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MARKETING NEWS Tablet users much more responsive to ads than smartphone users ....................................................... 1 Kraft cooks up macaroni art app to drive brand engagement................................................................. 3 Mobile content consumption high for young female device owners ...................................................... 4 Mobile owners seen reluctant to share data ........................................................................................... 6 Sometimes coming late to the mobile party isn’t a bad thing ................................................................. 7

PUBLISHING NEWS Niche-Market B-to-B: Where print launches continue to flourish .......................................................... 8 New Pig turns its snout at traditional B-to-B catalogs ........................................................................... 10 Lucky leverages new community to grow digital audience ................................................................... 11 Hearst Magazines International launches Esquire in Singapore starting with the September issue .... 12

POSTAL NEWS The Postal Service unwraps a 2-D bar code promotion for the holidays .............................................. 13 USPS to make simplified address direct mail trial permanent .............................................................. 14

RETAIL NEWS Total back-to-school spending to rise 33% ............................................................................................ 15 Walgreens to roll out store mapping app nationwide ........................................................................... 16 Macy’s wins a key injunction in its exclusivity battle with Martha Stewart .......................................... 16 Target brings back summer 'Black Friday' sale ...................................................................................... 17

ECONOMIC UPDATE

GDP: 1.9% in Q1 2012

Unemployment Rate: the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent

Consumer Confidence: which had declined in May, fell further in June. The Index now stands at 62.0,

down from 64.4 in May.

MARKETING NEWS Tablet Users Much More Responsive To Ads Than Smartphone Users Staff Writer , Marketing Charts . 7/18/2012

Tablet users are highly receptive to ads, with 47% reporting that they engage with ads on their devices more than once a week. By contrast, an average 25% of smartphone users interact with ads at that same frequency, according to a survey commissioned by the IAB and conducted by ABI Research released in July.

July 23rd, 2012

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Fully 24% of tablet owners respond to ads once or more a day, versus 11% of smartphone owners, according to the report, “Mobile’s Role in the Consumer’s Media Day.” And while 47% of smartphone users claim they never interact with ads on the devices, just 23% of tablet users say the same.

Tablet Ad Interactions Lead to Purchases for Almost 1 in 2

Once these mobile users engage with ads, 80% smartphone users take some action, as do 89% of tablet users. But while 46% of tablet owners make a purchase, just 18% of smartphone users do the same.

Of the 5 leading actions smartphone users who interact with ads report having taken, investigating a product or service leads, at 38%, while 37% received a coupon, 30% visited a business, 28% signed up to receive text alerts, and 27% viewed a video. Making a purchase was eighth on the list. By contrast, among the leading actions for tablet owners who interact with ads, making a purchase was third on the list. Overall, after interacting with an ad, 51% received a coupon, 49% investigated a product or service, 46% made a purchase, 43% viewed a video, and 39% signed up for an email newsletter.

Ad Receptiveness Varies By Activity, Location

Asked to rank ad receptiveness by location, both smartphone and tablet users ranked “at home - leisure time” first, and “on public transportation” second, two situations in which they were fairly relaxed. Tablet owners rated “while out shopping” and “at home doing chores” as third and fourth, while smartphone users ranked them fourth and third, respectively. Both users were at their most distracted and least receptive while telecommuting, at work, in their cars, or in other locations.

Male Tablet Owners Respond And Spend More

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Further data from the IAB and ABI Research report indicates that men and women respond differently to ads. 26% of smartphone-owning women respond to ads on their devices weekly or more frequently, while 42% of tablet-owning women do so on tablets at that same frequency. Men skew slightly lower on smartphones, with 24% responding to ads weekly or more frequently, but, are significantly more likely to respond to a tablet ad, with 50% doing so once a week or more.

July data from Prosper Mobile Insights also finds a gender gap in what mobile users are looking for in ads: female smartphone and tablet owners are more likely than male device owners to pay attention to an ad if it is relevant (35.7% vs. 31.3%), looks funny (32.7% vs. 23.8%), or has animations that catch their eye (25.1% vs. 22.5%). Men are more likely to be pay attention to ads that contain video (13.1% vs. 9.9%).

Meanwhile, according to the IAB report, in terms of how they buy on their devices, women are more likely to seek a bargain (69% versus 53% of men), while men are more willing to pay more for high-quality products (37% versus 22% of women).

About The Data: The IAB commissioned ABI Research to conduct the survey behind the “Mobile’s Role in the Consumer’s Media Day” report. For this survey, the sample was balanced at 50% males and 50% females in the US, and aimed for the following typical census age groups: 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-64, and 65+. ABI Research surveyed 552 US consumers who use a smartphone at least once a week and use a data service, and 563 US tablet users who also are on their devices at least once a week and utilize data service too.

Kraft cooks up macaroni art app to drive brand engagement Chantal Tode , Mobile Marketer . 7/16/2012

Kraft Foods is driving engagement for its Macaroni and Cheese brand via a clever new app built around the well-established practice of gluing dried macaroni noodles on paper to create pictures.

