Day in the life

Interview I gave to lovemediasales.com Jan2011

Name: Stuart Hall

Company / Division: Newsquest Specialist Media

Job title: Group Sales Director

Responsible for: Boxing News, Fighting Fit and The Strad on consumer, Pensions Insight and Engaged Investor on B2B I look after all commercial activity and have all of the sales managers reporting into me.

First sales job: Sales executive in Worcester for The Landscaper (launch title against established haymarket publication horticulture week)

Time in media sales: 12 years

Talk us through a typical day:

Get in the office for 8:30am, download my emails while having a coffee and address any urgent emails. 9:30 talk to my Advertising Managers and find out what their teams have achieved so far that week and listen to any issues. 10:30 call up the clients I manage and make sure they are happy with how sponsorship, campaigns are going and sell them any new ideas. 12:00pm normally have a meeting with a new client I will pitch them the portfolio (I tend to do my selling on the Finance titles) 2pm talk to individuals on the sales floor find out what kind of a morning they are having. 2:30pm Meet with one of the editors to discuss new Print and online ideas we can implement. 3:30pm sit down with the events manager and see how the events for the next few months are progressing. 4:30 catch up on emails and react to any voicemails. 5pm write any proposals that need doing and any other administration. 6:30pm head home to the wife.

What has been your biggest achievement in media sales?

The biggest achievement was to create the magazine, Pensions Insight which was launched in 2009 (middle of the recession), I came up with concept and spearheaded the launch, It is one of many launches I have been involved with but to take something from a proposal to getting the first edition in your hands is quite something. Selling on a magazine is great at the best of times but pitching new clients your own idea is great, it makes objection handling much easier!

I also have to mention that watching staff members grow to their full potential is also very rewarding and I feel this is worth a mention.

What has been your hardest challenge in your career?

I had to close a magazine in late 2008, it was in the finance sector and the market had been obliterated by the global credit crunch, we tried many things to keep it going but making the call on “mothballing” the title with the MD and Editor was a hard day. (although out of the ashes came Pensions Insight)

Who do you hold in high regard in the industry and why?

Chris Floate owner of Tec publications, he gave me my start and taught me how media works. I also hold Niall Sweeny, Ken Warman, and David Motum in high regard as owners of MSM International (which they sold to incisive later on) I was lucky enough to refine my sales skills learning from some of the best around (such as John Howe and John Waterson).

What is advice to those thinking about starting a career in media sales?

Make sure you don’t take the rejection personally, in your early days you will hear the word “NO” a lot. Always listen; it is the greatest skill a salesperson can have. Keep learning, you will never know it all, so take what you can from all sources.

What do you look for when hiring staff?

Someone who listens and can show the right personality for the job, A junior candidate I will look for a “spark” the right sort of personality that will fit in with the team and respond well to coaching.

If there is one question you wanted answering in interviews (from candidates), what is it?

I always find it interesting to ask:

“what 3 things would your friends say about you down the pub” and “what 3 areas would your old boss say you need improving”

What are your three tips to a successful career in media sales?

1. Work hard

2. Listen

3. Understand your client’s needs

Yes or no, do you believe anyone can sell? Why?

No, some personalities are not suited to implement the “art” of selling

Finally, tell us why you love media sales?

It’s the buzz of getting a deal in and hitting a target

Thanks to Stuart for giving us an insight into his working day, you can connect him via his Linkedin profile

Day in the life

This is an interview that I gave for the website lovemediasales in Jan 2011

Name: Stuart Hall

Company / Division: Newsquest Specialist Media

Job title: Group Sales Director

Responsible for: Boxing News, Fighting Fit and The Strad on consumer, Pensions Insight and Engaged Investor on B2B I look after all commercial activity and have all of the sales managers reporting into me.

First sales job: Sales executive in Worcester for The Landscaper (launch title against established haymarket publication horticulture week)

Time in media sales: 12 years

Talk us through a typical day:

Get in the office for 8:30am, download my emails while having a coffee and address any urgent emails. 9:30 talk to my Advertising Managers and find out what their teams have achieved so far that week and listen to any issues. 10:30 call up the clients I manage and make sure they are happy with how sponsorship, campaigns are going and sell them any new ideas. 12:00pm normally have a meeting with a new client I will pitch them the portfolio (I tend to do my selling on the Finance titles) 2pm talk to individuals on the sales floor find out what kind of a morning they are having. 2:30pm Meet with one of the editors to discuss new Print and online ideas we can implement. 3:30pm sit down with the events manager and see how the events for the next few months are progressing. 4:30 catch up on emails and react to any voicemails. 5pm write any proposals that need doing and any other administration. 6:30pm head home to the wife.

