|
Advertising Director's Report
State of the Union
I am happy to report that client activity is on the upswing
and we’re seeing more client interaction occurring than at any point in the
last four or five months. What’s most
inspiring is that it’s occurring across a number of sectors.
While we’re encouraged by the slight bounceback in volume
from our automotive clients,
we’re not necessarily seeing the final few months of 2013 play out the way we’d been
led, in some cases, to believe they
would. On that note we have met recently
with the Agency of Record (AOR) for the Ford Dealers Association and are working on
getting one lined up with GM’s Dealers
Association as well. Recaps
of our recent meetings
will follow below.
Activity from agriculture clients appears to be on par with
last year. Some of that can be attributed to
the marketing of available Agriculture supplements. While that effort may not always result in
bookings into all supplements, it
does provide us with a reason to ‘get in touch’ with our Ag
agency clients in a way that demonstrates proactivity and how we’re ‘beating
the bushes’ on their behalf looking to unearth
opportunities.
We did find ourselves in the middle of a challenging
situation with respect to one of our traditional agriculture clients recently. The agency approached us looking to target
growers within 100km of their retail seed outlets IN AN ONLINE CAMPAIGN. For context, this campaign has in the past materialized as a
multi-insertion ROP campaign in community newspapers across all three provinces.
Thankfully we have a handful of publications that
have embedded in their sites analytics
tags. This
gives us the ability to view their site
traffic and evaluate their audience. We
are even more grateful that one of them was for a newspaper whose market was
under consideration for this campaign.
Using our Google Analytics account, we
were able to break out the site traffic to determine that of the 4,655 visits during
the entire month of September, 3,800 came from Canada; 1,800 came from within
the province AND 300 from the actual community being targeted. With this
intelligence we hope
that we were able to convince the agency that the same scenario
would likely exist in the other markets with publications operating active
websites - approximately half of the initial
list. So,
special thanks go out to the publication
in Saskatchewan that took us up on our request to embed our tag in their
website. With any luck you may have helped us steer
this campaign towards ROP.
Note that we will soon be putting out another call to have
Analytics tags embedded in member websites.
I’d ask that you consider this application for use when you receive that
notice.
Recent Meetings
MediaCom
– Justin Cumby – CIBC
This is a new account for MediaCom, just about a year old now. Was an account
held by Zenith Optimedia for 12 years previous. As such, MediaCom is employing
a new direction. The current focus is searchable online optimization - search
engine and targeted messages derived from online customer marketing efforts.
Zero print has been pitched to client for the account. It was stated that the
client would not consider print even if the
agency changed the focus of the campaign; they are currently sold on online
search optimization. The only print activity that
will come is from branch openings. This being said, the agency client was
impressed and interested in the tools and information available via AdWest. They
would like to see the tools available across Canada. There may be
an opportunity to show Justin on a market-by-market basis the lack of online
accessibility as a means to alert them to the relative (in)effectiveness of an
online only strategy in the western region.
VMC Media – Sears Travel & SunQuest
Campaigns are planned seasonally, around winter months. There is a 2-year print
campaign planned for Sears Travel. The agency pitched a mix of 100% dailies,
mix of dailies and weeklies, and 100% weeklies. Sears Travel opted for 100%
weeklies. During the meeting a seniors section was mentioned as a possible
supplement the clients might be interested in. The
client was disinterested as they understand
their target market is 25 – 54 years old. The agency
client was interested and already somewhat familiar with the AdWest tools, but
wasn’t aware of the breadth and depth of data or fully aware of how we could
take his clients' data to create visual representations and provide greater
strategic insight. The client did express that national
branding is important and would prefer to have AdWest tools work nationwide. It
was indicated in the meeting that there might
be a co-op opportunity with Sears Travel's travel agency partner. Follow up
failed to gain any immediate traction for the co-op tool. Recommend looking for
ways to present it again during an active planning phase.
UPDATE:
We’ve just been informed by the agency that the results of the most
recent flight of this campaign have been released and the client was
disappointed. The remaining weeks of the
campaign have been canceled until further evaluation takes place.
Novus – Scotiabank, Enbridge et al
The Novus planning team is dedicated to acquiring the best possible rate. It is
a key value proposition of their agency. Novus acts as the buying arm of
partner planning agencies such as OMD and PHD. Novus’s other focus is on FSI
based clients. The use of AdWest & the regional associations is based on
time saved for bookings, provided there is rate integrity. However, if they are successful in finding
better rates through alternative sources, they will book through that source.
