Margie Dana

From time to time, I come across news items or online posts that I think are important enough to share. Here are just a few.

1. The New York Times reported on Monday, September 29, that there’s a brand new audience measurement system for magazines, called “Magazine Media 360,” in which magazines can measure their reach across different media platforms. Using a template provided by this system, publishers can fill in their “monthly print, social media and digital audiences” as sourced from independent research firms. Next, they’ll be given a measurement to allow publishers to compare their audience growth over time. A link to that article: http://ow.ly/C48Gf.

2. On the same day, a WSJ article called, “On Madison Ave., Buzz Is Digital” caught my eye. Last week Advertising Week was held in the Big Apple, and it seems that digital advertising is the focus, as “digital advertising continues to take up an ever-growing portion of the global advertising pie.” Check this out: this year digital advertising will account for 24% of the $523 billion that will be spent on ads around the world, according to ZenithOptimedia. And this: “This year, for the first time, Internet advertising will exceed the combined share spent on newspapers and magazines, Zenith predicts.” If you can get your hands on this article, it’s a mighty interesting read.

3. I just had to share this bit that I read in the current issue of New York magazine.

It’s a short piece by Alex Yablon on page 28, and as of now, it’s not online.

Here is the heart and soul of it, and why I must share it, as well as the intro copy verbatim:

Newspapers Aren’t Dead

New York’s foreign-language newspapers, at least, are on the rise.

“More New Yorkers are now foreign born than at any time since 1910. So perhaps it’s not surprising that the city’s 95 ethnic newspapers have a combined circulation (2.9 million) that outstrips the combined print reach of the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Daily News, and the Post. They’re experiencing a boomlet, too: More than 20 have been started in the past few years.”

To me, this is outrageously cool. I love niche newspapers and magazines.

4. There’s a whole new type of Starbucks ad campaign that caught my eye. The coffee chain created a series of videos, shot over 24 hour in 40 Starbucks stores in 28 countries. The focus isn’t on their products, but on connections that people make inside their stores. Storytelling in video, with lovely imagery and music that will tug at your heart.

Here’s that article: http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/2014/09/29/starbucks-reminds-consumers-of-its-roots/?KEYWORDS=Starbucks+ad

5. Speaking of great videos, you have to check this one out. I think it’s fantastic – “All About That Ink” by Paul Strack (President at CustomXM) and his team. Hands down the funn-est video about print I’ve seen in years. Bravo!

One of my subscriber survey questions (use this link to take my survey if you subscribe) has to do with sharing news stories that deal with print, communications, and media. Should my posts include items like these from time to time? I’d love your thoughts on this.