What has been your biggest achievement in media sales?

The biggest achievement was to create the magazine, Pensions Insight which was launched in 2009 (middle of the recession), I came up with concept and spearheaded the launch, It is one of many launches I have been involved with but to take something from a proposal to getting the first edition in your hands is quite something. Selling on a magazine is great at the best of times but pitching new clients your own idea is great, it makes objection handling much easier!

I also have to mention that watching staff members grow to their full potential is also very rewarding and I feel this is worth a mention.

What has been your hardest challenge in your career?

I had to close a magazine in late 2008, it was in the finance sector and the market had been obliterated by the global credit crunch, we tried many things to keep it going but making the call on “mothballing” the title with the MD and Editor was a hard day. (although out of the ashes came Pensions Insight)

Who do you hold in high regard in the industry and why?

Chris Floate owner of Tec publications, he gave me my start and taught me how media works. I also hold Niall Sweeny, Ken Warman, and David Motum in high regard as owners of MSM International (which they sold to incisive later on) I was lucky enough to refine my sales skills learning from some of the best around (such as John Howe and John Waterson).

What is advice to those thinking about starting a career in media sales?

Make sure you don’t take the rejection personally, in your early days you will hear the word “NO” a lot. Always listen; it is the greatest skill a salesperson can have. Keep learning, you will never know it all, so take what you can from all sources.

What do you look for when hiring staff?

Someone who listens and can show the right personality for the job, A junior candidate I will look for a “spark” the right sort of personality that will fit in with the team and respond well to coaching.

If there is one question you wanted answering in interviews (from candidates), what is it?

I always find it interesting to ask:

“what 3 things would your friends say about you down the pub” and “what 3 areas would your old boss say you need improving”

What are your three tips to a successful career in media sales?

1. Work hard

2. Listen

3. Understand your client’s needs

Yes or no, do you believe anyone can sell? Why?

No, some personalities are not suited to implement the “art” of selling

Finally, tell us why you love media sales?

It’s the buzz of getting a deal in and hitting a target

Thanks to Stuart for giving us an insight into his working day, you can connect him via his Linkedin profile

Virgin Project iPad magazine

Virgin Project IPad magazine

A few weeks ago I was tweeting about Virgin bringing out a new magazine, the industry thought this was to hit back at News corps iPad newspaper. I was surprised to see it in the app store so soon. At a price of £1.70 i decided it would not break the bank so downloaded the free player then bought the issue.

It was the content that appealed to me, Geoff Bridges as the cover man and the promise of feature and articles aimed at technology and the cool. Once the app had downloaded i was rather underwhelmed. Not because of the quality, I felt like I had seen much of this magazines usability else where. To be fair I had, in the iGIZMO from Dennis publishing, but I do like the way that iPad magazine flows, it is fast becoming the set standard. I like the way the magazine flows and enjoyed the features.

A few neat tricks on the ads, the first an advert for ford made the car turn into some sort of x-ray as you ran your finger along to turn the screen, a good way of keeping the user on the screen. The next was an advertising feature built around the new Kronenburg advert featuring Lemmy and the slowed down version of Motorheads ace of spades, looking at this advert and 4 others it plays the advert onscreen while you read the text. Later on you find the full page advert where you can watch the short or an extended version.

The Geoff Bridges feature did offer something out of then ordinary, without being prompted some of the visuals play footage of Geoff in the photo, it is almost like a video shoot for the feature. Very cool, I had not come across anything like this before, it did bring a little more life and personality into the article, made the interviewee seem more playful and interesting.

The other interactive advert from AMEX was a bit too cheesy for me, it had several paint pots with the messing around with paint, it was poor to be honest but I guess not all
Stanford can fully embrace this sort of technology when designing adverts for clients.

The Tokyo feature shows how the travel guide of the future could be, several peoples bees mixed with a clever 3D animation showing you where the best spots in the city are, all linked so you can touch a link and go to the website. Seriously cool, i do think that Time Out should look at this as it could become a way forward for their business.