The Dinner, Not Art iPad app is positioned as helping customers not waste the boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese they have at home without having to give up making macaroni art, which can now be done via the app. There is also a cause-marketing angle, with Kraft donating 10 real noodles to Feeding American for every digital noodle used in the app.

“Our product is used for macaroni art every day, but Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is for Dinner, Not Art,” said Noelle O’Mara, senior brand manager at Kraft Foods, Northfield, IL. “We realized that we are in a great position to provide a fun new way to make macaroni art and save the real noodles for dinner.

“Our consumers have been interacting with the brand and product for generations by making real macaroni art,” she said. “Our goal was to update that practice for the present day while saving the real noodles for dinner.

“The iPad just made sense. The user experience of the iPad app is a great way to keep macaroni art hands-on.”

An artful app

The app is part of a bigger campaign around the Dinner, Not Art concept that includes a TV spot which was launched last week. At the end of the spot, viewers are directed to a Web site, dinnernotart.com, and to the Apple App Store, where the app can be downloaded.

The TV spot will air through Oct. The campaign will also have an online media buy starting later this month and Kraft will promote the app with its fans on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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The Dinner, Not Art campaign and app were developed by agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky.

With the free app, users can choose their canvas, place noodles, rotate and size them as well as use a paintbrush to create macaroni art.

Users can also “glue down” their art and save it to their digital refrigerator.

Kraft will be posting some of the art to its Facebook and Pinterest pages and will be donating up to 110,000,000 real noodles to Feeding America as users create digital macaroni art.

Integrating mobile

Kraft Foods has been active in the mobile space for several years, integrating it into the marketing strategy for many of its brands.

For example, Kraft Foods brand Planters recently ran mobile ads within the Men's Health mobile applications to promote a new nut mix.

“Dinner, Not Art is the latest initiative designed to connect Kraft and families in the digital space,” Ms. O’Mara said.

“We continue to push the boundaries for our brand in engaging with our consumer in new and different ways,” she said. “While we are still active in traditional media channels, like TV, we made a greater commitment towards social media.

“Through Twitter and Facebook, we launched Mac & Jinx and Mac & Cheese TV last year. This year we partnered with ‘Golden Voice’ Ted Williams for a Valentine’s Day Twitter program that also benefited Feeding America."

Mobile Content Consumption High for Young Female Device Owners Staff Writer , Marketing Charts . 7/16/2012

Mobile content consumption rivals traditional media consumption for female mobile owners in the US and around the world, according to survey results released in July 2012 by Vuclip. 38% of US respondents said they spend at least an hour a day viewing mobile content, compared to 43% who said they spend that amount of time using TV, print, and/or radio media. Although not a perfect comparison, these results contrast somewhat with findings from a Tremor Video study, which showed that while consumers (not just women) are spending time watching video on their mobiles, weekly TV consumption is far higher. Even so, the study concludes that TV is sharing some prime time viewing with mobile devices. Earlier research from Nielsen suggested that mobile video consumption is growing rapidly in North America, up 27% year-over-year to 38% of online consumers.

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It bears noting that the Vuclip survey sample within the US skews young: 67% of the female respondents are aged under 25, and a further 21% are aged 26-35.

Men Are Also Avid Consumers

Data from the Vuclip study indicates that men are also hungry consumers of mobile content. Within the US, 40% say they are spending at least an hour a day viewing mobile content, with an additional 19% watching between 30 minutes and 1 hour. (The male sample also skewed very young: 90% were aged under 35.)

On a global basis, 56% of female respondents reported spending at least half an hour a day viewing mobile content, matched by the proportion of men (57%) who said the same.

Women Want More Movie Clips, Music

In terms of the type of content that they enjoy watching, American women responding to the Vuclip survey overwhelmingly chose movie clips and music as their top 2 categories, also indicating them to be the leading categories they would like to see more of on their mobiles. And while American male respondents also pointed to movie clips and music as the top categories they enjoy watching, sports also registered as a significant category.

Other Findings:

Within the US, 61% of women and 70% of men said that besides using them for voice and text, they use their mobiles primarily for entertainment.

78% of US female respondents said their time spend viewing content on their mobiles is increasing. Globally, 81% of women said their time spent on mobile viewing is increasing.

On a global basis, 29% of female mobile owners said they spend more than 2 hours a day with traditional media (TV, print and/or radio), compared to 22% who spend that amount of time viewing mobile content.

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About the Data: The Vuclip survey was conducted over 5 days in June 2012 with female mobile users around the world. Globally, there were nearly 40,000 responses, with 2,700 women respondents from the US alone. Users were provided with 8 multiple choice questions and had the option to participate or opt out. No incentives were provided for responding.

Mobile Owners Seen Reluctant to Share Data Staff Writer , Marketing Charts . 7/17/2012

While 82% of mobile owners store contact information on their devices, 81% of device owners would probably (30%) or definitely (51%) not allow social networking applications to mine those contacts for friend suggestions, and 93% would probably (18%) or definitely (75%) not allow a coupons app to mine the list in order to offer coupons to their contacts, per findings [download page] from a University of California-Berkeley study released in July 2012. This reticence finds its way into other data sharing activities, also. For example, 46% believe that cell phone providers should not keep subscriber location information, and 92% would either probably (22%) or definitely (70%) not allow their cell phone provider to use their location to tailor ads to them.

