Production and financial executives turned out in droves Tuesday morning to hear a panel of experienced Internet hands discuss "New Media: What Do Advertisers Really Think?" Panelists agreed that advertisers remain committed to exploring online-advertising and will spend more on the category, but newspaper people have to work hard to get and keep their business.

Evan Neufeld, practice manager for online-advertising strategies at Jupiter Communications in New York City, said that online-usage accelerates the trend toward audience fragmentation. Distinctions between brand-building and direct-response ads blur, making the Internet "a unique marketing platform."

Unique, maybe, but Neufeld also questioned its effectiveness. He claimed that click-through rates on banner ads for national advertisers have plummeted since the early days of the Internet, and click-throughs seem to bear no relation to building brands or delivering sales.

Chris Jennewein, vice president of technology and operations for Knight Ridder New Media in San Jose, countered that local banner ads remain effective—business people can see measurable increases after ads go online.

Tom Stockham, vice president of sales development for Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Inc. in Pasadena, Calif., said that while Internet researchers provide a wealth of usage data, advertisers need help selecting and analyzing what's important. They also seek consistent measurements across media.

David Beaupre, senior director of online sales for Washingtonpost. Newsweek Interactive in Arlington, Va., noted that national print-audience measurement companies such as Scarborough Research of New York City are "out of sync" with online-reporting firms such as Media Metrix Inc. of New York City. "This creates confusion."

And Liz Levy-Navarro, a partner in the Chicago-based Cambridge Group, warned that some newspaper sites present such crowded offerings that advertisers cannot even decide where to place their ads.

Such complexities hamper recruiting, training and compensating online-ad salespeople. Beaupre said that some of his best recruits came from broadcasting and wire services.

Online-ad salespeople face many challenges: The staff may have to create ads, target placement and monitor responses. Online-sales execs also must work with print salespeople on events and cross-media sales. Almost all online business represents new sales-and advertisers need help, he said.

Laptop-computer-equipped newspaper salespeople now cart a multiplying array of digital sales tools, several of which were showcased on the NEXPO floor. Today's account executive on the go can call up a customer's advertising history, past contacts, ad schedules, credit information, payment status, an archive of previously run ads, and tap libraries of stock photos, clip art and sample ads.

Programs also handle all the minutia of placing a new ad: rates, schedules, discounts, placement options, color availability, co-op possibilities, upcoming special sections. Most packages allow reps to access additional data, and upload ads from their laptops via telephone lines and directly into computers back at their offices.

	Sales-automation programs from Media Marketing Inc. attracted attention

The imMediate suite from Media Marketing Inc. of Boulder, Colo., is in use at more than 450 newspapers, reported Charles R. Mauldin, vice president and director of marketing. ImMediate 6.1 for the Macintosh supports the Mac 8.5 operating system; the PC version supports Windows 95, 98 and NT.

Research Manager allows a sales exec to generate full-color sales presentations with tailored research and sales data. Media Analyst leads a salesperson through analyzing an existing media plan and showing how to reinvest excess dollars in print.

Geac Publishing Systems of Tampa eases quotes and ad-order entry with VisionShift Attaché, accessible via a graphical user interface on a laptop or personal computer. Attaché eliminates the need for paper sales tickets and allows reps to manage sales contacts; demonstrate the greater return of increased frequency, multiproduct buys and larger ads; produce custom reports on paper or online in Microsoft Excel, Word, Microsoft Mail/Exchange and in HTML; and create presentations with Microsoft Graph and PowerPoint. The program runs under Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT and can communicate with Macintosh computers.

Bill McNey, vice president and general manager of media products for SoftAd of Mill Valley, Calif., said his programmers accompanied sales executives on calls to develop Media Sales Excelerator, 12 modules designed to aid account execs in the office and on the road. Running under Windows 95, Windows NT and Oracle, the modules handle virtually every sales duty, from scheduling calls, selling against other media and preparing spec ads, to scheduling ads and mapping distribution zones. Eight dailies use Excelerator.