They were interested in the tools and data available through AdWest and
explained how important accurate and current the data is to them. They
expressed a strong interest in the upcoming AdWest readership survey of media
habits. Specific questions about sample sizes were raised.
MindShare – Ford
Mindshare has recently closed their Calgary office and consolidated media
planning and buying for all dealer associations within their Toronto
headquarters.
Our new contact in Toronto emphasized the importance of keeping rates flat with
online becoming a strong component for Ford marketing efforts. He did also exhibit
a strong understanding of the quality of community papers and the importance of
advertising in them. He seemed to be strongly in favor of print media and
opposed to online. He mentioned key factors, without prompting, that affect the
markets on the prairies and differences between AB, SK, MB compared to ON as
well as his limited understanding of the areas and reliance on AdWest and the
associations for information. He did say that Ford's plan is to continue with
the same amount of bookings; ostensibly
we should see a slight bump in 2014.
Overall, it appears that we have a strong supporter of community papers and a
friendlier contact for Ford in Cris Madolciu.
Agencies Contacting
Publications Directly
We are seeing growing evidence of advertising agencies and
large clients executing campaigns directly with newspapers. These include a number of long-standing,
large volume association accounts.
One of the biggest impacts that the internet has had on our
business is how it has shrunk the universe, made it
easier to communicate and access information directly from suppliers. In fact, we’ve had agencies tell us during
meetings that they’ve been mandated to negotiate directly with publications as
opposed to using the services of third-party rep houses and suppliers. Their goal, just as it’s our goal when we buy
products or services online, is to save money.
Obviously this conflicts with one of the key traditional
value propositions offered by the associations, one-stop shopping for rates and
planning data.
It’s important to keep in mind that we use each and every
client interaction to leverage additional publications into the discussion and
to introduce the planner to the wide spectrum of products, services and tools
that are available to them. Tools whereby significant investments have
been made. Each time we lose a
relationship, not only do we lose the revenue stream but also the ability to
impact decisions both with the current campaign as well as those to be
considered in the future.
Engagement/Social
Media Channels
One of the things AdWest is taking very seriously is member
engagement. As we’re all well aware, the
media industry is a very different business than it was even five years
ago. The demands of the client are
different; this drives
the requests of the agency to be different and ultimately results
in the need for our products and services to be different. This is no longer and never will be again a
business where a rate card and a spec sheet is all that’s required to put
together a convincing media plan.
In order to facilitate that engagement we are taking a
multi-pronged approach that integrates a number of different channels into the
overall plan. They include,
a monthly publisher’s newsletter
for general synopses, electronic surveys sent to you
(satisfying client requests and opportunity-selling) and the new @AdWestAction
Twitter account for RealTime updates and insights
on day-to-day activities.
While our main Twitter account, @AdWestMarketing is one of
the tools we use to communicate information to media planners and buyers, you
are welcome to ‘follow us’ on
that account as well.
If you are interested in becoming an active participant in
the marketing of your publication to agencies and large clients,
I strongly urge you or the members of your staff to connect with us using as
many of these channels as possible.
AdWest Agriculture Survey: Update
We are continuing to gather, collect, clarify and refine agriculture opportunity
surveys. Some of the newly gathered special sections information submitted to us has made it's way into presentations that agricultural planners are receiving. Providing both
accurate, unbiased planning data AND opening the door to the
possibilities that ad planners and their clients find exciting, helps us
add value in the client relationship. Please ensure you are following @adwestaction to track the latest AdWest information!
Opportunities already in place have been
included in plans for:
UFA
Dow Agrosciences
Cargill
Calgary Stampede
Wolf Trax
We look forward to having the collection
process completed, which at that time will allow us to promote your data
actively on both the AdWest website and with targeted outbound contact
initiatives. Additionally, we are developing an alert system
where clients can subscribe for the latest updates on agricultural
opportunities and eventually other opportunities too. The bottom line
is that we are working hard to gather your information and to find every opportunity to put it in front of possible
clients.
