Back to results Rural : Dow on the farm By Graham Medcalf When market regulator NZX purchased rural publisher CPL (Country-Wide Publications) earlier this year – shortly after Country-Wide had bought Dairy Exporter magazine – many commentators saw the move as a conflict of interest that would restrict the flow of information to farmers. A lot of the negative commentary came from long-time opponents of NZX chief executive Mark Weldon and there was even a complaint to the Commerce Commission that NZX’s purchase of Country-Wide was a breach of the Fair Trading Act. Looking back a few months later, the negative comments appear alarmist and self-serving. Indeed it would seem that the rural sector is better served today than it has ever been. Clearly the advent of the Country Channel on the Sky TV platform has widened the choice for rural advertisers, and there can be no doubt that television is an ideal medium to communicate with the rural sector, although there is still an argument that the channel needs to increase its subscriber base to validate advertising spend and to compete with the current heavily discounted mainstream television media. Meanwhile, at CPL, adding Dairy Exporter to the existing suite of publications rounded the business perfectly. Country-Wide had been wanting to enter the dairy publications market for years, but resisted launching its own title because of the success of Dairy Exporter. With owner 3media Group in trouble, Dairy Exporter became affordable and available. It was a perfect fit, being a management publication with a focus on delivering behind-the-gate information of value for farmers to use to add performance and production. And, it was No 1 in its category. The subsequent purchase of CPL by NZX was a natural next step. The purchase evolved through CPL talking with NZX about opportunities around working together. NZX produces valuable data with its Agrifax products and Country-Wide was good at putting the words around that data. Together, the information offers greater value to the rural sector. Of course, some competitors were not happy. But the important question is whether there is good editorial content of value to farmers, and indeed this seems to be the case. The recession has hit all media and the rural sector is no exception. But with NZ now officially out of recession, this will hopefully change. So far this calendar year, Farmers Weekly advertising volumes are down 3.5% on 2008 in the eight months to August, mainly because of reduced real estate advertising volumes. Straight Furrow and Rural News are both down 9% in total number of pages published over the same period. In a move to counter Dairy Exporter, Rural News Group has rebranded its dairy sector title, which is now called Dairy News, and doubled the frequency to twice monthly. This has given a real timing advantage over the monthly publications and underscored Dairy News’ focus on industry news. The dairy sector hasn’t been booming over the past 12 months, but Dairy News has grown during that time. As the dairy industry emerges from the recession both Dairy News and Dairy Exporter will be in a strong position to compete for increased advertising spend. Rural News remains in a strong position as the only fortnightly rural newspaper, and it continues to top the Nielsen survey in the rural sector. It is a proven model that has survived the launch of two weekly competitors, and has kept its readers and advertisers because it is a quality publication and a good read. With the tight economic conditions, the agri-business community requires even more information that they trust and is independent. Advertisers need to align their brand with proven and credible sources. Despite the launch of the Country Channel, the rural sector continues to have a large print component, providing complete coverage, in a time and place that is convenient for farmers who tend to have limited time to spend online or even watching television. Having said that, there are 65,000 professional farmers of whom about two-thirds subscribe to Sky. That final third are as big an opportunity for Sky as they are for the Country Channel, and Sky’s support for the channel appears to recognise that. The farming audience is relatively small but with a big spend. Until genuine high-speed broadband is available to every farmer, the opportunity for television is excellent. But it has been a tough time to start a new channel. Television has high fixed overhead costs. The farmer appears to think longer and harder about the $2 a week (after his tax deductibility) that a Country Channel subscription will cost him than he does about the $150,000 for his new tractor. However the channel is building a loyal following with viewers and its pioneer advertisers have good things to say about it. Best of all for advertisers, the current rates are extremely attractive and probably a better bet than the deluge of direct mail material that floods farmers whose reading of DM is very selective. The value-for-money offered by the rural print media is also hugely underrated. Media planners and buyers should do a cost-per-thousand comparison with any other medium and see if they can achieve over 90% penetration in the rural market for the same marketing spend. It can’t be done. Despite this, farmers are discerning readers, and media buyers should look at the research, and look at the quality of content. If publishers are having to heavily discount