Wednesday January 18, 2017 - Constant Contactfiles.constantcontact.com/e77cb272401/f3fcb903-df1d-4740...Wednesday January 18, 2017 Small Business Optimism Translates to Advertising

Compiled by Ray Young (RPM) and John Kelly (Daily Clips)

Wednesday January 18, 2017

Small Business Optimism Translates to Advertising Boom

Small business owners haven’t felt this good about the economy since 2004. The National smbownerFederation of

Independent Business’s index now stands at 105.8 and reflects a 7.4 point increase over the previous month. NFIB

President and CEO Juanita Duggan remarks, “Small business is ready for a breakout, and that can only mean very good

things for the U.S. economy.”

The survey includes input from 619 SMB owners. The SMBs that participate in this survey have fewer than 500 employees

each. These businesses represent the engine that drives our economy, in terms of creating new jobs, buying equipment,

introducing new products and services.

Here are the specific positive statistics from the NFIB report regarding SMB attitudes:

Plan to increase employment 16%

Plan to make capital outlays 29%

Expect economic improvements in general 50%

Expect higher sales 31%

Now is a good time to expand 23%

Clients in local markets who have continued to hold back after being bruised by the Great Recession are likely changing

their strategies this year. If they were putting off the launch of a new product, they might be ready to go to market in 2017.

Business owners who plan to increase employment, expand, or invest in capital are also expecting higher sales. If these

businesses want to definitively grow sales, they should be boosting their advertising. Whether it’s traditional or digital, SMB

clients and prospects must make their customers aware of their new offerings.

Reps can also sell more advertising by pointing out that SMBs can expect more competition in the improving economy. To

help clients stay ahead of the competition, reps should develop a solid proposal that will keep their local businesses top of

mind with customers throughout the coming year.

http://mediasalestoday.com/small-business-optimism-translate-advertising-boom/

Eyeglass Retail Giant in $49 Billion Merger

Luxottica Group, the leading eyeglass retailer with multiple U.S. store banners, has entered into a deal that would create a

global giant in the optical industry.

Luxottica, whose brands include LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Oliver Peoples, and Pearle Vision, will merge with lens-maker

Essilor International of France in a deal valued at $49 billion. The merger brings together the industry’s largest manufacturer

with its leading retailer.

The combined entity, to be called EssilorLuxottica, would be the largest player in the eyewear market, manufacturing lenses

for prescription glasses and sunglasses, and frames. Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio will be the largest single

shareholder in the combined company with about a 30% stake. He will also serve as executive chairman and CEO.

The new company would have combined annual revenues of more than $16 billion, 140,000 employees and sales in more

than 150 countries.

"Finally, after fifty years, two products which are naturally complementary, namely frames and lenses, will be designed,

manufactured and distributed under the same roof," Del Vecchio said in a statement.

http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/eyeglass-retail-giant--billion-merger#

5 Trends That will Change the Way Your Customers will Shop in 2017

At first glance, the queues for 2016’s hot-ticket holiday item, Snapchat Spectacles, might not have looked all that different from the round-the-block lines that formed for the Tickle Me Elmo craze of 20 years ago. But a closer inspection reveals how the simple act of shopping has been quietly transformed during that time. Rather than waiting at the mall to make their purchase, Snapchat’s hopeful customers were lining up to buy specs at Snapbot vending machines in exotic locales such as the Grand Canyon, the Rose Bowl and Big Sur. From limited releases of hot products sold in the unlikeliest of places to personalized shopping experiences that meld the online and offline world, the world of retail is poised to get even more interesting in the year ahead. Here’s a look at what’s in store: Stores are out, experiences are in Ten years ago, walking into a cool boutique to see a DJ spinning was novel. Today, it’s about the least a store can do to keep up with the times. Brands that are standing out are pulling out the stops to turn shopping into a rich and immersive experience. Back to Snapchat, for example: selling those specs via vending machines was a quirky touch, but the real genius was in putting them in oddball locations. By doing that, Snapchat turned the simple act of shopping into a treasure hunt and adventure — even for those who didn’t manage to snag a pair before they sold out. Similarly, brick-and-mortar outlets are also upping their game. Now that anyone can buy anything online, stores that are staying relevant are offering highly curated and immersive experiences. Whether it’s yoga classes and running clinics at Lululemon or grabbing a haircut and an espresso at Frank + Oak’s flagship Toronto store, we’ll see stores become less about being a place to consummate a transaction than a place to immerse yourself in a lifestyle. Forget faceless brands, connection is key Back in the day, you had a personal connection with the shops on Main Street. Malls and big-box stores changed all that. These days, however, we’re no longer content to buy from faceless — even if well-known — brands, and smart retailers are using creative tools to build a personal relationship with would-be buyers. Currently, nowhere is this trend more pronounced than in the world of celebrity. Last year, for example, the likes of Drake and the Weeknd extended their personas into popup shops and full-scale brand lines that give fans more of what they want: direct ways to connect with their favourite personalities.