Client Activity
In the month of October, AdWest has produced quotes, research and
geo-targeted solutions for agencies in a number of verticals including,
agriculture, government, automotive, insurance, financial, recruitment,
telecommunications and retail:
- Ag Direct Insurance - Retail/Career quotes
- Boart Longyear - Market Analyzer report, Maps (Southern Alberta), Career
Quote
- Cargill - Quotes - Alberta/Manitoba
- Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) - Mapping (mall locations against
distribution footprints), Open Rate Quote (Medicine Hat and Calgary area)
- UFA - 'Fuel Up Winners' campaign - Alberta
- Money Mart - Quotes - FSI/ROP - Fort McMurray
- UFA - Banner ad quotes
- Cargill - 'Get N Give Winner' - ROP quotes for Strathmore, AB
- Cargill - Additional quotes - SK/MB/near Edmonton
- Shaw Direct - Mapping/ROP Quotes - AB/SK/MB
- Target - Recruitment - Saskatoon
- Rexall - Agency pitch for FSI and 1/2 page, 4C against all Rexall
locations - AB/SK/MB
- Heart & Stroke - Quotes/IOs - Alberta
- Ford - Research (dealers in papers) - AB/SK/MB
- Federal Government - MB by-elections - Research, Maps, Quotes
- UFA
- title identification from a list of communities, maps, ROP
quotes. Ag. Opportunity Intro.
- Dow
Agrosciences - ROP Quotes for 11 titles along with farm counts
for each. Ag. Opportunity Intro.
- Calgary
Stampede - Quotes for their targeted communities
- Liquor Stores GP - outbound inquiry
regarding community newspapers
in place of their flyer program. Intro to AdWest and the
viability of Community Newspapers as an alternative to their
ROP campaign.
- CN Rail
- confirmation of titles available in NWT and Nunavut for a
recruitment campaign.
- GM - Volume
inquiries, reviews and meeting planning.
- Cargill -
community reconciliation and mapping. ROP Quotes.
- Walmart -
inquiry about false front request in Estevan. Followed by
verification and counter proposal.
- Money Mart- ROP/FSI - Fort McMurray
- Canterra Seeds - Online inquiry presented
with the case for community newspaper, community
reconcilliation, mapping and ROP quotes for three events.
- Hilton
Hotels -
confirmed rates for campaign running Q1 of 2014
- Total Tire - FSI quote several
Manitoba markets.
- Prairie Metal Recycling - Career
quotes.
- ATB -
regarding their 75th Anniversary donations
- WolfTrax -
reconcilled 90 titles from a lits of Hutterite colonies.
Mapping and ROP quotes.
- A
& W - ROP quotes for opening in Lethbridge
Co-op Tool Marketing/Upcoming Projects
The Co-op tool is a completely new concept that
will provide a service that has never existed before. It will allow a company to
control their corporate message, have the control they require
over budget but at the same time, allow local managers, franchisees or dealers to
make buying decisions in their local market. This is an
attractive proposition for companies that are faced with the task of keeping local
stakeholders happy, without allowing the lunatics to run the
asylum. Best of all, it brings advertising dollars that have gone
unspent for decades into range for community newspapers. For more details please visit http://www.adwest.ca/co-op-tracker-the-new-tool-for-co-op-advertising.
Because there has never been anything like it, the tool does take time to build traction. However, once the momentum is there, it is very positively received. We have been given positive feedback from:
Bourgeault Tilage
Alberta Liquor Store Association
Cloverdale Paints
Budget Brake & Muffler
We currently have a hit-list of 50 likely candidates and
getting the Co-op Tracker in front of them is our top priority.
Besides those listed above, we have also initiated dialog with:
Black
& Decker
Bissell
Best
Western
Benjamin
Moore
ADT
All
Weather Windows
Beltone
Hearing
Bombardier
Motor Products
Upcoming Projects
More opportunity development is in process. Thanks to a client
inquiry, our next survey will gather information for Oil & Gas sections which are
supplements and features you may have planned. Shortly after that we will be looking to gather similar data for the calendar year 2014.
AdWest.ca September Traffic Report
Visits: 1,459
Unique Visits: 1,042
Pageviews: 2,799
New Visitors: 928
Returning Visitors: 531
Top 10 visited areas:
1. Homepage - 1,112 pageviews
2. Coverage Maps Search - 120 pageviews
3. Coverage Maps - 109 pageviews
4. Advertising Rates - 104 pageviews
5. AdWest Members - 100 pageviews
6. AdWest Opportunity Survey Agriculture - 86 pageviews
7. Advertising Rates Search - 74 pageviews
8. Urban Vs. Rural Shopping Habits - 67 pageviews
9. iMapper - 63 pageviews
10. Contact AdWest - 61 pageviews
Let Us Help You
With many of our tools and resources being marketed as
‘Advertising Opportunities' OnDemand and updated in RealTime it is
critically important that you help us keep our Special Supplements, Regular
Features and Special Products information current for your publication. Please
review the information that is appearing on our site under Planning Essentials and
make changes as required. This can be done either by accessing the DB Update Portal directly or emailing your updates to: updates@adwest.ca. For
instructions on how to use the Update Portal, click here.
|
