2015 CONFERENCE MINUTES
Newspaper Target Marketing Coalition
Newport Beach, CA Conference
Feb 3-6, 2015
Member Newspaper Representatives Attending
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39.
Duff Heyl
Gabrielle Austin
Denise Whitfield
Johnny Flores
Mary Kelly
Paul Pelland
Mark Morris
James Scanlon
Chris Kerr
Joe Roderick
James Ricks
David Kiehle
Jane Comfort
Rod McLain
Steve Westphal
Taniel Santourian
Joseph Jahns
Steve Bernard
Alanna Del Rios
Alison Laffe
Katherine Kohls
Isabella Mest
Sindy Speelman
Steve Churm
Beth Anne Raff
Debi Walery
Chance Schlesman
Rose Novotny
Allison Altobelli
Adam Bush
Rob Morgan
Bill Cotter
Jim Paquette
Justin Allen
Alan Levenstein
Doug Coffelt
Charles Ford
Kevin Hancock
Ethan Selzer
Arizona Republic
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Austin American-Statesman
Boston Globe
Boston Globe
Buffalo News
Chicago Tribune
Columbus Dispatch
Columbus Dispatch
Dallas Morning News
Detroit Free Press & Detroit News
Florida Times-Union
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Grand Rapids Press
Hartford Courant
Los Angeles Times
McClatchy Newspapers
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
New Jersey Star-Ledger
New York Daily News
Orange County Register
Orange County Register
Oregonian Media Group
Orlando Sentinel
Palm Beach Post
Philadelphia Inquirer
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Sacramento Bee
Seattle Times
Virginian-Pilot
Washington Post
Washington Post
Washington Post
Washington Post
Nonmember Representatives Attending
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41.
Mike Mori
Heather Foor
Toledo Blade
Toledo Blade
Sponsors Attending
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Douglass Grossman
Manuel Collazo
Angelo Ramirez
Paul Taylor
Corina Wandrey
Jude Fontenot
Keith Bartlett
Lee Anne Ashurst
Monica Bartling
Jim Mace
John Short
Mike Shoals
Heidi Houghton
Tom Dressler
Roy Dunn
David Henderson
Chad Swannie
Jack Klausing
Chris Hummel
Larry Santillo
Chris Lovern
Gerry Fuhrmeister
Allyn Hallisey
Bill Falconer
Lisa Szal
Laura Tarabini
Jeff Ferrazzano
Desiree Ferrazzano
ACI Media
CIPS Marketing Group
CIPS Marketing Group
CIPS Marketing Group
CIPS Marketing Group
Data- Dynamix, Inc.
doodad
doodad
Marketing Solutions Group
NewsNotes® Advertising
NewsNotes® Advertising
NewsNotes® Advertising
NewsNotes® Advertising
PCF
PCF
Preferred Marketing Solutions
Preferred Marketing Solutions
Preferred Marketing Solutions
Quad/Graphics
Quad/Graphics
Quad/Graphics
Quad/Graphics
Rockledge Software, Inc
Rockledge Software, Inc.
Tactician Media
Tactician Media/NDX
Ultimate PrintSource
Ultimate PrintSource
Speakers Attending
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Karli Sikich
Chris Cope
Eric Henry
Jim Hart
Keith Gilpin
Dawn Hartman
Jamie Schultheis
Rich Schiekofer
Jim Conaghan
Therese Mulvey
Michael Lombardo
Larry Berg
ACG Media
ACG Media
CMPartners LLC
Integrated Advertising Solutions
Keith Gilpin Consulting
MediaWorks
MediaWorks
NAA
NAA
PREformance Marketing
Tactician Media
Valassis
NTMC Attending
82.
Philip Brown
NTMC
A. Tuesday, February 3rd
i.
5:00- 9:30 pm - Board of Director’s Meeting & Dinner
ii.
9:30 pm – Welcome Reception –Fairmont Bambu Lounge Room 400 - Sponsored by
Quad/Graphics.
B. Wednesday, February 4th – Morning Sessions
i.
8:00- 9:00 am – Breakfast Buffet – Sponsored by Data-Dynamix
Supporting Sponsor Comments:
 Chris Lovern, Sales Director, Quad/Graphics
 Jude Fontenot, Director of Sales Training, Data-Dynamix
Early Bird Drawing #1:
 Kevin Handcock- Spa Gift Certificate (provided by Fairmont)
 Ethan Seltzer- Spa Gift Certificate (provided by Fairmont)
 Joe Roderick- Spa Gift Certificate (provided by Fairmont)
 Mark Morris- Fleece (provided by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
 Bill Cotter – Gift card
 Therese Mulvey- Gift card
ii.
9:00- 9:30 am - NTMC Welcome: President Rod McLain remarks, Anti-trust statement
(included at end), Attendee introductions
iii.
9:30- 10:00 am – Orange County Register Publisher Welcome:
Steve Churm, Vice President Freeman Communications & Orange County
Register: Discussed current state of OC Register and introduces Rich Mirman.
Rich Mirman, Publisher Orange County Register & Press Enterprise: Discussed his
background in Casino industry & similarity to current state of Newspaper industry.
Stresses importance of local/regional content as the industry’s competitive advantage.
Expresses that is the best way to take advantage of the aging population while making inroads with younger demos.
iv.
10:00- 10:15 am - Break
v.
10:15- 11:00 am – Business Session #1 – Challenges/Opportunities Discussion:
vi.