Meanwhile, Kith NYC designer Ronnie Fieg recently used Instagram to create a real-time window into a product launch event in Aspen. What we’re seeing in all of these cases is online sellers leveraging technology to humanize and personalize a transaction — emphasizing the link between maker and user — which is a far cry from the kind of shopping experience you get in a big-box store. Evolution — and democratization — of the flash sale Flash Sales are a time-honored tradition in the world of retail. But enter the Internet and things get a lot more interesting. These days, putting a time limit on a product or price isn’t just a means to unload overstock, it’s become standard practice for product launches. Celeb cosmetics queen Kylie Jenner has expertly employed this technique, with her limited edition birthday and holiday collections flying off the virtual shelf. But, of course, bots and resellers have also infiltrated the online sales space, with everything from Kanye West’s Yeezy sneakers to Hatchimals winding up on eBay for several times the retail price. In the year ahead, you can expect smart companies to come up with ways to ensure the right people — actual customers and fans with a history with the brand — are being ushered to the front of the queue. (Shopify launched one product aimed at solving this problem this year, which allows buyers to check out with one tap and sellers to handle thousands of orders per minute.) Direct-to-Consumer takes a bigger piece of the retail pie This holiday season, US shoppers spent as much online as they did in actual stores. But behind that headline is an even more interesting story: the direct-to-consumer revolution. From Michael Kors to Oreo, more companies are sidestepping the middleman. Ditching department stores in favour of selling directly to consumers will continue to be a powerful force transforming the way we shop in 2017. Why? Selling straight to customers creates an intimate and immediate feedback loop that leads to a better customer experience. Companies like AYR, Bonobos and DSTLD jeans are pioneering a highly responsive approach: using sales data and customer feedback to adjust their styles, cuts and size runs in real time. A reality where your favourite store is never out of your size or preferred style is right around the corner. Shopping gets more social Imagine browsing your social media feed and buying any product that catches your eye with the swipe of your thumb. In 2017 this will become a widespread reality. Social media platforms like Pinterest, Houzz, Twitter and Instagram are already breaking the browse/buy barrier with options for in-app impulse buying. Now add to that streamlined pay systems like Apple Pay, which is poised to go from a niche payment option to a mainstream expectation, and ordering that eye candy will become almost dangerously easy. Meanwhile, online sellers are also teaming up with services like UberRUSH and Postmates to solve the delayed gratification problem posed by buying online. (Check out this video for a glimpse of how this works in New York City.) Teaming up with innovative services gets products into the hands of customers on the day they buy and contributes to a shopping experience that’s faster and more convenient. With the retail world in the midst of a reinvention powered by technology, one thing’s for sure: the only limitation today’s merchants face is their own creativity. The bar for retail was raised in 2016 and it’s set to go higher in the year ahead. The good news for consumers: there’s never been a better time to be a shopper. http://www.forbes.com/sites/harleyfinkelstein/2017/01/16/5-trends-that-will-change-the-way-you-shop-in-2017/#7c9bea9d387f

Social Media Ad Spending Is Expected to Pass Newspapers by 2020 The amount of money spent on advertising on social media is set to catch up with newspaper ad revenues by 2020, a

leading forecaster said on Monday.

The rapid expansion of social media platforms on mobile devices, as well as faster internet connectivity and more

sophisticated technology, has triggered a huge shift in the way many people get their news.

Advertising agency Zenith Optimedia, owned by France's Publicis (PGPEF, -0.07%), predicts global advertising expenditure

on social media will account for 20% of all internet advertising in 2019, hitting $50 billion and coming in just one percent

smaller than newspaper ads. It expects social media to overtake newspapers comfortably by 2020.

"Social media and online video are driving continued growth in global ad spend, despite political threats to the economy,"

Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting at Zenith, said.

The media industry has been convulsed by the rapid shift in advertising trends in recent years, with firms moving their ad

budgets from traditional sources such as newspapers to websites found on computers and mobile phones.

Marketers are increasingly directing their spending to social media sites where ads blend into users' newsfeeds on platforms

such as Facebook and Snapchat proving more effective than interruptive banner formats.

