Min's B to B articles from August 2005

Min's B to B archives from August 2005

Ad Categories (May):May's -1.73% YTD Ad-Page Mark Matches April's--Exactly.
August 1, 2005... It's pretty unusual to see a whole month's selling effort fail to move the needle. Yet, in a manner of speaking, that's what took place in the May results for 17 min's b2b Boxscore ad categories. For the first time in our memory,...

Profit & Loss:Cup Is Definitely More Than Half Full For Reed, McGraw-Hill.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Citing soaring online sales in its science/medical, NexisLexis and busi- ness information units, Reed Elsevier Thursday (July 28) reported total first- half 2005 revenue growth of 6% (at constant exchange rates), claiming underlying revenue...

Boxscores (May 2005): May Juices Healthcare Fold +42% In Ad Spending.
August 1, 2005... Costs for employee coverage and co-pays aren't the only things rising in healthcare circles. As our TNS Media Intelligence-compiled chart illustrates, May was an exceedingly healthy revenue month for the 17 titles in our...

Managing Sales Leads: TechTarget Touts Turnkey Plan's ROI Aspects As A Better b2b Mousetrap.(return on investment, business to business)
August 1, 2005... If the next frontier for b2b publishers is generating and managing (and even following up) high-quality sales leads, then what their customers currently experience is pretty much b2b's version of no-man's land. According to Yankee Group, 80%...

b2b Boxscores (May 2005): Engineering Reprises YTD Gains in Both Ad Pages, Revenue; Electronics Drops in Both.(business to business)(Year to date)(Illustration)
August 1, 2005... ENGINEERING AD PAGES AND REVENUES (January-May 2005/2004) Ad Pages Ad Pages Title (Publisher) YTD 2005 YTD 2004 1 Advanced Imaging (Cygnus) ...

Monetizing b2b Content:Boasting Big Margins, Webinars Grow In Publishers' Pantheon Of Products.
August 1, 2005... Anything that can help build momentum, create a sense of customer urgency and make cash registers ring is considered part of the Holy Grail in today's competitive b2b world. So when anyone steps forward to talk about a relatively new product...

Boxscores (May 2005): Is Developer/Tech Fold Leaving The Dreary Days Behind?
August 1, 2005... It hasn't been the prettiest of years for Developer/Technical magazines. Even though the sector is still a long way off from its glory days, you've got to admit that it's a gutsy, gritty category trying to get it right. As a whole, the group...

IDC: As Sites Boost Spending, Business Use Of Web Services Soars.(Industrial Development Corporation )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Enabling more rewarding consumption of their Internet offerings rather than just creating more new services is drawing more of the vendor community's Web attention, according to the recently released "Worldwide Web Services Software...

b2b People On The Move.(business to business)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... A reorganization in Fairchild Publications' b2b holdings has created separate units devoted to fashion and retail, with new appointments for several key executives. Ed Menicheschi, who was promoted to executive VP last St. Patrick's Day, is...

Move of the Week.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Every seller wants more than one prospective buyer at the table, and Primedia apparently got a second finalist for its business info unit late last week when Bruce Wasserstein's U.S. Equity Partners reportedly stepped in with a $380M bid....

b2b Stockwatch: Four Players Boast 4%-Plus Gains In An Otherwise Lackluster Week.(business to business)(Illustration)
August 1, 2005... Based on Thursday's Market Close (7/28/05) Company Symbol Close 1 Week % Chg. YTD %Chg 52-Week High 52-Week Low Dow Jones & Co. DJ 37.61 3.15% Elsevier N.V. ENL...

ABM's Coming Comp Survey Shows Sales Commission Shift.(American Business Media)
August 8, 2005... Advertising sales people who have sensed a tilt in sales-commission pay- ments from ad pages to page-revenue yields haven't been imagining things. In the past two years, b2b companies have made a profound shift in their payment procedures to...