Privacy and security concerns appear to be hindering mobile shopping, too: according to November 2011 research from Motricity, security rates as the top deterrent to mobile shopping among smartphone and tablet owners.

Mobile Owners Store Variety of Info on Devices

Data from the UC-Berkeley study indicates that mobile phone users store large amounts of data on their phones that they consider private, including contact information (82% of users), text messages (78%), photos and videos (75%), and voicemail messages (74%). Nearly half store emails (48%), with other data such as information about websites the user visited (37%), and passwords for websites and apps (27%) less likely to be stored.

9 in 10 Unwilling To Lend Mobile To Strangers

Further data from the “Mobile Phones and Privacy” study reveals that 9 in 10 respondents would definitely not allow a stranger to borrow their mobile phone, and just 51% reported they definitely would allow a spouse or other close family member to borrow their phones. Roughly one-third would probably allow spouses or family members to use the device, but 9% would not allow it at all. Only 6% of mobile owners would lend a phone to a work colleague, while 56% would not lend it at all.

Their main concerns when asked about their lending practices are: privacy (17%); the phone having a lot of information on it (12%); and the borrower potentially damaging, losing, or stealing the phone (10%). But most responses had some element of trust to them: 10% said they never know what the borrower will do with it; 8% cited trust issues; and 7% responded “it’s mine/my phone/personal.” 4% are actively “worried [the] borrower would read emails or texts or look at pictures or contacts.”

Other Findings:

While telemarketing to mobile phones has been illegal since 1991, companies may call consumers with whom they have established business relationships. 24% of mobile phone owners believe a store should be able to call them on mobile phones, but 74% believe stores should not call them on mobiles.

46% of mobile-owning respondents reported using location services like GPS and mapping services via their phones, yet just 24% choose to store information about present or past locations.

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The ratio of cellular phone to smartphone peaks in the 25-34 age group with 78% being smartphones; and is second highest in the 18-24 age group, with 66% being smartphones.

78% of mobile owners said that mobile phone data is about as private (58%) or more private (19%) as data on their home computer. 18-24 year olds are the most likely to see mobile phone data as more private than data stored on a home computer (30%), likely due to their higher use of mobile phone features and functions.

About The Data: The Berkeley Consumer Privacy Survey obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,203 adult internet users living in the continental United States. Telephone interviews were conducted by landline (678) and cell phone (525, including 235 without a landline phone). Overall,6,906 working landlines and 8,688 working cell phones were dialed. The response rate for the landline samples was 16%. The response rate for the cellular samples was 14%. Statistical results were weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI), and was fully funded by Nokia, Inc. as part of an unrestricted gift to the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology.

Sometimes coming late to the mobile party isn’t a bad thing Allison Enright , Internet Retailer . 7/17/2012

Jackthreads.com, a flash-sale e-retailer of men’s apparel and accessories, launched its first mobile app in late January. Now, 200,000 of the e-retail site’s members—about 10% of its total member base—have the app on their iPhone or Android smartphones and 20% of total sales come through the app, says Jason Ross, Jackthreads.com’s founder.

The e-retailer appears to have hit a mobile app home run on its first at bat. Ross will explain to attendees at Internet Retailer’s Mobile Marketing & Commerce Forum how the e-retailer formulated its mobile app strategy and then executed on that plan during a session titled “Keys to a successful app: Simple, intuitive, useful” on Oct. 9 from 11-11:45 a.m. The three-day forum takes place in San Diego.

Ross says Jackthreads.com purposefully waited to see how the apps of other flash-sale retailers worked or didn’t work and took that information into account when it set out to develop its own. “It took us awhile to get to the point where we were getting an app,” Ross says. “We were kind of late, but we looked to see what other people have done and the mistakes they made so we invested in the right areas.”

65,000 consumers downloaded the app in its first week, and Jackthreads.com continues to promote its app to consumers via e-mail and banner advertising. All e-mails sent to Jackthreads.com members include information about the mobile app in the header or footer, and the e-retailer also sends dedicated e-mails promoting the app. Banner advertising about the app routinely appears on Thrillist.com, the online media company that bought Jackthreads.com in 2010. Jackthreads.com also recently began running sales available only to mobile app users. Ross says he’ll detail further how Jackthreads.com markets its app during his presentation.

Ross also says Jackthreads.com continues to make improvements to the app to serve customers better. It’s worked to speed response and page load times, while also making it possible for consumers to view larger product images within the app. It also added personalization capabilities so the app can recommend products that may be more closely suited to consumers’ individual style preferences.

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PUBLISHING NEWS Niche-Market B-to-B: Where Print Launches Continue to Flourish TJ Raphael , Folio . 7/18/2012

In an era when the focus is overwhelmingly on digital media, a surprisingly robust number of print titles have launched in 2012—more than 130, according to MediaFinder. One of them is Ratchet+Wrench, a title that serves auto-care center owners and operators, and is published by 10 Missions Media.