Topics discussed: Duplication issues with opt-in/opt-out vs.TMC & paid.

Are community editions the best jackets for TMC?

AAM auditing of TMC/SMC products – is this needed to legitimize the product?

Hybrid Opt-in/Opt-out models – is it a good idea to allow advertisers to purchase
only the opt-in portion?

Rectifying opt-ins? Do recipients need to “re-opt-in” each year?
11:00-11:45 am – Advertiser Session #1 – Karli Sikich, Director of Corporate
Communications, ACG Media:
Goal is to drive best ROI for clients. Challenge of understanding multi-channel audience.
Higher scrutiny on print…seen as a high-cost media. Higher investment made in POS
systems from advertisers, leads to more data-driven decision-making. Paid distribution
still works best, TMC second, Sunday Select-models third. Audited media performs
better. Preprints remain a valuable component of media mix and drive positive ROI.
Retailers still want sub-ZIP distribution options & don’t want to be forced to run
unwanted distribution. Local content is key for engagement. Engagement with content
drives engagement with preprints. Newspapers should be the experts on their market.
Local market research is helpful. Opt-in products are valued if they are audited. Stay in
contact with print media buyers. Utilize video conferences if in-person is not an option.
Be proactive on any issues or new developments.
vii.
11:45 am – Distinguished Lunch Sponsor Comments from Jeff Ferrazzano, President,
Ultimate PrintSource
viii.
Noon-1:00 pm – Lunch – Sponsored by Ultimate PrintSource
C. Wednesday, February 4th – Afternoon Sessions
i.
1:00-1:15 pm - Distinguished Presenting Sponsor Comments from Manuel Collazo,
President & CEO, CIPS Marketing Group
ii.
1:15- 2:00 pm – Advertiser Session #2 – Therese Mulvey, Consumer Engagement Officer,
PREformance Marketing:
Audiences are exposed to over 5,000 brand impressions per day. Media influence has
changed over the years, but all types are still there. It’s more about finding the right mix
that is best for that particular advertiser. Three types of purchases…the 3-Rs – Routine,
Reminder & Research. All have a mix of traditional and new media. Consider using
traditional media to trigger online activity. Also, there are different behaviors associated
with traditional media purchases vs. new media. Consider having them work in tandem to
complement each other. Consumer Trade Area – concept of day-parting impressions &
media mix around the user’s day. Know how well your products are performing to better
help your advertisers know which ones are best for them. Explain to customers how we
can help them to optimize their spends with their data.
iii.
2:00-2:45 pm - Sponsor Exchange
Gift Card Winners:
 Isabella Mest – NJ Star-Ledger
 Adam Bush – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 Chris Kerr – Columbus Dispatch
 Charles Ford – Washington Post
 Debi Walery – Oregonian Media Group
 Steve Bernard – McClatchy
 James Scanlan – Chicago Tribune
 Mary Kelly – Boston Globe
 Rod McLain – Ft Worth Star-Telegram
 Jane Comfort – Florida Times-Union
 Mark Morris – Buffalo News
 Alison Laffe – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 Chance Schlesman – Orlando Sentinel
iv.
3:00– 3:45 pm - Business Session #2 – 2014 Newspaper Preprint Survey: Keith Gilpin,
Principle, Keith Gilpin Consulting:
A total of 31 newspapers provided responses. Used the term “Select” when referring to
opt-in, Sunday Select and requested delivery. Key findings:

