivery of mail shall continue at not less than the1983 level."

A small price to pay
What Donahoe was apparently saying today was the same thing the USPS Office of Inspector General pointed out in 2009: The six-day requirement is a condition of the Postal Service receiving a measly $78 million appropriation. If it chooses not to accept the money, it doesn't have to abide by the requirement, as explained by a 2009 article in Dead Tree Edition.

In the words of the OIG report, opting out of the appropriation "would be a small price to pay for cementing the financial independence of the Postal Service and would free it from riders to appropriations acts." (Emphasis added.) Given the Postal Service's estimated savings of $2 billion annually, that would indeed be a small price. (But note that curtailing Saturday delivery is not a question of savings but of additional profit -- that is, cost savings minus lost revenue.)

Congress still has the power to prevent the ending of Saturday delivery (for all but parcels) by passing legislation that specifically requires six-day delivery. But lately Congress hasn't been able to pass much other than the naming of post offices.

Affordable Postage A Key To Printing Industry's Future, Quadracci Says

To contact us Click HERE
U.S. printing prices have failed to keep pace with inflation during the past 25 years, the CEO of the country’s second largest printing company told a Senate panel this week.

“During that same time period, the price of postage has continued to increase and as a result the single largest expense of printing is now the postage associated with delivering the final product,” Joel Quadracci, Chairman, President & CEO of Quad/Graphics Inc., testified Wednesday during a Senate hearing on the “Crisis Facing the U.S. Postal Service.”

“Over the last 25 years, through technological advances and process changes resulting in productivity gains of more than 4% annually, the printing industry has been able to actually reduce the price for printing (adjusted for inflation),” Quadracci said. “The Postal Service should address its problems by achieving the same cost control success,” but instead it is saddled with “extreme excess costs.”

“If the Postal Service can manage its costs and maintain an affordable pricing structure, its business can remain sustainable and ours, in turn along with it.”

“There are three main components to printing a magazine, catalog, retail insert or direct mail piece: the cost of the physical printing of the item, paper and postage. It may be tempting to address the Postal Service’s financial situation by simply raising postage rates to “cover the costs,” but I cannot stress enough how damaging postal rate increases are to our industry,” he told the panel.

“There is a direct negative correlation between rate increases and volume. Our customers demand predictability and affordability and if prices
suddenly increase more than expected they react by reducing their volume to cover the extra postage or move away from print altogether.”

“We are encouraged with the direction we have seen the USPS take over the last year-and-a-half,” Quadracci said, but a number of legislative changes are needed so that the Postal Service can manage its costs more effectively.

Quadracci noted the “tremendous capital expenditure” Quad and other publication printers have made in co-mailing and other “work sharing” activities that save the Postal Service money and earn mailers greater postal discounts. If not for those efforts “to help clients manage their postal costs through work sharing, mail volumes would have been reduced to an even greater extent over the last decade.”

Quadracci did not take a stand on the current hot postal issue – Saturday delivery – but noted the importance of USPS continuing to accept shipments and to process mail on Saturdays.

The Daffodil - Narcissus Gifts

To contact us Click HERE
Symbolizing rebirth and new beginnings, the daffodil is virtually synonymous with spring. Though their botanic name is narcissus, daffodils are sometimes called jonquils, and in England, because of their long association with Lent, they’re known as the “Lent Lily.”
Lore connecting the daffodil to not only a sign of winter’s end but a lucky emblem of future prosperity is found throughout the world. In Wales, it’s said if you spot the first daffodil of the season, your next 12 months will be filled with wealth, and Chinese legend has it that if a daffodil bulb is forced to bloom during the New Year, it will bring good luck to your home.
for more Daffodil Cards, Gifts, Novelties and Collectables

Check out more Daffodil gifts at


Double Narcissi is available for sale as Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters
  
Click the links to see all of my Redbubble Daffodil Paintings, Daffodil Photography, Daffodil Greeting Cards,Daffodil Stickers, Daffodil Tees, and Daffodil T Shirts at Arttowear 

Other products by taiche

| Flowers Narcissi Apron | Flowers Narcissi Cap | Flowers Narcissi Coaster | Flowers Narcissi Coffee Gift Basket |Flowers Narcissi Desk Clock | Flowers Narcissi Framed Tile | Flowers Narcissi Greeting Card | Flowers Narcissi Iron on Heat Transfer | Flowers Narcissi Key Chain | Flowers Narcissi Light Switch Cover | Flowers Narcissi Mouse Pad | Flowers Narcissi Mug | Flowers Narcissi Ornament | Flowers Narcissi Plate | Flowers Narcissi Quilt Square | Flowers Narcissi Sweatshirt | Flowers Narcissi Tile | Flowers Narcissi Tile Napkin Holder | Flowers Narcissi Tile Pen Holder | Flowers Narcissi Tote Bag | Flowers Narcissi Trivet | Flowers Narcissi T-Shirt | Flowers Narcissi Wall Clock | Flowers Narcissi Water Bottle |

        

The Lent Lily - Delightful Gifts and Collectables

To contact us Click HERE
Symbolizing rebirth and new beginnings, the daffodil is virtually synonymous with spring. Though their botanic name is narcissus, daffodils are sometimes called jonquils, and in England, because of their long association with Lent, they’re known as the “Lent Lily.”
Lore connecting the daffodil to not only a sign of winter’s end but a lucky emblem of future prosperity is found throughout the world. In Wales, it’s said if you spot the first daffodil of the season, your next 12 months will be filled with wealth, and Chinese legend has it that if a daffodil bulb is forced to bloom during the New Year, it will bring good luck to your home.
 for more Daffodil Cards, Gifts, Novelties and Collectables

Check out more Lent Lily gifts at
   
Double Narcissi is available for sale as Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters
   Click the links to see all of my Redbubble Daffodil Paintings, Daffodil Photography, Daffodil Greeting Cards,Daffodil Stickers, Daffodil Tees, and Daffodil T Shirts at Arttowear 

Other products by taiche

     
Flowers Lent Lily Apron | Flowers Lent Lily Cap | Flowers Lent Lily Coaster | Flowers Lent Lily Coffee Gift Basket | Flowers Lent Lily Desk Clock | Flowers Lent Lily Framed Tile | Flowers Lent Lily Greeting Card |Flowers Lent Lily Iron on Heat Transfer | Flowers Lent Lily Key Chain | Flowers Lent Lily Light Switch Cover |Flowers Lent Lily Mouse Pad | Flowers Lent Lily Mug | Flowers Lent Lily Ornament | Flowers Lent Lily Plate |Flowers Lent Lily Quilt Square | Flowers Lent Lily Sweatshirt | Flowers Lent Lily Tile | Flowers Lent Lily Tile Napkin Holder | Flowers Lent Lily Tile Pen Holder | Flowers Lent Lily Tote Bag | Flowers Lent Lily Trivet |Flowers Lent Lily T-Shirt | Flowers Lent Lily Wall Clock | Flowers Lent Lily Water Bottle