One year after stepping down as creative director of Universal McCann, Alan Schulman is working for one of its sister operations, Magna Global Entertainment, albeit as a supplier. Schulman, now chief creative officer of digital media content developer Brand New World, has gone into business with Magna to develop and produce short- and long-form branded entertainment content for new and emerging digital media platforms, including video-on-demand (VOD), broadband, wireless and in-store retail networks. The deal, which was unveiled this week during the National Association of Television Programming Executives conference in Las Vegas, is noteworthy for two reasons: 1) It reunites Schulman with Interpublic's media agencies (Magna negotiates deals and develops content for all of Interpublic's shops, including Universal McCann); and 2) It signals that Magna plans to be more than just a traditional television powerhouse. The companies said the deal was struck because clients have asked Magna to develop long-form content for emerging platforms, especially ad-supported VOD, TiVo and streaming media content via broadband Internet. The deal also encompasses the development of shorter-form, interstitial content for the broadband video services of MSN Video, Yahoo! Launch and AOL Broadband. Magna Global Chairman-CEO Bill Cella described the deal as a "natural extension" of what the Interpublic shop has been doing via conventional television, but in many ways the deal speaks to the increasing convergence and integration between terrestrial, cable and satellite TV and other new forms of video distribution. Details of specific projects were not disclosed, but Schulman said they would range from short-form commercials to "10-minute long-form video, or creating contextually relevant" 10-second and 15-second interstitials for broadband streaming platforms.
Looking to bolster its branded entertainment initiatives, Publicis Groupe's MediaVest has hired former MTV producer Peter Demas as VP, director of production. Demas, 42, will lead the strategic development, creative oversight, and production process for branded entertainment initiatives. He reports to Brian Terkelsen, senior vice president, director of entertainment marketing. A 15-year media and branded entertainment veteran, Demas has spent 12 years at MTV Networks, where he served as supervising producer and director of the "Rockumentary" series. He was also instrumental in the creation of MTV and VH1's Home Entertainment division worldwide. Most recently, Demas held the post of principal creative executive at Little Biggies, a consulting post where he created programming and media strategies for a variety of companies, including Rodale Publishing and Firemenich.
Meredith Corporation is launching a lifestyle and shelter publication targeted to Hispanic women. The bi-monthly, ¡Siempre Mujer! will debut this fall with an initial rate base of 350,000. Meredith has mentioned previously that it intended to go after the Hispanic marketplace, although entering the home category specifically is something of a surprise. In justifying its decision, the company cited data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which indicates that within the next decade, one in five new homeowners will be Hispanic. To facilitate the launch, Meredith will leverage its extensive database derived from flagship titles Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies' Home Journal. In addition, the publisher will extend its marketing alliance with Home Interiors & Gifts Inc.--which currently develops and markets a line of home décor products under the Better Homes and Gardens brand name--to assisting in marketing subscriptions directly to Hispanic women. Overseeing the launch will be Susan Baron, vice president, and Ruth Gaviria, publisher/executive Director of Meredith Hispanic Ventures. Johanna Buchholtz-Torres, the former editor in chief of Ser Padres magazine, will serve as ¡Siempre Mujer!'s editor in chief. According to Gaviria, who was previously Director of Marketing and Brand Development for Time Inc.'s People En Español, ¡Siempre Mujer! will be published in Spanish, and will advise advertisers to produce Spanish-language ads. "That is critical to this proposition," she said. "Among the 8 million women in the 21-45 target, the vast majority are Spanish-dominant--that is, either they are foreign born or speak Spanish in the home. It is critically important to communicate in Spanish." While ¡Siempre Mujer!, which means "Always Woman," is being labeled as a home title, Gaviria described it as being more of a comprehensive women's service title in nature. "The title is aspirational--it's empowering," she said. "The word 'mujer' means the woman herself, her family and her home. It is much more of a magazine around home, family, and self development." While marketers and publishers are taking steps to recognize the growing Hispanic marketplace via successful titles like Latina, Gaviria believes there is plenty of room for new players. "These other books are about celebrities, beauty, and fashion," she said. "A true service magazine is pretty much uncharted territory." Asked why Meredith did not simply attempt to extend one of its existing titles--such as launching a "Better Homes and Gardens en Espanola," for example--Gaviria acknowledged: "That would have been much easier." But not necessarily the right move. "This woman is imbued in two worlds: traditional, and adopting American values," she said. "She is buying her first home, getting an education. All of these first-time opportunities. We needed to grow up with this reader. It is very difficult to do that with a magazine that serves a different reader." Gaviria did not rule out launching a Spanish version of existing titles, or other Spanish-language launches from Meredith down the road. She said that the hope for ¡Siempre Mujer! was to increase its circulation to 500,000 within three years.