FOLIO: wanted to get at the psychology of a print launch in a digital age, so we checked in with Jay DeWitt, president of St. Paul, Minnesota-based 10 Missions Media, on his plans for Ratchet+Wrench, which will be published with a monthly frequency. The 13-year-old 10 Missions Media (formerly DeWitt Publishing) also publishes Fender Bender and expects revenue to exceed $3 million this year.

FOLIO: How did you identify the opportunity to launch this magazine?

Jay DeWitt: Ratchet+Wrench’s sister publication, Fender Bender, serves the collision-repair industry. We have four regional editions of Fender Bender, and working with a lot of our advertisers—we have over 500 advertisers with Fender Bender—led us to the understanding that the auto-repair market had the same needs. The demographics of

the people running those businesses are very similar to those running collision repair shops. They’re usually technicians turned owners.

Advanstar and Babcox are in both of these markets. We know how they’re underserving the market in the collision-repair industry, and we knew they were underserving the mechanical market as well. Once we did research, it was a no brainer that there was a real need for a publication like Ratchet+Wrench in the space.

FOLIO: Why a print magazine in 2012?

DeWitt: There are a few reasons. Number one, the audiences we serve have been severely neglected by other media companies with outdated content. There are a few legacy publishers serving our readers and you can tell they are legacy publishers because the publications look and feel like “your grandfather’s magazine” without an eye to the here-and-now and future. We’ve set out to change that, giving them what they want and need, both in content and design.

The second reason is we’ve noticed a “trim, trim, trim” mentality from our competitors. They aren’t investing in their properties, but rather appear to be on life support. To us, this is an opportunity. We are investing and will not compromise quality. Our readers and advertising partners deserve the best, and we’re committed to delivering that. It’s clear our competition isn’t committed to working hard to produce quality content and we’re ready to parlay on that.

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Lastly, our research shows that over 85 percent of our readers still prefer to receive their content in print. Although we’ll have a robust digital play, print still rules our markets.

FOLIO: You’re starting with a circulation of 100,000. How many are subscribers as of now? Also, you have more than 400 advertisers and 200 pages for this first issue. That’s pretty good. How did you do it?

DeWitt: We’re 100-percent targeted media and we do have some subscribers. Since we’re in the b-to-b space, we want to have a 100-percent requested circulation at some point in time. Because of our synergies with Fender Bender, we started marketing several months ago that Ratchet+Wrench would come in July. As time moves along the goal is to be 100 requested. Did we “pre-sell” before issues hit the consumer? No we didn’t—it’s one thing to tell them this magazine is going to be coming for them and try to explain what it is, it’s another to have it in front of them and asking them to qualify at that time.

On the advertiser side, we were able to leverage our connections from Fender Bender. We had several years of relationships with Fender Bender advertisers, and we used that to pre-sell them into Ratchet+Wrench. And we have a magazine that is profitable right out of the shoot.

FOLIO: 10 Missions is a small, independent publisher. How do you plan to go up against your competitors—Babcox, Advanstar and others?

DeWitt: We have no venture capital and no one to please other than ourselves. Advanstar is huge, and Babcox is quite large, and was once owned by venture capital—we’ve seen over the last few years that because they’re highly leveraged they’re not making investments in their brands. We’re continually making investments in our brands. We have dedicated editorial people on our products and a great deal of human capital. We’re also making investments in production, paper quality and other things of that nature, instead of cutting costs.

The difference between an independent publisher and a big-box publisher is we’re able to narrowly focus on the audience that we’re serving. We don’t have a need to operate on pennies and we can be more dedicated to our markets. We’re focused on serving the reader and less concerned, with having to wake up and look at the bottom line everyday, though that, too, is a driving force. It’s been a key to us being successful over the last couple years.

FOLIO: Talk about your digital strategy.

DeWitt: Fender Bender is a BPA-audited title and we file a brand report with BPA. We’re not just sharing our print subscribers, we’re sharing all of our various channels to capture our total brand reach. We’re going to be very deliberate with Ratchet+Wrench and we’re going to walk before we run. The goal will be having a model similar to Fender Bender.

We won’t be moving into the e-newsletter space right away because we have to build our audience file first. Eventually we will provide daily news updates online, a full archive of back issues, and we’ll break our site into what we consider strategy channels—various parts of the business that the audience wants to look at. Daily newsletters will come after we start our daily news updates, because we believe if you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all.

As with Fender Bender, we’ll move Ratchet+Wrench into the HTML5 space in the fourth quarter. We have an iPhone and iPad app for Fender Bender, and we’ll also have that for Ratchet+Wrench. We’re taking a very deliberate, slow and steady pace. We know we need to build our audience before we can really move and leverage our digital business.