The number of days newspapers are delivering inserts is declining. 53% deliver just
3-5 days a week. Monday & Saturday have been the days cut out the most

Wed, Fri & Sun are the most newspapers all run inserts

Avg. Sunday penetration is 18.4% with a median of 21.5%. In 2008 the avg. was
37.9%
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82% have a Select program. All run Sat-Sun.
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Average total penetration for select products was 46%
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Select products tend to be less zoned than TMC , but have a larger jacket size

Average number of inserts in a select program was 16. The median is 12.

72.4% have a TMC penetration of 90% or more when combined with paid.

59% have multiple zones to the TMC wrap. Average zone size was 392,146 for all
papers. For those that have multiple zones the average were 154,000.

77% use the USPS to deliver part of their TMC. 27% use alternative delivery
partners for delivery.

Average number of inserts in TMC was 13.9
v.
4:45 pm – Distinguished Dinner Sponsor Comments from John Short, Director of News
Notes Advertising
vi.
6:00- 9:30 pm – Reception and Dinner – Fairmont Orchid Terrace:
vii.

Reception Sponsored by Preferred Marketing Solutions

Dinner Sponsored by News Notes Advertising
9:30 pm – Evening Networking
D. Thursday, February 5th – Morning Sessions
i.
8:00- 9:00 am – Breakfast Buffet – Sponsored by Tactician Media
Supporting Sponsor Comments:
 David Henderson, National Sales Rep, Preferred Marketing Solutions
 Lisa Szal, Industry Analyst, Tactician Media
 Monica Bartling, President, Marketing Solution Group
Early Bird Drawing #2:
 Allison Altobelli – gift box (provided by New Jersey Star-Ledger)
 Paul Pelland – gift card
 Allyn Hallisey – gift box (provided by New Jersey Star-Ledger)
 Jim Paquette – gift card
 Rob Morgan – gift card
ii.
9:00- 10:00 am – Advertiser Session #3 – Larry Berg, VP & GM Valassis Solutions:
Valassis is focused on turning data into ROI. Goal is to influence consumers along their
path to purchase: plan, shop, buy & share. Over the years, they have evolved to provide
solutions in other media to accelerate client results. Advo/Red Plum – for distribution,
newspaper channel, digital channel via display, digital offers & email acquisition, Instore via at-shelf, basket/card & on the floor. Still a focus on paid distribution, but with
more of a focus on Community papers to reach the consumer at the point of planning.
Newspaper alliances are distribution agreements between Valassis & newspapers. They
share postage/distribution costs & combine content. Three kinds of alliances: Traditional
– delivery is a combo of newspaper (topped), mail & alternative. Distribution Alliance –
combining both packages together to be delivered via USPS. Distribution Only –
delivering each product together but not combining the content via alternative delivery or
mail. They have three alternative carrier zones currently.
iii.
10:00 am – Business Session #3 - Jim Hart, President, Integrated Advertising Solutions
P&D’s are an expensive point of entry for an SMB. 58% spend less than $1,000 and 43%
only run one time. Focusing on the top deciles of accounts and moving them to spend
more will drive more revenue than focusing on low-spending advertisers. Focus on new
accounts drives down the average spend per account if there is not revenue per account
target. Time is better spent focusing on increasing revenue per account. Set benchmarks
for average RPA (revenue per account) to help you decide who to target.
TMC – what’s right for you. Zone size, sales bandwidth, revenue mix, level of RPA. Play
to your strengths –the smaller the zones the better chance you have to grow revenue as it
offers as a good entry point for SMBs. However smaller zones require more sales
bandwidth.
Consumers view the newspapers as two separate products. Content and shopping
(inserts). The struggle is to create a marketplace for your TMC jacket…something that
consumers want to receive and see the value in. Restaurants are a must. Content can help
lure major account advertisers, but it’s advertising content is what drives user
engagement.
iv.
11:00 am – Distinguished Lunch Sponsor – Keith Bartlett, President, Doodad
v.
11:30- 11:45am – Group Photo: Pool Deck, Sponsored by Marketing Solutions Group
vi.
12:15- 1:15pm – Lunch sponsored by Doodad
E. Thursday, February 5th – Afternoon Sessions
i.
1:00- 1:45 pm – Business Session #4 – NAA Update & 2014 HASS Study – Rich Schiekofer,
Senior VP Business Development; and Jim Conaghan, VP Research & Industry Analysis
How America Shops & Spends – survey conducted via phone & panel. Younger demos
18-34 are more likely to check advertising at least once a week. 57% of respondents have
used newspapers in either print or online for advertising. Online total was 58% (includes
newspaper sites). Newspaper performed best for bringing sales to your attention,
trustworthiness, and type of advertising that consumers look forward to. Main benefits of
newspaper inserts where the ease to browse content.
In terms of use by store type, grocery food ranked the best at 85% usage. Department &
discount stores were second. Higher ticket items ranked lower. 69% say newspapers are
the preferred source for coupons. Coupon usage is tied towards grocery/food when it
comes to frequency of use.
Online shopping – used to compare prices, check availability and store hours. 85% of
online shopping takes place at home in the evening. Online circulars – 51% go to stores
website. 16% go to a newspaper website.
ii.
1:45- 2:30 pm – Business Session #5 – Capitalizing on Scale & Advertising Measurement to
Deliver Client Results – Jamie Schultheis & Dawn Hartman, National Sales Directors,
MediaWorks
Addressing the needs of advertisers & how they view newspapers: difficult to buy, lack
of metrics, diminishing circulation. Need to capitalize on the strengths of the newspaper’s
brand. The conversation should be about optimization vs. penetration. By using customer
data vs. subscriber data, they can drill down to shopping by channel of distribution. They
represent the top 30 markets in the US…70% of the total population, so they can provide
a scalable solution.
They can also identify digital solutions by using the data. The solutions are usually
revenue-neutral, so the same spend is being used but is allocated differently.
Transactional data is key to identifying high-value households which need to be reached.
Offer transparent reporting on who received the insert, if they purchased & what they
purchased. By proving the results, it can turn into a revenue growth strategy. Can show
how many pieces need to be added to the buy in order to reach a certain percentage of
total market revenue.
iii.
2:30- 3:00 pm – Business Session #6 – Successes/Discovery