Likening the issue of media consolidation in fewer hands to the days of John D. Rockefeller's dominance of the oil industry, Federal Communications Commissioner Michael J. Copps denounced the decisions of his fellow commissioners on the issue of capping the ownership media. Speaking at the National Association Of Television Program Executives in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Copps called upon the industry to oppose greater consolidation among media companies. "Fewer companies own and control more media properties," Copps said in his prepared remarks. "Big companies already control radio, television, newspapers, and cable--cable systems and cable channels. They own the production of programming. They own its distribution. Increasingly, they control creativity itself. "Many of you not directly affiliated with a conglomerate have felt the pain--the closing off of distribution channels, the inability to bring creative programming to a viable audience, watching good people lose their jobs and even their careers--artists, technicians, and all kinds of workers who were once part of a thriving, independent industry." Copps added that he did not mean to single out television, emphasizing that he sees a crisis in media "across the board." "But it tells a story that the media conglomerates that own the networks control approximately three-quarters of the prime-time audience," Copps said. "That audience share of households is approaching--and could soon surpass, according to some analysts--the share the three networks had during the 1960s and 1970s. And today, these huge companies are far more vertically integrated than they were then, controlling the production of most of the programs as well as the distribution. History shows us that combining distribution with production was how John D. Rockefeller built his stranglehold. I'm not saying that history repeats itself exactly, but often there are enough similarities that we ought to at least pay attention to it. This is one of those times." Copps also highlighted the issue that, before the past decade, two-thirds of prime-time programming was independently produced, compared to the three-fourths of prime-time programming produced by the networks and affiliated studios today. He expressed frustration with what he sees as a cannibalizing attitude among those in the TV industry. "Why has this happened? Is it because the major studios affiliated with conglomerates have a lock on the creative genius in this country? I don't think so. Is it because independent producers can no longer come up with hit programs like "The Cosby Show" or "All in the Family?" No. Is it rather that we have allowed a few media conglomerates to wield gatekeeper control over the content and distribution of the entertainment that we get? "Whatever the cause, the effects are pernicious," he continued. "Most observers tell me that the doors of opportunity are closing fast, and that we won't have a new generation of Norman Lears and Marcy Carseys and Ted Turners because the opportunities they had are gone." Copps also complained that too much of today's network menu is geared to the 18- to-34-year-old age demographic, and called for the industry--including advertisers--to reach out more to older demos. "So it is time--it is long past time--for the FCC to consider and approve a set-aside, like 25 or 35 percent of prime-time hours, for independent producers and creators," he said. "Diversity, localism, and competition are necessities for a thriving American media, and we can't afford not to have them. They are essential for the quality of entertainment our citizens enjoy, and they are essential for the vitality of America's civic dialogue--a civic dialogue that I think is in serious, serious trouble--but that's another speech. We need these building blocks across our entire media landscape. And your FCC ought to be nourishing these all-American traits. Instead, it has been busy subverting them."
I was recently sitting in the office of a former client of mine from my days selling Newsweek, who made the switch to sales and is now the associate publisher for a very hip and trendy fashion magazine. She sits with her sales team in a very large space in a very cool area of New York City. Her well-dressed staff is young, enthusiastic and deadly quiet most of the day. That is because e-mail communication has completely replaced all other forms of communication between her sales staff and her magazine's clients, and it is making her crazy. "Ari" she said emphatically, "you and I would have never developed the relationship we have if e-mail was around when you called on me." E-mail communication is one of the biggest contributors to the decrease in face-to-face sales call activity that plagues online and traditional publishers. Media buyers prefer sales reps send over media kits digitally instead of meeting to discuss the property. They prefer to have proposals sent via e-mail rather than go over them in person and then ask sales reps to "ping them with an e-mail" to check on the status. This is all very efficient, but at a cost. The cost is the chance for sellers and buyers to communicate face-to-face. According to Ronni Burns, who has written a terrific book called "Communication Essentials; A Sell-Abration", non-verbal cues listeners share with those speaking are vital to the effective transmission of information. She writes, "Everyone gives off a constant and uninterrupted stream of non verbal signals that tells you what they are thinking and feeling." These signs simply do not translate through e-mail regardless of how many smiley and frown faces are included. So while sellers and buyers are being more efficient, this form of communication is less effective in transmitting information. Securing face time with clients is one of the biggest challenges media sales people face today. Most often, this face time comes during the many lunches, dinners, and events hosted by sales reps but rarely, if at all, are client communication objectives ever discussed during this time. Media sales reps and their sales managers have to do a better job of creating compelling reasons for clients to sit down with them. This is a two-step process. The first is to continue to develop more innovative ways to secure their audience's attention via new editorial sections or greater targeting abilities, for example. However, more importantly, step two is to make these opportunities relevant to a specific client and a specific communication objective for that client's product or service. Creating relevancy like this will be rewarded with an opportunity to discuss the opportunity in person or at the very least, over the phone. E-mail has its benefits, but like any medium, you cannot depend on it alone to get your message across. Media sales people need to spend less time in front of their computers, and more time in front of clients if they want to be more effective and develop relationships that are more meaningful.