With social networking, if you look at Fender Bender, we have a LinkedIn group that has in excess of 2,500 members. We’re the only media brand that has that type of group in our space, and we’re also the only one in the

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mechanical-market space. We add anywhere from 50 to 100 members a week to our professional collision-repair group. We’ve created a Ratchet+Wrench group for auto-care center pros that will be marketed in the magazine and online. With Fender Bender, we have almost 1,000 Facebook fans and we’ll be pushing the same for Ratchet+Wrench. We have our eye on a full audience experience but we know one thing has to come before another.

New Pig Turns Its Snout at Traditional B-to-b Catalogs Erin Lynch , Multichannel Merchant . 7/20/2012

When it comes to traditional business-to-business catalogs things can get boring. It's generally pages and pages filled with products, prices and a few images of putting those products to use. Generally most business-to-business sellers take the simple and safe approach, but there is one company, New Pig, that refuses to stay inside the lines.

As Multichannel Merchant's MCM Outlook 2012-13 pointed out, the top three reasons for putting out a b-to-b catalog, besides selling product, was to brand, to prospect or to drive customers to the web. But for the creative team at New Pig, the catalog is all about customer engagement.

"We like to use the mantra, 'The power of the pig' and a lot of what we do has to do with finding ways that distinguish our brand because we're not doing what everyone expects us to do. I think it's that pigness is what sets up apart," said David Withers, creative director at New Pig.

Every January New Pig ships its annual Pigalog, a monster 600-page catalog filled with all types of products that can handle almost any type of building maintenance need or spill. As the New Pig site states, "If it leaks, drips, splatters or spills, we make hardworking products to absorb, contain and clean it up."

Yes, the Pigalog's main focus is to showcase its products, but coming in at a close second is to use the Pigalog as a tool to get readers talking. It's hard not staying engaged when reading the Pigalog, especially since the front covers usually portray the company's mascot doing outrages things. There have been covers where a pig was flying on an airplane, riding a motorcycle or a dressed in a lab coat testing spill absorbency.

Although the catalog creative work is hilarious and can seem a bit out there, Withers said there is a method to the pigness. "Actually, the catalogs are very structured and planned. They may look a little playful and fun, but that is all designed into them. Nothing, or at least very little, happens by chance."

"Another big difference at New Pig, is that it is okay to make a mistake or to take a chance. This does give us more freedom to try new things and ideas," Withers said.

As the creative team pointed out during MeritDirect's Business Mailer's Co-Op and Interactive Marketing Conference last month, the interior of the catalog should also include ways of being fun and engaging to their audience.

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For example, readers will find cartoons of pigs giving facts about products or letting customers know that if they purchase about $350 or more they will receive a free item like the ever popular pig hat, pig boxer shorts, or a pig grilling apron. Even the company's phone number is amusing at 1-800-HOT-HOGS.

"We've always gone down the path of being nontraditional and I think that set the tone for the entire company," Withers said.

Being nontraditional appears to be working for New Pig whose creative team has won countless awards for the Pigalog including several MCM Awards.

But it's not about the awards or the accolades at New Pig.

"We don’t rest on what we've accomplished. New Pig is always looking for new ways of doing things, not just in creative, but it is the goal of every Pigger (a nickname used to describe all New Pig employees)," Withers said. Staying humble and keeping pace with our customers is a consistent source of new ideas."

He added, "we like to push things to the edge, you don’t want to get too comfortable and just play it safe." At New Pig Withers said it's OK to take a risk and to get outside that comfort zone.

But that doesn't mean that every idea at New Pig flies. "If any idea does not [have] any value or not relaying some message, it gets shot down," Withers said. If the team cannot create a connection between the image and the product, it will never make it to print.

Withers admitted that the b-to-b world can be boring and mundane but says being creative in the industry can happen, companies just have to get over the fear factor. "That is the toughest thing to get over."

When asked if he had any advice for those in the b-to-b world who want to start taking risks in its marketing copy, Withers said, "step back and look at your products like a customer, or better yet, like a child. Let go of your assumptions, they can be the death of a creative idea. Be willing to take a chance, but to be successful, it needs to deliver a message too. That's the tough part, hitting that balance between playful and profit."

Lucky Leverages New Community to Grow Digital Audience Lisa E. Phillips , Folio . 7/19/2012

With less than 10 percent duplication between print and Web audiences for Condé Nast’s Lucky, the digital side needs different products to keep its visitors engaged. The bonus would be to double monthly traffic to the site and spot emerging trends in the fashion and beauty world.

Enter Appinions, a technology company whose products can spot the most influential online fashionistas and gather their posts and comments on a dashboard that lets users click through to read the entire post and other data around it. Lucky’s editors then reach out to those influencers with an invitation to participate in its new Lucky Community, a platform powered by another tech company, Tidal, which will launch in mid-August.

“One pulls in and the other provides the platform, and it’s the two together that is the magic moment for us,” says Brandon Holley, the magazine’s editor-in-chief.

The desired result is far prosaic, of course—it’s a bid to grow traffic and engagement on the site. “We hover around 1 million [unique visitors] or just below that per month, depending on the shopping season. We’re

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targeting mid-2013 to double that to 2 million,” says Holley. “One of the ways we see doing that is through this partnership with Appinions and Tidal.”

