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"The equity value and potential revenues being left on the table by media companies is in the billions. It is long overdue for these companies to focus on how they can wean themselves off their addiction to advertising revenues and begin capturing the other 70% to 75% of corporate marketing budgets they rarely touch."

"Media companies need to convince investors they have... vision for the future - a future in which they will be forced to be less dependent on advertising revenues."

"The focus should [be] on identifying core assets that have viable brand extension and growth potential..."

"Clearly, the sky is falling. The question now is how many people will be left to cover it."

"The paradox of all these announcements is that newspapers and magazines do not have an audience problem - newspaper Web sites are a vital source of news, and growing - but they do have a consumer problem."

"For readers, the drastic diminishment of print raises an obvious question: if more people are reading newspapers and magazines, why should we care whether they are printed on paper? The answer is that paper is not just how news is delivered; it is how it is paid for."
The traditional media business has exacerbated the situation described above, by allowing circulation revenue to be a relative afterthought. Couple that with online's model of offering same content at no cost, and you've totally devalued that content in the minds of the consumer... at least from an out of pocket perspective to a potential advertiser.

But therein, lies the big piece that we are still missing...we aren't fully leveraging what is now old media's greatest asset----the consumers themselves, and the mutual trust we have for each other! A marketer is coming to a medium because it values access to its audience, and hopes that they can put the right message in the right environment, to captivate them towards a direct relationship with their brand. The medium is a means to an end. Traditional media research doesn't help. Because every medium has its own "I'm better than you" story, founded on poorly designed and hideously outdated currency.

So rather than fight that losing battle, a new opportunity is emerging, and after seven plus years running a full service marketing research firm within Conde Nasts's Golf Digest Publications unit, I've partnered with other leaders of the national Marketing Research Association (MRA) to build a new consultancy focused on working with media to leverage the already trusted relationship you enjoy with your audience towards competitive advantage for your brands and added value for your advertisers.  
 



The principals of SPORTS & LEISURE RESEARCH GROUP combine an acute knowledge of the leisure and media markets with a classically grounded approach to marketing research. We're a unique agency tapping into the expertise of three national Marketing Research Association (MRA) Presidents and a collective 100+ years of market experience. We help media companies offer the services of their own marketing research consultancy to clients, without the overhead, and at a fraction of the cost. We can help you to evolve beyond being simple sellers of pages or clicks, to become instead, an open door to the end game that the marketer is trying to reach---access to and understanding of your customer, so they can sell to them. After all that's why they are tapping into your media vehicle!

As an example, if I'm CMO of company "X" and I want to sell to a specific target, wouldn't it be smart to partner with a company that can tell me what this target thinks about my product and my competitive position; advise me on how to best communicate with them and provide direct opportunities to put my brand directly in front of them within a comfortable environment that they've already bought into emotionally? That's a consultative selling model that will have enduring value...And it's one that media can uniquely provide! At Golf Digest Publications, we generated over $1mm annually in added value research, by partnering directly with advertisers. Our firm can provide that infrastructure for you, at a fraction of the cost to build it yourself.

Let's schedule some time for us to discuss your specific needs and see how our work and perspective can help you to meet your business objectives.

Best Regards,


President

 


(W) 914-358-3558 | (F) 914-358-3557 | (C) 917-714-3584 | jlast@sportsandleisureresearch.com
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