Can b2b Blogs Be A Booming Business--Or A Bust?
August 8, 2005... For the moment, blogs are shaping up as the Next Great Thing. They are cheap to produce, they engage readers and they free writers from the spatial confines of the printed page. Occasionally, they can help keep politicians and media figures...

Steve Smith on New Media Boxscores (June): The Big Easy: June Traffic Settles in for a Mild Summer.
August 8, 2005... It could have been worse. Traditionally, summer is unkind to business information traffic for all of the obvious reasons pertaining to a more relaxed frame of mind and early closings. But June was actually fairly mild this year, with most...

b2b Boxscores (May): 1) Pace Of Gains Slackens Slightly In Banking/Finance.
August 8, 2005... It's a victory over doom and gloom whenever a Boxscore category posts gains in both ad pages and revenue for the month. And based on that, our May review of Banking/Finance results--year-to-date ad pages +3.31/YTD ad spending +7.94%--should...

b2b Boxscores (May): 2) Auto Books Drive Off The Cliff In May Plunge.(Illustration)
August 8, 2005... Things can change quickly in automotive, as seen in the May results charted below. What was a +22.78% ad-page gain in April evaporated into May's - 26.93% plunge. And the eye-catching -20.61% May revenue dive came after April's +34.29%...

Boxscores (May 2005): 1) Travel Turmoil Continues For Second Straight Month.
August 8, 2005... As we noted last time in our Travel review, what a difference a quarter can make! Sometimes that can be uplifting news and sometimes, as in this case, it can be deflating. A group whose total ad revenue had been humming along at nearly a...

Boxscores (May 2005): 2) Transport's YTD Spending Gains Come Despite Repeat Flat Ad-Page Pace.(Illustration)
August 8, 2005... TRANSPORTATION AD PAGES AND REVENUES (January-May 2005/2004) Ad Pages Ad Pages Title (Publisher) YTD 2005 YTD 2004 1 Air Cargo World (Journal...

b2b Boxscores (May): 1) Home Is (Still) Where The Heart Is In Booming Building/Construction Zone.
August 8, 2005... Publishers never get bored with constantly rising numbers, but analyzing the Building/Construction market in b2b can be trying at times. In our May numbers, this booming category once again posted across-the-board double-digit gains,...

b2b Boxscores (May): 2) May Drop Does Little Damage To Government's Still-Strong YTD Pace.
August 8, 2005... The last time we mentioned the likelihood that high-profile terrorist attacks like the London subway bombings would only increase government's demand for security products/services, we heard from Ed Tyler, founder/publisher of three-year-old...

Move of the Week.(American Business Media)(Brief Article)
August 8, 2005... ABM's educational panel on blogs drew 85-plus on one of the hottest days of the summer in humid Manhattan. A nice accomplishment, certainly, but nothing to change the alignment of the planets. Where ABM has changed things is in the rapid...

b2b Stockwatch: Even The Co-Leaders Have The Summertime Blues...
August 8, 2005... Media executives who complain that their stocks are chronically undervalued may have a point. For instance, both McGraw-Hill and Reed International recently released positive first-half earnings reports replete with impressive revenue growth...

...And Primedia's Earnings Report Skirts Unresolved Issue Of Pending Biz Unit Sale.(Brief Article)
August 8, 2005... Elsewhere, media watchers may be wondering, "Where's the beef?" with Primedia. In its first-half earnings, issued Thursday (August 4), the company talked up various triumphs in consumer and educational media--"Revenue growth of 4.6% reflects...

Latecomer Wasserstein Still Gets The Worm In $385M Primedia Sale.(Brief Article)
August 15, 2005... U.S. Equity Partners head Bruce Wasserstein last week ended the auction for Primedia's business information unit the same way he finished his New York magazine acquisition (also from Primedia) 18 months ago: by sitting on the sidelines until...

New & Improved First-Half 2005 b2b Group Publishers Listings Begin Next Week!(Business to business)
August 15, 2005... Interested in identifying where the best growth markets are at b2b's hottest companies? Who wouldn't be? Starting next week, these pages will be a good place to look, as we begin the latest version of our much expanded group publishers...