Discussion of pros-cons of Newspaper alliances with Valassis

Discussed the successes using segmentation analytics to grow business in certain
verticals like real estate
iv.
3:00 pm – Distinguished Dinner Sponsor Remarks – Doug Grossman, ACI Media
v.
3:05 pm – Don Balser Most Outstanding Contributor Award
Recipient, Los Angeles Times
Award presented to Sindy Speelman
vi.
3:15 pm - Break
vii.
3:30– 4:30 pm – Newspaper Session #1: 2013-2014 US FSI Transactional Study – Michael
Lombardo, CEO, Tactician Media LLC
– Joseph Jahns, 2014
Standardized rate and run information by advertiser & publisher. Lumped advertisers into
vertical markets (grocery, furniture/mattress, dept stores, etc). Looked at budget
allocations by month for each vertical and also by day of week. Sunday has the largest
revenue allocation, but there are spikes mid-week for QSR/Restaurant, grocery, furniture
& local services.
Measured price pressure by determining the average rate paid by tab size and then
measured by vertical how much over or under they are paying at that rate. So, if the
average rate of a single sheet is $25 overall, the QSR vertical is paying 15% less than
that. When there is high competition in that vertical there is more pricing pressure.
Share by media class. Paid is still the biggest allocation at 64%, with TMC at 20%. SMC
is 10.5%. Then measured pricing pressure by media class to show average rates paid by
vertical for each distribution method.
Looked at each publisher to see in which market vertical they have the best pricing
pressure. These present the best revenue growth opportunities. Certain verticals are
seeing a higher share of revenue in the past year. Looked at pricing trends for each
vertical market.
Recommendations – benchmark your FSI program against the national metrics. Evaluate
your own vertical market trends, risks & opportunities. Understand pricing and revenue
pressure points. Develop ongoing business intelligence and monitoring utilizing industry
best practices. Most important – communicate the value of your audience to each vertical
market.
viii.
6:00- 9:30 pm – Reception and Dinner, The Cannery:

