BtoB Media Business - December 2007 - (Page 11)

MANUFACTURING 2007 YTD pages: 3,103.0 2006 YTD pages: 3,331.3 % change: -6.85% Bright spots: Manufacturers are starting to turn more frequently to Web sites for information, providing an opportunity for publishers and advertisers alike. Challenges: The threat of recession, global unrest and the devaluation of the dollar all could negatively affect manufacturers’ purchasing intentions and curb ad spending. PACKAGING 2007 YTD pages: 6,558.5 2006 YTD pages: 6,792.8 % change: -3.45% Bright spots: The growing role that packaging plays in product marketing, sustainability concerns and new technologies presents a wealth of opportunities for b-to-b media companies. Challenges: Capital expenditure cutbacks by the world’s largest packagegoods companies could prompt a drop in advertising by machinery companies, a key advertising base for publications. PHARMACEUTICALS 2007 YTD pages: 10,592.6 2006 YTD pages: 11,212.4 % change: -5.53% Bright spots: In spite of fewer drug launches, pharmaceutical companies are still advertising to retail pharmacists. Some publications are reaching out to nonpharmaceutical advertisers. Challenges: With the FDA approving only about 20 new drugs a year, pharmaceutical advertising is down. D espite the doomsday scenarios being played out in the media, Michael D’Alexander, VP-publisher of Trend Publishing’s Modern Metals, is cautiously optimistic when he talks about 2008. The Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Quarterly recently predicted that manufacturing production growth will be flat next year after posting estimated growth of only 1.9 % this year. But as he wraps up a good year with market share gains for Modern Metals and sibling publication FF Journal, D’Alexander predicts only a moderate manufacturing slowdown in 2008, based on continued steady demand for metals in industries such as aerospace, defense and commercial construction. Trend Publishing plans to publish and distribute a Spanish-language version of FF Journal, which covers forming and fabricating, four times next year in Mexico. It also will overhaul the Web sites of Modern Metals and FF Journal, and begin offering podcasts. Despite the online enhancements, print is still expected to generate the bulk of the revenue for the two magazines, D’Alexander said. “The metals industry is not a marketing-savvy industry as much as some of the other b-to-b books,” he said. “Based on what we’re hearing from prospects, we understand we have to go forward with new Web sites, but we’re not going to rob from Peter to pay Paul.” Joan Kelly, publisher of Reed Business Information’s Design News, said that after a slight decline this year, she expects print advertising to be flat in 2008 while online advertising will grow. The publication’s goal over the past year has been to become more focused, and to that end Kelly is concentrating on large-scale editorial projects that should be of keen interest to engineers. —M.E.P. N ow that the mainstream media have picked up eco-friendly packaging and sustainability as the new buzzwords, media companies serving the packaging industry expect to grow their business next year by offering concrete solutions to both readers and advertisers. After conducting a well-attended event on sustainability under the Packaging Strategies brand this fall, BNP Media is planning both live and Web-based events in 2008 on the topic. “We’re seeing the opportunities to educate,” said Pete Giannakopoulos, senior group publisher at BNP Media. “You’ve got a marketplace that understands that sustainability is a marketplace driver but doesn’t know how to get there. “We’re driving revenue streams from people that traditionally did not invest in traditional marketing. People will come to our events and with us electronically that never engaged with us in print.” Revenue for BNP’s Packaging Group posted a single-digit increase this year, led by double-digit gains in its events and e-media businesses. Giannakopoulos predicted the growth will continue next year, as the company pushes further into custom e-media work such as content development and microsites for clients. Mark Spaulding, editor in chief of Converting Magazine, a Reed Business Information title, sees additional revenue potential in new technologies that allow electronics to be printed on such materials as paper and plastic, a development being followed by the tag and label industry. “It would bring in new readers and advertisers, a new crop of suppliers,” Spaulding said. “On our editorial calendar three times next year, we’re going to beat people over the head about the topic.” —M.E.P. W hile pharmaceutical publications are suffering along with health care titles from the three-year plunge in Food and Drug Administration approvals, they generally haven’t been hit quite as hard. Within the pharmacy sector, where pharmacists are the target, “we have two different markets, retail pharmacy and hospital pharmacy,” said Carol Jaxel, senior VP-publisher of Jobson Medical Information’s U.S. Pharmacist. “The retail pharmacy market has held up—pages are flat—but the hospital side is down 12%,” Jaxel said. “The hospital market is much more dependent on new drug approvals, and the FDA has virtually shut down.” The retail pharmacy segment has been able to hold on to advertising because pharmaceutical companies recognize the community pharmacist’s role in patient education, Jaxel said. William Passano, president of Ascend Media’s healthcare division, which includes Pharmacy Times, voiced a similar observation. “Once you sell the pharmacist market, our product is an easy sell,” he said. A trend that bodes well for the market is that the major drug chains are becoming more involved in health care with in-store clinics. Although the presence of clinics has not boosted advertising, “it helps us tell the pharmacy story,” Passano said. Steve Morris, exec VP of Advanstar’s Life Sciences Group, said the sector that targets pharmaceutical company executives was up 1% in ad pages through August. This competitive set includes Advanstar’s Pharmaceutical Executive, Haymarket’s Medical Marketing & Media and Canon Communications’ Med Ad News. Pharmaceutical Executive outperformed the sector, with a 3% increase in ad pages through August, Morris said. “We’ve been stretching the envelope. Because we go to the CEO level, we have been able to bring in new financial advertisers, for example.” —M.G. mediabusinessonline.com | December 2007 | Media Business | 11 http://mediabusinessonline.com

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BtoB Media Business - December 2007 Contents Upfront Vertical Outlook Resource Guide Sales & Marketing M&A Events Production Online Circulation People Benchmarks Endnote

BtoB Media Business - December 2007

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