advertising rates to get business, it is probably because they have eroded their editorial content and can no longer sell on quality. Competition between print and other media within the rural sector is no more or less fierce than it has always been. As Rural News Group managing editor Adam Fricker says, “Print will remain the medium that farmers will get most of their industry news and information from for the foreseeable future. “TV and radio will be there when a Greenpeace protester chains himself to a ship full of stockfeed, but absent when farmers go looking for news and information with more substance.” CPL director Dean Williamson reports that the company has plans to grow its offering to readers, and expand NZX Rural. “We have a strong culture of growth, and NZX are as progressive,” he says. “This year we launched Young Country, working with the Young Farmer organisation. This has been an exciting new venture, with the magazine already attracting over 2000 subscribers by edition four. Young Country is a magazine of the future. It celebrates successful young people in a range of careers across all levels of the agricultural sector, and inspires more young people into the farming industry.” The recession has been a time of expansion for CPL and has not been wasted. Investment in quality of content has delivered increased market share. Research for Country-Wide by TNS Conversa shows that each of the publications in the market occupies relatively distinct positions with each being recognised for different attributes. According to the research, Country-Wide is most strongly recognised for articles about pasture management, farm management and animal health; Straight Furrow for farm machinery; Farmers Weekly for farm news and market information; with Rural News less distinct and sharing recognition with other brands. There is little, if any, difference in readership between the brands, says the research, but farmers do spend more time (according to TNZ Conversa) reading Country-Wide than Straight Furrow and Rural News. – graham.medcalf@ihug.co.nz Riders on the storm Napier-based ad agency Adplus has found itself shielded from the worst effects of the financial crisis because of its “unique” position as a specialist in the provincial agriculture market, say media director Willie Verburg & strategic planner Lucy Dobbs. “Based in the heart of the North Island for 18 years, we have a deep understanding of the market, with clients to match – FMG, Farmlands, Fort Dodge, Hatuma and John Deere Australasia,” says Verburg. “Rather than a way of life, farming now is a business that is all about driving productivity.” “With the recent acquisition of CPL, NZX has openly acknowledged that farming is the biggest single industry underpinning the very heart of the economy,” says Dobbs. “NZX has identified the opportunity for improved information delivery to this vital sector. Their vision is to ensure that capital markets become as relevant to farmers as foreign exchange hedging already is.” Crisis? what crisis? Horticulture often takes a back seat to its larger pastoral relations in the agriculture sector – but there’s no disguising its importance to the NZ economy. In 2008, horticulture was NZ’s sixth largest export industry, earning $5 billion. Reflecting this, The Orchardist magazine (www.hortnz.co.nz), the official publication of Horticulture NZ, has exceeded its targets each month this year, and this month’s October issue is the biggest in the title’s 82-year history. “The pendulum has swung back to considering horticulture as a way out of the recession, due to our exports,” says ad manager Jackie Enright. “New clients are searching for new audiences, and wanting to expand their reach. They’re looking more at the rural sector.” The magazine circulates to 5000 fruitgrowers (pipfruit, kiwifruit, nashi, citrus, tamarillos, feijoas, avocados, boysenberries etc) and 400 olive growers every month. © Copyright AdMedia magazine October 2009 All material appearing is copyright and cannot be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher. Please contact the copyright officer: Ph 0-9-845 5114, Email copyright@mediaweb.co.nz.	Username Password Keep me logged in on this computer Forgotten your password? Enter your email address and we will email your password to you:

Rural : Dow on the farm

By Graham Medcalf

When market regulator NZX purchased rural publisher CPL (Country-Wide Publications) earlier this year – shortly after Country-Wide had bought Dairy Exporter magazine – many commentators saw the move as a conflict of interest that would restrict the flow of information to farmers.
A lot of the negative commentary came from long-time opponents of NZX chief executive Mark Weldon and there was even a complaint to the Commerce Commission that NZX’s purchase of Country-Wide was a breach of the Fair Trading Act.
Looking back a few months later, the negative comments appear alarmist and self-serving. Indeed it would seem that the rural sector is better served today than it has ever been.
Clearly the advent of the Country Channel on the Sky TV platform has widened the choice for rural advertisers, and there can be no doubt that television is an ideal medium to communicate with the rural sector, although there is still an argument that the channel needs to increase its subscriber base to validate advertising spend and to compete with the current heavily discounted mainstream television media.