To sum up a great first edition, will be looking out for more interaction and features that come to life in the second issue. 7/10

eDitions and digital magazines

Just been flicking through some of the digital editions of magazines or eDitions as I have seen them called. Not sure what to make of them at the moment we have lots of different styles, some basic and some very complicated.

From a publishing perspective I like Zinio, it has been around a long time but the iPad has given zinio a real platform to take to market, many magazines are available in with both uk and us editions in the shop. The app is free to download and once you are in the app you can set up an account and purchase single editions or set up digital subscriptions. The technology behind zinio is simple page turning (it is basically a PDF edition) it works well enough and for a publisher looking to maximise print and digital editions to offer the advertiser a larger and new additional circulation I can see the benefit. All pages display as they would in print and in the same order, which is fine if not a little basic. The advantage is the amount of publishers who have signed up to this system, you have everything from smallholder to playboy, it truly is a digital WHSmith, having spoken with them from a publishing perspective they also want to take a similar amount of your cover price. I would give Zinio a 7/10 simple to use and publish with a large selection and mass volume for them to promote your title too

Wired UK was a eDition I was really looking forward to seeing, a great brand I love to read, so how did the digital edition stack up, again the app was free to download the first edition was £2.80 which seemed reasonable. The editorial experience was not bad, easy to navigate and some great features such as 360 degree photos, some integrated videos and lots of nice graphics. For me this did not feel like a magazine, I found it hard to engage with and get engrossed in, partly I believe down to way too much style over substance. With a brand like Wired I guess you are always going to expect something ahead of the game but maybe they should look to the US edition and tone down some of the novelty. You can not doubt the the tech involved in this edition and the advertising has been well thought through but I just did no feel it quite clicked, I was not unhappy with the money I had spent yet I did expect more which is why it gets a 5/10.

The last magazine i have tried getting in to on this Sunday afternoon is the iGizmo from Dennis publishing, again the app is free, but to my surprise so were the two editions they have in the library. To be fair i was sceptical that in a world of publishers looking at paid for content why was this free. After downloading the latest issue it is clear the user experience has been thought out, this felt like a magazine. I managed to flick through this and i know I can pick this up and read as i would a print product. The editorial was well written and I like the way the photos integrate with the feature, in all features you have lots of touch points which bring up a photo or a new pull quote yet it feels natural and obvious that your should be doing this. The other stand out with iGizmo is the advertising, on some of the pages you had integrated video in the ads and could see the classic working with advertisers in the format of advertorial but it is the execution that is impressive. I will give this 8/10 based on the competition at present.

It is great to see some of the developments taking place and i look forward to the new magazines joining the digital revelation over the coming months.

So What is Response?

Response – the act of responding; reply or reaction

I was lucky enough to go to the PPA (Periodical Publishers Association) for some training with my sales team last Friday, we had a great tutor who provoked some ideas on how we could work better with Advertising Planners at large consumer agencies. At some point during the day we came upon the question of what is a response. A great question as in my B2B portfolio the main magazine we work on does not involve response, the market understands that it is combination of branding to different decision makers and a lot of hard work on the ground from the client as well which will achieve the sale.

On the consumer titles i often hear the sales teams talk about the clients having no response (well measurable response), as an industry we are well versed in requesting a good run of advertising over several issues to get the best response for the client, what i found intriguing on Friday was the suggestion that there is no such thing, the gentleman running the course got my sales juices flowing with this. for a few reasons, the first idea being that customers may be responding to reasearch they had done in a magazine at any point prior to that purchase, maybe even a year or two before.

Think about the last car you bought was it a recent advert that encouraged you to make that purchase. Many times i have thumbed an old edition of a local news paper when trying to decide where to take the future Mrs H out for dinner and have picked a restaurant based on an advert in that edition, I often wonder if the landlord gave the salesperson a hard time “sorry mate, not going in the next edition, got no response” well he did, it just came in the form of me looking a few issues after.

Point is, response can come at any point the advert is seen, it may be later than the client wants, so maybe as a sales professional we need to be clear up front that print advert is an investment, maybe the shelf life is longer than the cover date. response is not a one shot deal, as media changes with digital evolving through apps and social networking I wonder how we will in turn decide to measure response?