Online Subscriptions: Does Qualifying Controlled Subs Online Cut The Mustard?
August 15, 2005... In an industry where qualified lead generation is the market's Holy Grail, the old-fashioned method of obtain- ing new controlled circulation leads by buying lists of potential subscribers and then mailing promotions has faltered with the...

b2b Boxscores (May): For Foodservice Books, The Earth Is Still Flat.(business to business)
August 15, 2005... Sometimes you have to wonder if people in b2b who are celebrating a presumptive recovery are really just leading the cheers and hoping for the best. As we have seen recently with such once-red-hot categories as healthcare and high tech, our...

Boxscores (May 2005): Three Tech Sectors Repeat YTD Drops In Ad Pages/Spending.(Illustration)
August 15, 2005... COMPUTING AD PAGES AND REVENUES (January-May 2005/2004) Ad Pages Ad Pages Title (Publisher) YTD 2005 YTD 2004 1 Baseline (Ziff Davis) 181.83...

According To ABM's Second Bi-Annual Compensation Survey: Seven Of 15 Top b2b Job Classifications Show Double-Digit, Two-Year Pay Boost.
August 15, 2005... Are you paying your people enough? No doubt your people would say "no"-- resoundingly, perhaps--but, then, who doesn't think he or she is underpaid? But there is a more independent way to gauge how you stack up with your b2b counterparts on...

b2b Boxscores (May): 1) Telecom Titles Holding Their Own In Fast-Changing Landscape.(telecom industry sales and revenue )
August 15, 2005... No doubt the Telecommunications media sector has yet to feel the impact of the year's two giga-mergers, Verizon-MCI and SBC-AT&T. If these unions, like many before them, are prompted in part by the quest for cost efficiencies, publishers in...

b2b Boxscores (May): 2) Broadcast's Strong April Evaporates In Middling May.(business to business)(reports of year to date)
August 15, 2005... It's often difficult to maintain good forward momentum, as seen in Broadcast/Video's May results. Following an April in which ad spending rose 13.87% on the strength of a nearly 10% ad-page gain, May's tallies (ad pages: - 8.74%/ad revenue:...

Predicting The Future: VSS Industry Forecast Sees 5.8% Five-Year Growth For b2b By 2009.(Veronis Suhler Stevenson)
August 15, 2005... Don't expect the onslaught of private-equity firms on b2b media to expire anytime soon. While gun-shy strategic b2b players still sit out most auctions, PE firms are practically tripping over each other bidding up valuations as b2b...

People On The Move.(Tech target appoints Kelly Damore and Michael Ybarra)(Brief Article)
August 15, 2005... Info-tech media specialist TechTarget last week appointed former Computer Reseller News editor-in-chief Kelly Damore to the job same title at its Information Security. Damore is a two-time finalist in American Business Media's Neal Awards...

b2b Group Publishers (First-Half 2005 vs. First-Half 2004):.
August 22, 2005... At last, the waiting is over! Business-to-business aficionados who've been salivating for the next installment in our upgraded Group Publishers listings can relax, as Part 1 of our multi-part extravaganza, courtesy of IMS/The Auditor, begins...

Ad Categories: 17-Sector Boxscore Field Ekes Out +0.35% Mid-Year $$$ Gain.
August 22, 2005... The good news in our mid-year b2b Advertising Category review is that collective spending in our 17 sectors (versus only a dozen last year) isn't down; it's up, but by only +0.35%. And year-to-date ad pages are off, but only by -2.01%. Both...

New Editorial Mantra at BusinessWeek Online Sparks Traffic Spike.
August 22, 2005... As we've been chronicling in New Media Boxscores all year, general business and investment media brands have been doing exceptionally well as many of their search engine optimization/marketing strategies pay off and their stories enjoy wide...

Boxscores (June 2005): Developer/Tech Titles' June Gains Surpass May Rebound.
August 22, 2005... In our review of Developer/Tech's May advertising results (min's b2b, 8/1/05), we wondered if the once nearly invincible sector was "leaving the dreary days behind." After the June results charted below, the answer seems to be a definitive...