Automation tools for sales execs are also available from Brainworks Software Development Corp. of Sayville, N.Y., operating in the Windows and Windows NT environment, and Morcor Solutions Inc. of Napanee, Ontario, Canada, whose Xpance program runs on Mac and Windows platforms.

NEXPO'99 revealed advances in several systems that automate the preprint and distribution work flow.

After an installation at The New York Times, GMA of Bethlehem, Pa., began shipping its component-based SAM system. SAM automates advertising, circulation, distribution and packaging processes individually and collectively. The new WinLincs Line Control System adds a graphical interface and a database that can handle an unlimited number of zones and machines.

Burt Technologies Inc. of Evergreen, Colo., has a new partnership with EnterNet of Lombard, Ill., that "will allow us to provide electromechanical control to execute the planning and scheduling of our production-management software," said General Manager of Sales Larry Frakes. The partners have an insertion, stacking and bundling system that offers real-time count displays and ink-jet messaging for individual bundles. EnterNet CSN-NT allows carrier-route zoning, updates to Burt data-storage software, and real-time displays of job, run and publication status via local-area or remote wide-area networks.

InfoTrack from Denex Inc. of Pittsburgh aims to monitor data and production from the newsprint-loading dock to the executive boardroom. The Denex suite uses standard PC hardware and Windows software to present data in reports on site or in remote offices via intranet or Internet.

Newscom from Newstec of Walpole, Mass., offers insertion control with individual-pocket tracking, real-time Internet monitoring, an open architecture and an SQL database.

At a pre-NEXPO workshop, three project-management advisors shared insights on how managers can avoid pitfalls and reach goals.

"About half of technology projects don't meet initial expectations," said Kevin English, senior manager with KPMG LLP of McLean, Va. "About two-thirds of business projects don't meet expectations."

English cited several reasons why projects fail: poor communication; bad estimates; assigning the wrong people as project managers or to specific tasks; "scope creep," when a project keeps getting bigger and bigger in scope; and lack of methodology.

To ensure success, he said, managers should take the following steps:

• Involve end users in the project's design, implementation and testing.
• Make sure that the project has full management support.
• Provide clear objectives related to defined business issues.
• Conduct exhaustive planning in defining the project's requirements.
• Have a competent, well-trained staff.
• Measure success in incremental milestones.
• Choose as project manager an experienced leader who can manage at all levels.
• Give the project manager full responsibility for completing the project.
• Use internal staff for most, if not all, planning, design and implementation.
• Make contingency plans.

"Provide a work-breakdown structure to define all work to be done," English said. It can be a simple chart that defines the program level, the project level, the task level and even the subtask level. In essence, a good structure shows at a glance every task and duty that needs to be completed throughout the project, and gives tasks a flow or priority.

"Everything comes back to this. A structure divides the project into manageable components and provides the basis for resource allocation and a network diagram. It provides the structure for integrating people and functions within the project," English explained.

An outline helps budgeting and makes predicting direct and indirect costs, subcontractor and equipment costs, and organization allocations easier.

English also advised not delivering everything at once. "Make deliverables frequent and defined." Don't allow for assumptions, he added. Most people don't like to document assumptions, but it's better to define them up-front rather than discover a problem at the end.

And finally, define the end state. "We all think we know when the project is done, but all that matters is when the client thinks the project is done," English said.

Bob Robinson, project-management director of The San Diego Union-Tribune, testified to the importance of project management. His paper began using it two years ago. Before that, he said, "We had poor communication, a lack of accountability and focus, fuzzy objectives, variances from plan not being dealt with on a timely basis, and poor cost control." The Union-Tribune wanted "to put guidance in place without creating bureaucracy."

Two years ago, the paper applied its new philosophy to the implementation of a new telephone system. It was a hit. Now employees have tackled the dramatic expansion of their presses in an environment with little space for growth and where current presses run at capacity and therefore can't shut down for long (Tech News, May/June 1999, p.14).

"On a degree of difficulty, the [telephone] system was a two," Robinson said. "The new presses are about a 12. It is a lot of dollars, and a lot of people are affected. It's a nightmare, but it is on schedule."

TechNews Volume 5, Number 4: July/August 1999

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