Circulation Marketing

'Cosmopolitan' launched the Cosmo Karma Project, a social media initiative sponsored by Estee Lauder, to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, on October 26. The magazine also seeks to grow its subscriber base with the initiative.

Nonprofit media-auditing organization BPA Worldwide is testing its Brand Reach audit-report process with business-to-business publisher Stamats Business Media as a client. The report is a way for publishers, media buyers and advertisers to get a view of all the communication channels by which a publication reaches consumers. Auditing is typically done on a channel-by-channel basis.

Many multichannel merchants are compelled to cut catalog circulation because of the current economic picture. Some retailers, however, are doing so in the name of "mailing smarter." The goal is for sales to drop at only a fraction of circulation cuts. Multichannel merchants such as Williams-Sonoma and J. Crew reported double-digit reductions to circulations in the first half of this year simultaneous with better-than-expected profits. However, one retailer, Chico's, has expressed remorse recently over making cuts it later realized may have been too dramatic. Here, Kevin Hillstrom, president of MineThatData; Rod Ford, CEO of CognitiveData; and Holly Wasas, account manager for brokerage at Direct Media Millard, weigh in on how to cut back wisely.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), an organization that checks the print circulation, readership and Web site activity of media outlets, has added five companies involved in digital publishing initiatives to its roster. The new members include Bite Sized Candy, the creator of a soon-to-be-launched technology that makes magazines available via iTunes and readable on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Exclusive Beauty Supplies (EBS), a distributor of beauty items for salons, is launching a custom magazine called X Factor this summer as part of its push into new distribution territory. EBS, which works exclusively with independent salons, recently extended its distributing license from its home state of Florida into Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. The company tapped Marketing Matters to help create and distribute its 24-page glossy following a multi-agency review.

Industry expert Julian Baim, chief research officer of print rating service MRI describes the evolution of circulation and audience measurement.

A focus on margins, efficient data systems, solid analytics and customer service are among the essential components necessary for marketers to grow and profit during the economic recession, according to Donald Libey, president of Libey Inc., the keynote speaker on July 9 at the MeritDirect Co-op, an annual meeting for clients and members of the list world. Libey was optimistic about the future.