Zenith's report forecasts that global advertising expenditure will grow 4.4% in 2017, the same rate as in 2016, which it said

would be a strong performance given that big events like the Olympic Games, Britain's EU referendum and the U.S.

presidential election boosted advertising this year.

Online video advertising is also rapidly growing and set to total $35.4 billion across the world by 2019, fractionally ahead of

the amount spent on radio advertising but still far less than television.Global spending on advertising has been stable since

2010 the report showed, although growth has declined in the Middle East and North Africa. It was expected to continue to

grow strongly in China and much of Asia.

http://fortune.com/2016/12/05/social-media-ad-spending-newspapers-zenith-2020/

22% of Retailers Have no Triggered Email Strategy Search intent signals and data can help to improve triggers that deliver personalized email campaigns, with 45% of retailers

saying they plan to roll out a strategy to better engage consumers based on specific behaviors and activities this year.

Retail TouchPoints and Magnetic in September 2016 surveyed 200 consumers in the U.S. and Canada, and more than 100

retail executives to analyze what the report calls "new rules and realities of email marketing."

While the data affirms that email remains a discovery and shopping channel for consumers, the factors driving engagement

and interactions with brands fall short. That's because consumers are inundated with emails, the role of the email has

changed, retailers are behind in implementing email technologies, and there is slow adoption of triggered emails.

The use of triggered emails can range from abandoned carts or sites, to price drops, low inventory, new arrivals, shopper

alerts and back-in-stock items, according to the study "Inbox Love: Investigating the State of Triggered Emails &

Personalization for Retailers and Consumers."

The survey also identifies another opportunity.

The trend of reading emails on smartphones, yet making a purchase from a desktop, creates a time lapse or gap that

retailers can use to their advantage through triggered emails. Sometimes, a search or click on a link is involved. It's

important to remember that email can drive a conversion or a purchase.

While 94% of consumers open and read emails on their smartphones, 71% prefer to use their desktops for purchase. Only

3% will use a smartphone to purchase items.

External signals, like search intent that help marketers decide when and how to communicate with consumers, have become

one of the biggest innovations in email marketing, said James Green, CEO at Magnetic.

Imagine having a customer that begins searching on engines like Google and Bing for products sold through the retailer.

They search on engines, but never visit the retailer's Web site.

"Mostly this behavior goes completely unnoticed and unknown to retailers, but equally clearly, this is a perfect time to send

an e-mail," Green explains, suggesting retailers can use search intent signals to trigger emails

The study suggests that brands and retailers can close the timeline between reading an email on a smartphone and visiting

the retailer's Web site. While 48% of retailers participating in the survey send triggered emails based on specific data points,

it is still a relatively new tactic for them.

Only 34% of this group said they have been sending reactive, triggered emails for two years or more, and 18% said they

have used it between one and two years. Some 22% of retailers say they don’t send any type of triggered emails.

"New arrival” ranked as the second-highest performing trigger by retailers, with 25% of survey respondents calling it "very

effective."

Retailers using triggered emails report 56% click-through rates, 50% open rates, 44% on-site conversions, and 44%

purchase completions.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/292939/22-of-retailers-have-no-triggered-email-

strategy.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=99676&hashid=

Captain D's Names Bob Kraut Chief Marketing Officer

- Captain D's LLC, the leading fast casual seafood restaurant, announced today that Bob Kraut has joined its executive team

as chief marketing officer. Bob will be responsible for leading, developing and executing the company's marketing strategies

to further increase brand awareness and continue the brand's strong sales growth. Captain D's, known for serving freshly

prepared seafood for more than four decades, has been generating strong growth with over five consecutive years of same

store sales increases and three successive years of record high system-wide AUV's.

"We are proud of our rich history and our impressive sales growth, but we are just getting started as Captain D's is uniquely

positioned for further success in 2017 and beyond. Bob brings more than three decades of experience to Captain D's, and

we have no doubt that we will continue to take the brand to new heights with his marketing leadership," said Phil Greifeld,

chief executive officer and president of Captain D's. "Our compounding success and ongoing nationwide expansion is a

direct reflection of the efforts of our talented people, and we are thrilled to welcome such an accomplished industry veteran

who shares our guest-centric values to the D's team."

Kraut has extensive experience leading the marketing activities of several national food service companies, including Papa

John's and Arby's. "I am delighted to partner with Phil and the D's team. The brand's momentum is powerful and there is

tremendous upside in front of us," said Kraut. Over the course of his 30+ year career, Kraut has helped several brands

experience remarkable success, with Papa John's, Arby's and Pizza Hut each achieving record-breaking sales growth under

his leadership. In 2014, he received the CMO Club's CMO's Choice Award and is a top 30-ranked CMO according to

ExecuRank. Kraut earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and philosophy and an MBA from the State University of New

York. He is also a graduate of the advanced management program for international managers at Harvard Business School.

With 518 restaurants in 21 states, Captain D's is the fast-casual seafood leader and number one seafood franchise in

America ranked by average unit volume. Coupled with its ongoing menu innovation, Captain D's credits its new restaurant

beach design with contributing to the brand's compounding success.

http://www.14news.com/story/34277096/captain-ds-names-bob-kraut-chief-marketing-officer

Retail Shopping Traffic Returning to Mid-December Levels

According to SOASTA, analyzing big data from the week before Thanksgiving to the end of December, retail traffic dips

around Christmas and New Year, recovers briskly in January, rises steadily after January 2nd, and by January 26th traffic

will have reached almost the same levels as mid-December.

SOASTA shares the three most interesting findings from the study, and what they mean for retailers, from information from

more than 10 billion user experiences gathered from their customers’ sites.

Finding 1: Black Friday has taken over Cyber Monday online:

Cyber Monday has historically been the biggest day for online traffic. From 2013 to 2015, says the report, the consistent

trend was that traffic grew in the week leading up to Black Friday, with an initial spike on Black Friday, and then a greater

spike on Cyber Monday, but this trend underwent a radical shift this past holiday season, says the report. While Cyber

Monday definitely experienced a significant spike in traffic, it was overshadowed by Black Friday, which accounted for

slightly more than 25% of all holiday weekend traffic.

The report suggests some plausible theories for why this seismic shift in consumer behavior:

More and more shoppers are avoiding crowded stores and malls on the holiday weekend, and those shoppers are moving

online in droves.

Black Friday is become on online event as much as it is an in-store event, especially as consumers are getting more savvy

about the fact that in-store deals aren’t always as good as they’re made out to be.

Roughly 97% of US adults have some kind of mobile device, meaning more and more shoppers are choosing to browse and

buy via their phones and tablets than in physical stores.

Amazon accounts for much of this change in buyer behavior, says the report. In 2015, just over one third of total holiday

spending happened on Amazon. In 2016, 46% of consumers surveyed said they used Amazon for holiday shopping, and

43% bought at least half their gifts from Amazon.

Finding 2: Every Monday is Cyber Monday

Looking at the week before Thanksgiving all the way through to the beginning of January, Mondays were consistently the

peak traffic days, outside of Thanksgiving weekend, says the report. This trend persists even after Christmas, as the week

after Christmas experienced more total traffic than the week leading up to it. This most probably reflects the growing number

of people, says the report, who do some or all of their online shopping at work, away from the prying eyes of family

members.

Finding 3: The January Surge

While retail traffic dips around Christmas and New Year, it recovers briskly in January. After January 2nd, traffic rises

steadily, says the report. By January 26th traffic will have reached almost the same levels as mid-December. This “January

Surge” is great news for site owners, though they need to be mindful of the fact that peak days become more unpredictable

and aren’t relegated to Mondays.

Some conclusions and action items, based on these findings, are suggested in the report:

Prepare for more consumer activity to move online in the not-so-distant future. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to retailers.

Macy’s recent announcement that it’s closing 68 stores and laying off 10,000 workers is one snippet of the writing on the

wall.

Remember that consumer behavior is unpredictable from year to year. Patterns seen in previous years may not hold, and

test plans based on one-year-old assumptions is unwise. A better idea would be to build tests that reflect actual user

behavior on your site.

Be ready for spikes throughout the entire holiday season, especially on Mondays. Weather could keep people at home and

send them online. Political or economic events also affect user behavior.

Plan with tablets and phones in mind. The sweet spot for peak conversions is 2.4 seconds for median load times across all

device types, says the report. A 2-second improvement for one client almost doubled mobile conversions.

The report concludes by noting that, if you’re competing online, you’re competing with Amazon. Over the holidays,

department store sales stagnated or barely grew, while Amazon saw increases of up to 32% in departments ranging from

clothing and beauty to home and furniture.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/292940/retail-shopping-traffic-returning-to-mid-

december.html#reply?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=comment&utm_campaign=99651

Study Finds Most Consumers Visiting a Retailer’s Website for the First Time Aren’t There to Buy

How’s this for a wake up call to marketers?

Ninety-two percent of consumers will visit a brand’s website for the first time for reasons other than making a purchase.

According to the findings of a new study released today by Episerver — The “Reimaging Commerce” report — among

shoppers visiting a website for the first time, 45 percent are searching for a product or service, one-quarter are comparing

prices or other variables, and more than one in 10 are looking for store details.

The survey of more than 1,100 consumers points to the importance of relevant and engaging content throughout the

purchase journey, as a majority of interactions with a brand’s website do not end in conversion.

In fact, a third of consumers who visit a brand’s website or mobile app with the explicit intent of making a purchase rarely or

never complete checkout. Further, 98 percent of shoppers have been dissuaded from completing a purchase because of

incomplete or incorrect content on a brand’s website, underscoring the need for descriptive, accurate content.

“The content customers see and the experiences they have while interacting with a brand online are crucial to shaping their

purchasing behavior, said James Norwood, chief marketing officer and executive vice president of strategy at Episerver.

“While not every consumer visiting a brand’s website is there to make a purchase, brands must consider how the experience

of their websites — from navigation to checkout — supports engagement.”

http://mobilemarketingwatch.com/study-finds-most-consumers-visiting-a-retailers-website-for-the-first-time-arent-there-to-

buy-70411/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MobileMarketingWatch+%28Mob

Is Super Bowl Advertising Worth it? Perhaps not.

Every year there’s a great debate over whether Super Bowl advertising is worth it.

Some say the price of the ads, up to $5 million for 30 seconds, is way too high to justify the investment.

Others argue the price isn’t too bad considering the massive audience, but the creative stakes have gotten so high that

viewers often don’t remember the message, making the effort a waste of time.

Still others claim the time and money are worth it, because there’s no bigger platform on television.

This long-running argument perhaps would be settled by simply examining one telling stat from the Super Bowl, based on a

recent report from Kantar Media.

It finds that, of the many first-time advertisers who plunk down money to appear in the game each year, the majority opt not

to return.

That’s not a great endorsement for the game’s value

“Over the past decade, more than 60 percent of first-timers were on the sidelines the next year,” notes the Kantar report,

issued in advance of the Feb. 5 game on Fox.

A high turnover rate

Whether they’re unable to afford the ad for a second year or they don’t think it generated enough return on investment, that’s

definitely an argument that the game is not worth the massive outlay of money.

It’s a good stat to gauge the game’s advertising value on, because first-time advertisers make up a good portion of the

game’s commercials. Last year, 23 percent of all companies were first-time advertisers. The year before, it was 28 percent.

Over the past five years, Kantar says, an average of 24 percent of advertisers have been first-timers.

So far, for Super Bowl LI, many from last year are either not returning or keeping their plans quiet.

Suntrust, which had its first Super Bowl ad last year, has said it won’t be back. Amazon, Paypal, Fitbit and more haven’t

confirmed or denied spots in the big game.

More first-timers to come

Still, even when some brands step aside, there are usually others to take their place, because many companies want to see

for themselves whether the Super Bowl is worth the price.

There will be plenty of first-time advertisers in this year’s game, including Mr. Clean and 84 Lumber, which bought a super-

sized 90-second commercial.

Whether they’ll return next year, however, is anyone’s guess.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/super-bowl-advertising-worth-perhaps/

More Than Half of U.S. Adults Live In 'Cell Phone-Only' Households.

More than half (52%) of U.S. adults live in households with cell phones, but no landline phones, according to new research

from the GfK MRI Survey of the American Consumer.

The figure represents a doubling of the percentage of cell phone-only households in 2010, when it was 26%.

The proportion of senior citizens (ages 65+) in cellphone-only households quadrupled over the past six years to 23%, while

the figure for Millennials (born from 1977 to 1994) climbed to 71% from 47%.

The findings come from GfK MRI's Fall 2016 Survey data release, which is based on interviews with approximately 24,000

U.S. adults ages 18 and above.

After Millennials, Generation X (born 1965 to 1976) is the age group most likely to live in cell phone-only households, at

55%. By comparison, the figure for Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) is only four in 10 (40%).

Among ethnic and racial groups, adults of Hispanic or Latino origin or descent have the highest incidence of living free of

landline telephones, with 67% reporting cell phone-only status.

Other groups have an incidence of roughly 50%, with Asian Americans at 54%; whites, 51%; and African Americans, 50%.

The Northeast has the smallest concentration of cell phone-only households, at 39%. In other regions, levels of no-landline

homes range from 53% (Midwest) to 57% (South).

“The Northeast’s lower incidence of cell-only households is likely related to its high levels of bundled television, Internet,

landline and cellphone services,” stated Risa Becker, SVP of Research Operations at GfK MRI. “In other regions, we see a

stronger trend toward cutting the telephone cord.”

GfK MRI data show that 57% of homes in the Northeast have bundled data and TV services (a combination of two or more

of TV, Internet, and telephone service), vs. 49% in the South and even less elsewhere.

GfK MRI’s unmatched consumer database is derived from continuous interviews with approximately 24,000 U.S. adults each

year. As part of The Survey of the American Consumer, respondents record their consumption of some 6,500 products in

nearly 600 categories and provide details about their lifestyles and attitudes.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/293089/more-than-half-of-us-adults-live-in-cell-phone-Get

Where is Mobile Ad Spend Growing Fastest?

Smaato, a leading global real-time advertising platform for mobile publishers and app developers, is out with a Q3 2016

Global Trends in Mobile Advertising Report.

In compiling the piece, Smaato analyzed data from billions of mobile ad impressions served on its exchange during the third

quarter of 2016 and found the extent to which mobile advertising spend is now heavily weighted toward in-app versus the

mobile web.

All told, the new report shows that in-app accounted for 81% of global mobile ad spend compared to mobile web, and rose 8

share points versus the same quarter last year.

Even at the country level, the dominance of in-app versus mobile web advertising is a worldwide phenomenon. In mature

mobile markets, such as the US, France, Sweden, and Germany, in-app mobile ad spending represented 83%, 88%, 90%

and 94%, respectively, of ad spend on Smaato’s platform in Q3 2016.

“Smaato credits the increase of in-app mobile advertising to increasing advertiser recognition that people are spending more

and more time in their mobile apps and to the unique, superior and more reliable user tracking and targeting characteristics

of the in-app mobile environment,” the company says. “On average, in-app eCPMs for publishers are more than two times

higher than mobile web eCPMs on Smaato’s platform, a trend that has remained consistent. However, mobile advertising

within web browsers is far from dying out, as it still accounts for 19% of all mobile ad spending on the Smaato platform and –

while growing significantly more slowly than in-app ad spending – is nonetheless up almost 4% from the same quarter last

year. Furthermore, mobile web eCPMs grew more than 10% on average in Q3 2016 versus Q3 2015.”

http://mobilemarketingwatch.com/where-is-mobile-ad-spend-growing-fastest-

70398/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MobileMarketingWatch+%28Mob

Verizon Mulling Acquisition of Big Cable Company

Verizon Chief Executive Lowell McAdam may be getting ready to answer rival AT&T’s moves to buy DirecTV and Time

Warner.

The New York wireless giant is weighing the acquisition of a cable company to help grow demand for its wireless data

products, two well-placed sources told The Post.

The CEO told friends at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month that he wants to buy into cable, one

source said.

“They need it for 5G,” said a second source, confirming McAdam’s interest.

The most likely targets would be “Charter or Comcast,” the source noted.

“Altice is too small,” the source speculated.

To be sure, Verizon is not in talks with any cable company and may not ever make such a move.

Still, McAdam has been under pressure recently with Verizon’s deal to acquire Yahoo still a question mark months after two

major hacks of the internet portal were revealed.

The wireless giants operate on 4G wireless networks but are preparing to become a real alternative to the cable company

with phone, TV and data services.

To do that more effectively, the phone companies are pouring money into 5G connections that can work with cable systems

to provide more stable coverage for consumers.

McAdam has already given Wall Street analysts and investors big hints that he’s looking at a combination with, say, a

Charter Communications.

In a mid-December meeting with Wall Street analysts, McAdam said a get-together between the two “makes industrial

sense.”

Three weeks later, at CES, his comments to friends make it clear that cable distribution is a path he is exploring, perhaps

more seriously than first thought.

Verizon is still yet to say whether it is moving ahead with its planned acquisition of Yahoo.

Were Verizon to make a move on Liberty Media-backed Charter, it would replicate the kind of deal shareholder John Malone

made back in 1998 to sell global cable company TCI Communications to AT&T.

Rival AT&T not only owns DirecTV but also has an agreement to acquire Time Warner for $109 billion in cash and stock.

McAdam is obsessed with distribution, said a person familiar with his thinking.

Verizon in April sold some of its FiOS network to Frontier Communications, clearing the path, some believe, to allow a cable

merger.

“For regulatory reasons, Verizon can’t dominate in FiOS and cable, so it appears to have to set its sights on cable,” an

industry source said.

Charter could be a seller under the right conditions, the source added, emphasizing that Malone and Charter CEO Tom

Rutledge are just getting going on their vision for Charter.

But it does mean Verizon has to promise enough autonomy for the Charter team to advance its own plans — only if “Malone

and Rutledge are not ready to cash out,” the source said.

Verizon declined to comment.

http://nypost.com/2017/01/17/verizon-may-acquire-a-big-cable-company-sources-say/

'WaPo' Kicks Off Newsletter, 'NYT' Launches New Section

The New York Times and The Washington Post added new offerings that focus on readers. WaPo launched a newsletter

featuring readers’ comments Friday. Last month, the NYTformed a new service journalism section, called “Smarter Living.”

The NYT section, which has a tagline that reads “stories to help you understand the world — and make the most of it,”

houses stories with headlines like “Carbs During Workout May Fend Off Colds,” “How to Plan a Honeymoon Trip” and “15

TV Shows to Watch This Season.”

The articles have a throwback feel, akin to SEO-driven, millennial-focused articles.

According to WWD, "Smarter Living" started as a module on the homepage last summer before it became a full-fledged

section focused on life advice and clickable headlines.

“The idea is that we are trying to take the concept of service journalism, which the Times has been doing since it launched,

essentially, and make it a priority,” Tim Herrera, who became editor of “Smarter Living” in December, told WWD. “We are

trying to make a name for ourselves as an outlet that is actually trying to help readers live better lives.”

The section has a mix of archival and new content, as well as stories drawn from different sections, such as the NYT’s

popular "Cooking" vertical.

Separately, the Post’s new “Read These Comments” newsletter will highlight interesting comments and conversations from

Washington Post readers.

Teddy Amenabar, comments editor for TheWashington Post, will select comments by looking at readers’ likes, replies and

submission history. The newsletter will contain one main conversation, a few popular comments from across the

newspaper's site and two or three top discussions that newsletter receivers can join.

Readers can also suggest a comment to be included in the newsletter by either clicking the like button or emailing the Post.

"Read These Comments" will go out every Friday afternoon.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/293002/wapo-kicks-off-newsletter-nyt-launches-new-

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With the 2020 Report, The New York Times Charts a Course for its Future

Three years ago, The New York Times published its innovation report, an unsparing assessment of the newsroom's many

weaknesses. Nearly 100 pages long and full of words like "worrying," "shrinking" and "upheaval," the report described a New

York Times that was in a digital standstill while competitors like BuzzFeed, Vox Media and The Washington Post were

racing ahead.

Today, The New York Times released the results of another self-examination, and the prognosis looks much better.

The 2020 report, which clocks in at 37 pages, describes a newsroom that has made major strides to fill the gaps outlined

three years ago: The Times' digital audience is growing rather than shrinking; the newsroom has embraced data and

analytics; there's a clearly defined digital strategy.

Yet some nagging remnants of the Times' print heritage still remain. The newsroom is still organized around old newspaper

sections. They're still publishing "dutiful, incremental pieces," the kind designed to fill a daily print edition. And too often, the

news report "remains dominated by long strings of text."

While the original New York Times innovation report felt like a full-body MRI that detected major problems, the 2020 version

comes across as a thorough physical that reveals a patient in relatively good health. The paper's stated goal to double its

digital revenue to $800 million by 2020 seems within reach (it pulled in $500 million last year) and an encouraging trend line

shows that revenue from consumers has outstripped ad dollars.

Most of the report is devoted to laying out a series of goals for areas including visual journalism, reader engagement,

newsroom training and diversity. But the recommendations were prefaced by a memo from Executive Editor Dean Baquet

and Managing Editor Joe Kahn that contained several important pieces of news:

The New York Times will dedicate $5 million to coverage of the Trump administration's effect on the world. They'll use the

money to bankroll additional investigative and subject-area expert reporters. The coverage will go beyond the White House,

extending to encompass "the stability of the global order that prevailed since World War II and America’s place in that

world."

It is about what happens when a group of business moguls who built empires bring their free market philosophy to bear on

everything from education to healthcare and national defense, and how that philosophical change will affect people’s lives. It

is also a story about power in New York, as one of the biggest names in one of our largest industries actually takes over the

country, often running it from from a penthouse on a heavily guarded 5th Avenue.

Cuts are coming to editing jobs. This is part of an overhaul that will change the Times' editing system, which was designed

with many layers of redundancy in a print-centric enterprise. Gone will be the old Times practice of shuffling stories from

editor to editor, with each copy editor making relatively insignificant changes to each story.

We must move away from duplicative and often low-value line editing. It slows us down, costs too much, and discourages

experiments in storytelling. Backfielders, department heads, News Desk editors and, yes, the masthead spend too much

time line editing and copy editing, moving around words with little true impact on a story. Copy editors, meanwhile, spend

too much time editing and re-editing stories that should be posted quickly.

