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Local Papers Brace For Federated Ad Drawdown

  • Ad Age, Tuesday, August 8, 2006 11:46 AM
Local newspapers are bracing for Sept. 9. That's when a pullback of as much as $425 million in spending by the medium's largest advertiser--Federated Department Stores--begins, reports Ad Age. It will also mark the end of a "symbiotic relationship between homegrown department-store brands and the newspapers they've advertised in for more than a century," the trade magazine notes. The company's stable of department-store brands will officially be reborn as Macy's, backed by a national branding campaign and a $1.2 billion media plan expected to favor national TV and magazines rather than spot TV and newspapers. While the $425 million figure is dire, even conservative estimates, such as one from a Deutsche Bank analyst, can run to $200 million. The company's annual newspaper spending currently totals $830 million. Federated declined to discuss specifics, but said national magazine buys will be part of the mix for the first time. "Newspapers will continue to be a very important medium," says a spokesman. "The fall launch is one point in time, and what happens longer term is something we are still working on. Our media selection will be driven by where our customers' eyeballs are going."

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