Boxscores (June 2005): June's Healthcare/Rx Ad Spending Jolt Mitigates May Money Gains.
August 22, 2005... A band from the Sixties called Blood Sweat & Tears once sang that "What goes up must come down." While the song was a standard love paean, it could have been written to describe publishing in general and ad-supported b2b in particular. It...

New Markets: Thomson Gets Reel In New Corporate Video Venture.
August 22, 2005... At least five years ago, Thomson Financial made the strategic decision to move away from print products and into digital and data products for the financial industry. Since then, the company has done a lot of buying and a lot of selling that...

People on the Move.(Christopher Warne promoted as the associate publisher ofFairchild Publications Inc.)(Bruce Vernyi promoted as editor in chief at Penton Media Inc.)(Howard Roth joined ascend media as vice president)(Brief Article)
August 22, 2005... At Fairchild Publications, Supermarket News advertising sales manager Christopher Warne has been promoted to associate publisher. Meanwhile, SN/SN Whole Health VP/editorial director David Merrefield has been given the added responsibility of...

Move of the Week.(Brief Article)
August 22, 2005... Television has its Cannes Lion Awards, consumer magazines have the Kellys and, come September 29, b2b has its CEBA Awards to honor top advertising in its field. Although the event is five weeks away, ABM on Thursday unveiled a total of 29...

BIN Spin (Mid-Year Edition): 1st-Half Gains Continue As ABM Adds Trade-Show Counts.(Illustration)
August 29, 2005... In any compilation of advertising results, publishers always like to see nothing but plus signs. Then again, we still hope for peace in the Mideast. American Business Media's Business Information Network ad tallies don't show plus signs...

b2b Group Publishers (First-Half 2005 vs. First-Half 2004)--Part 2:.(Illustration)
August 29, 2005... In this week's installment of our multi-part review of b2b publishers' first-half advertising-page results, we come to such b2b heavyweights as Crain Communications, International Data Group and the recently-sold-for-$650M...

Conde Nast Goes Into Business.(Conde Nast Publications Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 29, 2005... The consumer magazine giant is known for such venerable titles as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Gourmet, but now CN is getting into business publishing in a new way. (It already publishes Wired, and its parent company owns Fairchild...

b2b Boxscores (June): Food Fetish: Big Sector Compounds Last Year's Mid-Year Losses.(Illustration)
August 29, 2005... As we've often noted before, people gotta eat. But food manufacturers, processors and distributors don't necessarily have to advertise--not in b2b print, anyway, at least not at their previous levels. For the second year in a row, these...

b2b Boxscores (June): 1) Does June Slump Signal Coming Cash Crunch In Sky-High Banking/Finance Sector?(Illustration)
August 29, 2005... In our mid-year review of b2b Boxscore advertising categories in last week's issue, Banking/Finance had the fifth highest rate of revenue growth in the 17-group field (after having led the pack at mid-year 2004). And, in a challenging sales...

b2b Boxscores (June): 2) Auto Sector Gets Back On Track--Sort Of.(Illustration)
August 29, 2005... Our Automotive group remains volatile. Following the April/May roller coaster, whereby enticing double-digit gains were transformed into steep double- digit pain (min's b2b, 8/8/05), June was a bit more stable. Most noticeably, a nearly +10%...

People On The Move.(includes multiple articles)(Brief Article)
August 29, 2005... Fewer than six months after bagging American Business Media's prestigious Grand Neal editorial honor (min's b2b, 3/21/05), Ziff Davis Media's Baseline has a new editor. With Tom Steinert-Threlkeld joining Reed Business Information's...

b2b Stockwatch: b2b Cup Is Either Half Full Or Half Empty.(Illustration)
August 29, 2005... For every up in b2b there seems to be a down, and for about every plus sign in our Stockwatch, there also seems to be minus, with half the field up in year-to-date play and the other half down. Among the week's winners, newly sold Primedia...