Visitors to the site will see a new tab in the home-page navigation bar, “Top Contributors,” that will take them to the Community landing page. From there, 25 sub-channels will feature topics from nail art to plus-size fashion and localized discussions.

“In the magazine, I can cover the top trends and really aspirational moments of fashion,” says Holley. “With the Community platform, and through the Lucky Style Collective, we can start to get more into peer-to-peer. It could be women in Atlanta who want to talk about vintage clothing stores in Atlanta, for example.”

Although the discussions are open to all visitors, Lucky editors choose which posters will be featured on the first page of the Top Contributors section. While some Lucky Style Collective bloggers will no doubt post in the Community section, Holley expects the Community contributors will bring a different perspective.

“This is the way for us to bubble up new voices. It’s also a way to start listing to new voices—and those new voices can make their way into the magazine, absolutely.

Advertisers will be able to target ads to separate communities, or across the entire Top Contributors site. “Advertisers seem very comfortable with user-generated content these days,” Holley adds. “I remember a time when they weren’t, which thankfully is long gone.”

Hearst Magazines International Launches Esquire in Singapore Starting with the September Issue Press Release , Hearst Corporation . 7/17/2012

Hearst Magazines International (HMI), a unit of Hearst Corporation, today announced the launch of Esquire in Singapore starting with the September issue, on newsstands September 1. Esquire Singapore marks the 25th edition of the general-interest lifestyle magazine for sophisticated men, and will be published in partnership with Mongoose Publishing, with whom HMI already partners to publish Esquire Malaysia.

The most honored monthly magazine in America, Esquire defines, reflects and celebrates what it means to be a man in contemporary culture. The magazine is published in 13 languages and distributed in 44 countries, having most recently launched in Ukraine in April 2012.

“The Esquire brand has been very successful around the world and we’re pleased to be partnering with Mongoose Publishing to launch an edition in Singapore,” said Duncan Edwards, president and CEO of Hearst Magazines International.

Required reading for the man who is intellectually curious and socially aware, Esquire speaks to the scope and diversity of his passions with spirited storytelling, superb style and a tonic splash of irreverent humor. Celebrated for its strong literary tradition, Esquire offers pieces on diverse topics—from politics and health to fashion and the arts.

Esquire Singapore launches with an initial print run of 25,000. Sam Coleman has been named editor in chief, and the magazine will be published in English with a cover price of $8 SGD.

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“We’ve been recruiting the best writers, photographers and illustrators in the industry to produce a strong magazine that embodies the Esquire tradition, while incorporating a local flavor that resonates with readers in Singapore,” said Coleman.

The debut issue will be celebrated at a launch event for partners, advertisers and influencers, taking place on August 31 in Singapore.

POSTAL NEWS

The Postal Service unwraps a 2-D bar code promotion for the holidays

Bill Siwicki , Internet Retailer . 7/19/2012

The U.S. Postal Service will debut Nov. 7 a program designed to drive online product purchases by putting mobile-optimized promotional offers, coupons and catalogs into consumers’ hands. The 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion will offer online merchants a 2% postage discount on standard mail and first-class mail letters, flats and cards that include a mobile bar code such as a QR code that can be read or scanned by a mobile device and leads the mail recipient to a mobile commerce site. The promotion will run Nov. 7 through Nov. 21.

“The reliability of mail to serve as the on-ramp for mobile commerce, along with the tremendous growth of mobile devices, gives online merchants a surefire way to generate sales this holiday season,” says Gary Reblin, vice president, domestic products, at the Postal Service. “By offering a short-term promotion linking mail and mobile devices during the key holiday purchasing timeframe, the Postal Service is providing online merchants with an incentive designed to increase industry adoption of a physical-to-digital marketing approach.”

Program registration opens Sept. 15 and continues through Nov. 21. Participants must agree to partake in a survey about the promotion.

The promotion comes at a time when the scanning of 1-D and 2-D bar codes is gaining significant ground. In the second quarter of 2012, the number of scans of 1-D and 2-D bar codes through mobile bar code technology provider ScanLife’s free bar code reader app jumped to 16.0 million, up 154% from 6.3 million in the second quarter of 2011.

1-D bar codes are linear and found on virtually all products; the most common 1-D code is the UPC, or Universal Product Code. 2-D bar codes are squares with patterns within; these include Quick Response, or QR, codes, Microsoft Corp. Tags, and others.

The ScanLife app has surpassed 20 million downloads, the company reports. And ScanLife recently ran its first-ever client campaign that registered more than 1 million scans from a QR code. It took a little more than six weeks to reach the milestone, tripling the previous single-campaign record. The client was a Fortune 50 global brand, says ScanLife, which declines to release the name. The company used a QR code to link consumers to mobile video content and prompted them to download an app as well as use social media to share their interaction with the brand with their friends.

“This rate of growth in scans and downloads reflects a technology that has clearly moved beyond the

early-adopter stage and has gone mainstream,” says Mike Wehrs, CEO and president of ScanLife.