Reception Sponsored by PCF

Dinner Sponsored by ACI Media
ix.
9:30 pm – Evening Networking
F. Friday, February 6th – Morning Newspaper Sessions
i.
8:00- 9:00 am – Breakfast Buffet – Sponsored by Quad/Graphics
Supporting Sponsor Comments:
 Tom Dressler, VP Growth & Development and Roy Dunn, Director of Business
Development, PCF
 Allyn Hallisey, CEO, Rockledge Software
Early Bird Drawing #3:
 Alan Levenstein – umbrella (provided by Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
 Steve Westphal - Gift card
 Hernan Ponce - Gift card
 Gabrielle Austin - Gift card
 Taniel Santourian- umbrella (provided by Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
ii.
9:00- 9:30 am - NTMC Elections
 Jane Comfort – elected Treasurer
 Harry Jackson – elected Secretary
At-Large – candidates:
 Isabella Mest – NJ Star Ledger
 Katherine Kohls – Minneapolis Star-Tribune
 Rose Novotny – Palm Beach Post
 Taniel Santourian – Hartford Courant
 David Kiehle – Detroit News & Detroit Free Press - elected
 Paul Pelland – Boston Globe - elected
iii.
9:30- 11:30 am – Newspaper Session #2 – Negotiation Skills, Eric Henry, CMPartners
Using influence vs. control when dealing with other people & growing emotional
intelligence in order to gain self-masterly of influencing others. Single loop learning:
relation to action vs. results. Do you change the action if you don’t get the results you
want or do you stay the course & keep the action the same? Double-loop learning: before
you decide to change your action or keep it the same, you re-evaluate the thinking that
caused you to take the initial action in the first place.
The best negotiators are striving to find a joint value solution rather than having one side
win or lose. This is called Interest-based Negotiating. The best negotiators spend 75%90% of their time in the interest circle: clarifying interests identify and consider possibly
options, maximize criteria with data. One way to uncover someone’s interests if they
won’t share them with you is to tell them your assumptions as to what those interests are.
Always measure the outcome vs. your walk-away alternatives (Best Alternative To A
Negotiated Agreement).
We can only take in a sub-set of all the data we are exposed to all the time. Then you give
meaning to the data you select to recognized and then draw conclusions to it. Those
conclusions become operating assumptions & over time those conclusions can become
filters so no new data can come in. We all take in different subsets of data even within the
same conversation. Most conversations are held at the conclusion-level with the other
person through advocacy. To avoid this, use inquiry to drill down and understand what
subset of data their assumptions & interests are based on.
iv.
11:30 am – President Rod McLain Closing remarks
v.
12:00- 5:00 pm – Afternoon Outings:

Laguna Beach Tour

Oak Creek Country Club Golf Outing
Anti-Trust Statement
While our meetings tend to be casual and creative, there is one area where we need to display
self-control and caution, and that is with antitrust concerns.
Federal law prohibits combinations, conspiracies, and agreements that restrain trade or
competition in commerce. Trade associations are by their very nature a “combination”, since
they consist of a group of competitors joined together for a common business purpose.
Accordingly, associations must refrain from actions having anti-competitive potential. It is
important to remember that there are many topics that you, as an individual, can discuss
within your company that would not be appropriate to discuss here, together as a group.
Examples of forbidden topics include:
 Specific current or future prices or rates charged by a particular company.
However, it is permissible to discuss the average prices previously charged by a
group of four or more companies. The price averages should be based on data that is
more than three months old.
 Endorsements of particular companies or products to the exclusion of others.
Discussions of this group should not encourage the boycotting or refusal to deal with
certain companies or products or services. However, it is permissible to discuss your
experiences with particular vendors or with other companies.
 Allocation of markets, territories or customers.
 Any action or understanding that limits competition or causes disadvantage to third
parties.
Everyone in these meetings needs to help insure that we observe and comply with these anti-trust
guidelines.
Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation!