That was so much fun... Not!!

The Ad Club threw their annual "Holiday Shmooze" this past Thursday at the Shmooze Club. Last year, there was a freezing rainstorm and I didn't make it. Unfortunately, the weather was very nice this time around.

Now I like shmoozing as much as anybody but this was painful. Too many people and too much noise. And what is that pathetic excuse for music they play in these settings? You know, the thumpa-thumpa background sound guaranteed to drown out any conversation. So we all stand around and yell into each other's ears for a few hours. What fun! I wake up the next morning with a headache and laryngitis. Friday was not a big sales day.

Then again, there was still a huge crowd when I left and this was long past the point where most people would have consumed their two "complimentary" drinks. Maybe they were having fun and I'm the one who is crazy. I'd love to hear some thoughts from others who were there.

What surprises me is that this event attracts quite a few media planners. Why is that? My guess is that with 10,764 reps in attendance, they knew that they would be seeing a lot more than two free drinks.

Reptile is 1. Will there be a 2?

I missed my first birthday as a blogger which happened this past Tuesday. Then again, so did you. No cards, calls or comments. Boo-hoo! Somebody told me I'd be done blogging after three months. I took it as a challenge. But sure enough, at exactly three months, I went dry. After posting my 19th entry in 13 weeks (one of my favourites - Introducing the Maras), it was a full month before I posted again. But I'm still at it. Question is, for how long?

It seems that all the little reptiles in all the media will be looking over their shoulders as a new ice age bears down on us - the age of Google. Personally, I love Google. How do you think I get images like the one to the left? But what the heck are they doing selling advertising on behalf of offline media?! That's my job they are extincting.

Now maybe it won't work so well with magazines. They did try selling this medium last year and even they couldn't do it (see here and here). And apparently:

"The lackluster results came despite deep discounts in magazine ad rates. Some ad pages were sold by Google for as little as one-quarter of the listed ad rates at these magazines, according to information provided by participating advertisers".

But that has not deterred the rapacious Google. In the National Post today (from the New York Times) we read the following:

• Media Buyers are quaking as the Internet giant makes a play to sell traditional advertising. Google could end up automating so much of the ad-buying process that companies no longer see the need to pay much to media buyers (ed: Since when are media buyers are paid much?!)
  
• Google executives say that they can save marketers money on print, radio and TV spots while taking a commission in the process (Hey, that's my commission!).
• Google hopes to one day provide a place where advertisers can buy ads in all media (ed: and live happily ever after).

The story continues. Hope to see you this time next year!

An agency pipes in

I've suspected some agency folk are lurking around. One finally pipes in with the comment that I republished below. Now of all the offensive statements that have appeared in this blog, I'm somewhat surprised that what cranked this contributor was a comment made by a small magazine publisher who believes that it's the agency compensation model that keeps them from recommending smaller titles.

Personally, I agree with the agency person. Compensation is the furthest thing from their minds - they simply want to perform well for their clients. Otherwise why bother negotiating lower rates? They end up spending time negotiating and then more time reinvesting savings in other magazines with which they have to negotiate again while earning the same compensation for investing the ad budget. While it is extra work justifying a small magazine on a media plan, it is the creation of a unique, intelligent plan that makes the job fun and challenging. Adding interesting, appropriate small magazines can make a plan shine. A client does not an agency to buy three pages in Chatelaine, three pages in Canadian Living and three pages in Reader's Digest. A monkey can do that.

On to the comment:

How about an agencies take on this thread. I find the comments about agency compensation to be far from the truth, let alone fair. Regarding the comment “agencies only wanted to deal with high cost media…” , if that were true, magazines would never even make a media plan. Heck I could burn through a $10 million budget in 5 minutes just on TV.

Secondly media or even vehicle selection has nothing to do with compensation levels. The original “commentor” states “the way agencies are paid…” I’ll assume you are referring to a commission basis. Let’s assume that archaic compensation system is still common across the board, it would make no difference if I went with high cost or low cost medium. If the agreed upon rate was 5 points, it doesn’t change with what I buy, it’s still 5 points at the end of day.

Finally smart agencies do not work on commission anymore. If they do it’s a small portion of their compensation package. Retainer Fee’s provide a more stable revenue base and better reflects the cost of actually running a clients business.

I received an interesting comment

In case you don't read any of the admittedly few comments I receive on the Rep Life, I am publishing the latest below. Some food for thought about agencies. Note that it isn't only niche magazines that feel this way, even mid-size and large books have been known to circumvent the agencies. A subject for a future blog I'm sure. For now enjoy this message from an anonymous publisher...

Reppy...

you did touch a few nerves, and now I am going to touch a few more...I am sure this will cause a shitstorm, (well, perhaps only a little shitstorm) but here goes...

I run a small mag...circulation is at 20,000 - we are worldwide. Most of our circulation goes to the USA and most of our advertisers are US based.

We are super niche and it's a flat organization. Me. I farm out the design work, but other than that, I handle it all.

I have built this magazine by being extremely focused. I am very adamant as to I let in the magazine and have refused to run ads if they don't fit with the mag. I'll repeat that: I have turned away ads.

Over the last year, I have started to realize that I am not that interested in working with ad agencies either. We are not listed in CARD, SRDS and I will not reply to RFP's.

When it comes to niche publishing, publishers need to look at their magazine as a valuable brand...and the more influencial the magazine, the more protective they should be.

It's pretty obvious that unless you have oodles of cash, there will be very few mass market mags starting up. However, niche publications will continue to blossom....some will thrive and some will die. The way agencies are paid means that small niche mags (with small billings) require the same kind of traffic as big mags.

It's in an agencies best interest to work with BIG numbers.

I am working in an alternative universe. We are about small but significant numbers.

Quite frankly, I am not interested in dealing with people who have very little understanding of what the mag represents.

To put it another way, I am ONLY interested in working with my community. I am protective of what I have built and I see no reason to let ad agencies in.

Again, this probably won't work for most magazines. (I am talking about consumer publications, by the way) However, if you're a niche magazine, this maybe the only
way to really differentiate yourself and to really drive your readership wild...as I do.

Hmmm, somebody sounds a little lonely.

Touched a Nerve

Well judging by the comments my last blog generated from fellow reps, it is apparent that I have touched a nerve. What is also apparent is that there is a great divide between reps at the big magazines and those at the small ones. But one thing we all have in common is simple human suffering -- seems nobody is happy.

To set a few matters straight:

• I have worked on both large and small magazines. Launches and established titles. But don't assume I work on a small title now. I am an equal opportunity offender and was being somewhat facetious when I called reps at larger titles rich order takers. Still, I'll take a large, established title any day because the ultimate reward of this job is the great feeling of bringing in the business and big magazine reps get the buzz that much more often.
  
• I worked equally hard on both large and small magazines. When it comes to hard work, it's not the magazine, it's the rep. And I know most magazine reps work hard. But nobody is making calls after hours. Often those at the bigger titles are working late because they have been invited to respond to an RFP, something reps at the small titles don't get to see much.
  
• Reps at large magazines have high bars to clear and all that matters to the Publisher is making budget. So even if your territory scored an easy $2 million in sales (say the Christmas issue of Food & Drink), if your budget is $2.5 million that other 500,000 where the bread is earned. Reps at small magazines consider every page sold to be a coup and, with far less in sales, can sometimes earn as much as a rep at a big magazine.
  
• The phones ring at the big magazines. But that doen't mean they get the business. Advertisers will indeed pit magazines and even publishing companies against each other for share of pie and even sometimes for the entire budget. Losing one of those battles does indeed suck, especially if you won it last year and your boss asks how you intend to replace that $300,000 account as if you have secretly been squirelling away some big advertisers for a rainy day. The phones don't ring at small magazines.
  
• Yes anonymous commenter #4 - big magazines receive more pie because they do perform better. They typically offer more audience for the dollar and do so in a quality package. Frankly, they should be easy sells but I will admit, it is still challenging. Nonetheless, at least these magazines are in the game. Reps at small magazines don't get to play much.
  

So anybody interested in leaving their rep job at Canadian Living for one at Canadian Dimension? Not me, that's for sure!