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USPS to make simplified address direct mail trial permanent Staff Writer , Post & Parcel . 7/16/2012

The Every Door Direct Mail service has proved successful since the start of trials last year, USPS told the Postal Regulatory Commission as it filed a request to add the programme to its portfolio of market-dominant products.

EDDM allows small businesses to use Standard Mail to send out advertising materials to every residential address on a carrier route, sending out up to 5,000 mailpieces at a time without requiring a mailing permit.

The key to the success of the saturation mail service is the ease with which an SME can select which carrier route or routes in which to distribute marketing materials through an online tool. Items are then dropped off at the customer’s local post office.

Along with simplified rules, EDDM is seen as an important way to bring onboard small businesses who have not used the mail as a marketing channel before because they lack staff with specific direct marketing skills.

USPS has also been trialing a larger scale version of EDDM for larger companies dropping mail at business mail entry units, but this week said it wants to add the retail version of the programme to its Mail Classification Schedule.

The retail programme has brought in $43m in revenues since trials began at the end of March 2011, the Postal Service said this week, while revenues since the start of April – when USPS launched a major advertising campaign surrounding the service – have already reached $38m.

Up to June, more than 32,000 small businesses had signed up to participate in the programme, while there have been more than 105,000 transactions at post offices.

USPS believes the programme will reach the $50m limit on revenue from a trial service by September.

“The market test has already demonstrated that sending advertising mail to every address within a community, with fewer rules, rates, and regulations, is a popular way to connect to potential and actual local customers,” the USPS told regulators.

Executives have said including the bulk mail version of the service, they want to see Every Door Direct Mail become a billion dollar revenue generator.

Rates to rise

The EDDM retail programme is currently priced at the Standard Mail saturation mail rate, but when it becomes a permanent fixture, USPS wants to set a 16 cent per piece rate, about 10% more than the standard saturation rate.

The new price would set the retail version of the programme as more expensive than the version for larger mailers.

So far the trial programme has proved quite profitable for USPS, with its regulatory filing suggesting that attributable costs for the service have been just under the 8 cent per piece level.

USPS said the higher rate proposed for the retail product was justified because of the added convenience for its customers of being able to drop off items at post offices and avoid paying a permit fee.

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RETAIL NEWS Total Back-to-School Spending to Rise 33% Staff Writer , Marketing Charts . 7/20/2012

The average US family will spend $688.62 on clothes, shoes, supplies and electronics for school-aged children K-12 this year, representing a 14% increase from $603.63 last year, per NRF and BIGinsight survey results released in July. Total spending on grades K-12 is expected to reach $30.3 billion, up 33% from $22.8 billion in 2011.

These findings echoes recent research from PriceGrabber and ShopperTrak, which also forecast a rise in back-to-school spending this year.

Shoppers Seek Deals

According to the NRF survey, the state of the economy is driving a significant proportion of back-to-school consumers to shop for sales more often (51.2%), purchase more store-brand or generic items (37%), and comparison shop more with ad circulars and newspapers (35.9%). In addition, 37.8% of the back-to-school survey respondents said the economy is forcing them to simply spend less in general, though this is down from 43.7% last year.

Meanwhile, 35.8% of respondents are using coupons more, and 15.2% say their back-to-school shopping plans will not change.

Spending on Shoes to Jump

Average spending on clothing ($246.10) and school supplies ($95.44) will increase this year by 11.6% and 7.2%, respectively, compared to last year. Families will also spend an average of $129.20 on shoes, a 23.6% increase over last year. Average spending on computers, cell phones, mp3 players and tablet devices is expected to increase 15% to $217.88, with the proportion of families with school-aged children planning to purchase electronics this year rebounding to 59.6%, after dropping from 63.7% in 2010 to 51.9% in 2011.

Average Teen, Pre-Teen to Spend More

The survey found that teenagers will spend 15% more than last year for certain apparel, supplies and accessories. Teenagers are expected to spend an average of $36.48 for school items, compared to $31.64 last year. Pre-teens, largely reliant on their parents for an allowance, will spend far more this year ($25.63, up almost 70% from $15.12 in 2011). When it comes to how much say children have in parents’ buying decisions, 63.5% of parents say their children influence 50% or more of back-to-school purchases.

Online Shopping to See Marked Increase

Roughly two-thirds of back-to-school shoppers plan to make at least one purchase from a discount store, while 3 in 5 will head to a department store, up 5% from 57% last year and marking a new high in the survey’s 9-year history. Clothing stores (52%), office supply stores (42%) and electronics stores (26.3%) will also be more popular than last year. This year, the biggest growth belongs to e-commerce: 39.6% said they will shop online, representing a 25% increase from 31.7% last year.

Families to Start Shopping Earlier

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A plurality of families (47.8%) will begin shopping 3 weeks to one month before school starts, and an additional 22.3% will begin their shopping at least 2 months before school starts. The combined proportion who will begin shopping at least 3 weeks before school starts (70.1%) represents an 11% increase from 63.2% last year. A similar trend was found by PriceGrabber (see link above), with the proportion of that survey’s respondents waiting until August or September to begin shopping dropping to 46%, from 56% last year.

About the Data: NRF’s 2012 Back-to-School spending was conducted by BIGinsight. The poll of 8,509 consumers was conducted from July 2- 9, 2012.

Walgreens to roll out store mapping app nationwide

Katherine Field Boccaccio , Chain Store Age . 7/18/2012

Mobile retail navigation service aisle411 said Tuesday that it is rolling out its virtual mapping and navigation smartphone app for use in Walgreens’ 7,907 drug stores nationwide.

The service will allow Walgreens shoppers to use their smartphones to view maps of any Walgreens store and to locate products down to a particular section of each aisle.

Walgreens is the first national retailer with all of its stores mapped in a mobile application.

"We are always looking for new ways to utilize technology to deliver a better shopping experience and help customers with their health and daily living needs," said Abhi Dhar, Walgreens chief technology officer. "With aisle411, Walgreens further delivers on its goal of providing the most convenient shopping experience by simplifying store visits and saving customers' valuable time."

A national survey commissioned by aisle411 found that nearly 84% of shoppers have difficulty finding products on store shelves and more than 20% leave the store without their full purchase intent.

Macy’s wins a key injunction in its exclusivity battle with Martha Stewart Mark Brohan , Internet Retailer . 7/17/2012

Macy’s Inc. has won a temporary victory in its fight against Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. over exclusive rights to certain merchandising categories.

Macy’s has spent several months pursuing litigation in the New York State Supreme Court, including asking a judge to declare null and void a new exclusive e-commerce and merchandising contact Martha Stewart has in place with J.C. Penney Co. Inc., which is No. 20 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. Macy’s is No. 14.

Penney and Martha Stewart last December announced a 10-year, approximately $300 million deal to develop a joint e-commerce and store-based arrangement whereby Martha Stewart would develop a “store within a store” concept featuring exclusive Martha Stewart merchandise in select J.C. Penney locations. Martha Stewart and Penney also would jointly develop an e-commerce site slated to be launched sometime in 2013. “The site will offer Martha Stewart expertise and enable consumers to purchase a wide range of home and lifestyle products, including those sold in the Martha Stewart stores inside Penney and other merchandise designed or selected by

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Martha Stewart,” Penney CEO Ron Johnson said in December. “We intend for Martha Stewart stores to be a key centerpiece of our new strategy to transform J.C. Penney.”

Macy’s in February filed suit against Martha Stewart Living in New York, saying the deal with J.C. Penney violated an exclusive merchandising arrangement Macy’s signed with Martha Stewart in 2006. That agreement enabled Macy’s to sell Martha Stewart’s line of home goods, including bed and bath textiles, housewares, casual dinnerware, flatware and glassware, cookware, holiday decorating and trim-a-tree items, and other Martha Stewart private label products such as home furnishings, holiday celebration concepts, bridal registry items and a full assortment of "how-to" books and cookbooks as part of a joint merchandising program. The lines of merchandise have been sold on Macys.com and in Macy’s stores since 2007.

On Friday in a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Martha Stewart Living said it was adding certain unspecified product categories to its deal with J.C. Penney and that Penney would pay Martha Stewart Living at least $282.9 million over the course of their contract. But, also on Friday, Macy’s won a temporary injunction from Justice Jeffrey Oing that, at least for now, bars Penney from rolling out its Martha Stewart store within a store concept. "We expect to continue to exclusively sell Martha Stewart-branded merchandise in categories such as cookware, kitchen utensils, bed and bath for the term of our contract," says a Macy’s spokesman.

In its latest annual report filed with the SEC in March, Macy’s says it has renewal rights to certain Martha Stewart products through 2027. In the injunction Penney is prohibited from opening its store within a store until a possible trial in November. It’s unclear if the injunction also prohibits the launch of the e-commerce site.

Penney and Martha Stewart have agreed to abide by the injunction but to otherwise go ahead with their plans for the 2013 joint venture.

Target brings back summer 'Black Friday' sale Staff Writer , Retailing Today . 7/17/2012

Target is once again bringing Black Friday to the summer, this year expanding the sale to two full days, July 20 to 21. Target will also hold its first-ever Summer Cyber Week sale from July 22 to 28, featuring daily deals on Target.com for must-have products such as electronics, apparel, baby gear and more.

“Over the past two years our Black Friday in July sales have been a big hit with our savvy guests who appreciate bargains,” said Casey Carl, president multichannel at Target. “This year, we’ve added something special by offering an extra day of Black Friday-like deals as well as Target’s new Summer Cyber Week – treating our guests at Target.com to nine straight days of savings.”

During the two-day Bonus Black Friday blowout, Target guests will find exclusive Black Friday-like deals on more than 2,000 items throughout Target.com, from toys, movies, health & beauty and more.

Guests can get an extra 10% off select Bonus Black Friday items by signing up for exclusive email offers before July 18 at Target.com/BlackFriday. Plus, Target REDcard guests who sign up have the opportunity to take advantage of select deals before everyone else on July 19.