This editing overhaul will coincide with the release of a new content management system, called Oak, that will allow editors

and reporters to build stories with visual elements and examine what the final product will look like ahead of publication.

These changes will result in fewer editors, so the Times can maximize the amount of working reporters.

A dozen new visual-first journalists are coming aboard. As part of the Times' push to accelerate its multimedia efforts, the

bosses are hiring roughly 12 new journalists that will infuse video, graphics and interactives into the news report. By the

middle of the year, each major news desk will be paired with a deputy editor that has a "full range of creative skills" to

promote non-traditional storytelling.

...The majority of our report is fairly traditional, and we should broaden the ways we tell stories. The broader mobile

landscape is increasingly a visual one — think of Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube — and we know that our mobile audience

wants Times journalism to incorporate visuals even more fully into our work. This will make our report better, but it will

require significant focus.

Major stories will be tackled by thematic teams. Another relic of the print-centric approach to covering the news: Major

stories are sometimes tackled by reporters and editors who work for different departments and report to different bosses.

Healthcare, for example, is covered by journalists from five different departments who work for different print sections.

Going forward, that will change, according to Baquet and Kahn. Stories like climate change, health and gender will be

covered by teams of reporters and editors who will work closely with one another for maximum efficiency. Editors are betting

this strategy will lend itself to more nuanced coverage from journalists who truly know their beat:

Creating more coherent teams should make our coverage more authoritative and sophisticated — and allow it to rise above

the competition. Leaders who truly own these subjects must develop a compelling journalistic and audience vision, along

with competitive benchmarks, to which they can be held accountable.

Lack of diversity remains a problem: Increasing the amount of racial, ideological, gender and socioeconomic, sexual

orientation and geographic diversity is among the priorities listed in Kahn and Baquet's memo. There are too few journalists

of color at The New York Times, and many staffers noticed a significant gender disparity — there remains "a perception

among women that The Times is primarily run by and written by men."

Below the leadership level, we have made some progress in recent years with a diverse set of stellar hires. But we need to

make much more. And while recruiting more diverse talent can help, we can also do a better job developing the people who

already work here.

Technology, Product and Design recently underwent a focused diversity push, including unconscious-bias training, diverse

interview panels, structured mentorships and critical analysis of diversity metrics. In just a year, these groups have already

seen positive results.

More fully separate print production from digital newsgathering: Journalists at The New York Times remain beholden to an

enormous newspaper that needs to be filled with copy on a daily basis. By beefing up the newsroom's print hub (where

production happens) and redesigning the newspaper, the Times hopes to liberate its journalists from the departmental

obligation to the ink-and-tree edition, which still pulls in two-thirds of the company's revenue, according to the report:

The full realization of a muscular, autonomous print hub is the central change The Times is making to free up coverage

teams to reshape our digital report for a digital audience, and in order to give print the attention it and our readers deserve.

Only if the print hub is truly separate from the departments — and only if the entire newsroom understands how the hub

operates — will we get the benefits of such an arrangement.

Create (another) innovation team: Baquet and Kahn also call for a task force that will take on big ideas that surface

throughout the newsroom. There are some caveats: Each idea must have a "strong journalistic backbone" and "find new

audiences or help us connect deeper with our existing ones." Most should also help the newsroom make money, according

to the memo.

We can’t pursue every idea; but we must pursue some of them. Every corner of the newsroom has ideas for what those

should be, but they don’t have enough places to pitch them. We will form a new team to solicit those big ideas, and bring the

best of them to life. We believe this team can help foster a culture of innovation and experimentation across the newsroom,

and can encourage journalists to think beyond their current beat.

One consistent thread throughout the report is the Times' laser focus on its subscriber business. At several points in the

document, the report's authors reference reader support as the justification for undertaking major journalistic initiatives: One

section notes that The Times is "not trying to win a pageviews arms race."

But focusing on subscribers will ultimately be a win for advertisers, too, the Times notes:

But by focusing on subscribers, The Times will also maintain a stronger advertising business than many other publications.

Advertisers crave engagement: readers who linger on content and who return repeatedly. Thanks to the strength and

innovation of our journalism — not just major investigative work and dispatches from around the world but also interactive

graphics, virtual reality and Emmy-winning videos that redefine storytelling — The Times attracts an audience that

advertisers want to reach.

http://www.poynter.org/2017/with-the-2020-report-the-new-york-times-charts-a-course-for-its-future/445460/