Meanwhile, at CPL, adding Dairy Exporter to the existing suite of publications rounded the business perfectly. Country-Wide had been wanting to enter the dairy publications market for years, but resisted launching its own title because of the success of Dairy Exporter. With owner 3media Group in trouble, Dairy Exporter became affordable and available.
It was a perfect fit, being a management publication with a focus on delivering behind-the-gate information of value for farmers to use to add performance and production. And, it was No 1 in its category.
The subsequent purchase of CPL by NZX was a natural next step. The purchase evolved through CPL talking with NZX about opportunities around working together. NZX produces valuable data with its Agrifax products and Country-Wide was good at putting the words around that data. Together, the information offers greater value to the rural sector.
Of course, some competitors were not happy. But the important question is whether there is good editorial content of value to farmers, and indeed this seems to be the case.
The recession has hit all media and the rural sector is no exception. But with NZ now officially out of recession, this will hopefully change.
So far this calendar year, Farmers Weekly advertising volumes are down 3.5% on 2008 in the eight months to August, mainly because of reduced real estate advertising volumes. Straight Furrow and Rural News are both down 9% in total number of pages published over the same period.
In a move to counter Dairy Exporter, Rural News Group has rebranded its dairy sector title, which is now called Dairy News, and doubled the frequency to twice monthly. This has given a real timing advantage over the monthly publications and underscored Dairy News’ focus on industry news.
The dairy sector hasn’t been booming over the past 12 months, but Dairy News has grown during that time.
As the dairy industry emerges from the recession both Dairy News and Dairy Exporter will be in a strong position to compete for increased advertising spend.
Rural News remains in a strong position as the only fortnightly rural newspaper, and it continues to top the Nielsen survey in the rural sector. It is a proven model that has survived the launch of two weekly competitors, and has kept its readers and advertisers because it is a quality publication and a good read.
With the tight economic conditions, the agri-business community requires even more information that they trust and is independent. Advertisers need to align their brand with proven and credible sources.
Despite the launch of the Country Channel, the rural sector continues to have a large print component, providing complete coverage, in a time and place that is convenient for farmers who tend to have limited time to spend online or even watching television. Having said that, there are 65,000 professional farmers of whom about two-thirds subscribe to Sky. That final third are as big an opportunity for Sky as they are for the Country Channel, and Sky’s support for the channel appears to recognise that.
The farming audience is relatively small but with a big spend. Until genuine high-speed broadband is available to every farmer, the opportunity for television is excellent. But it has been a tough time to start a new channel.
Television has high fixed overhead costs. The farmer appears to think longer and harder about the $2 a week (after his tax deductibility) that a Country Channel subscription will cost him than he does about the $150,000 for his new tractor. However the channel is building a loyal following with viewers and its pioneer advertisers have good things to say about it.
Best of all for advertisers, the current rates are extremely attractive and probably a better bet than the deluge of direct mail material that floods farmers whose reading of DM is very selective.
The value-for-money offered by the rural print media is also hugely underrated. Media planners and buyers should do a cost-per-thousand comparison with any other medium and see if they can achieve over 90% penetration in the rural market for the same marketing spend. It can’t be done.
Despite this, farmers are discerning readers, and media buyers should look at the research, and look at the quality of content. If publishers are having to heavily discount advertising rates to get business, it is probably because they have eroded their editorial content and can no longer sell on quality.
Competition between print and other media within the rural sector is no more or less fierce than it has always been. As Rural News Group managing editor Adam Fricker says, “Print will remain the medium that farmers will get most of their industry news and information from for the foreseeable future.
“TV and radio will be there when a Greenpeace protester chains himself to a ship full of stockfeed, but absent when farmers go looking for news and information with more substance.”
CPL director Dean Williamson reports that the company has plans to grow its offering to readers, and expand NZX Rural. “We have a strong culture of growth, and NZX are as progressive,” he says. “This year we launched Young Country, working with the Young Farmer organisation. This has been an exciting new venture, with the magazine already attracting over 2000 subscribers by edition four.
Young Country is a magazine of the future. It celebrates successful young people in a range of careers across all levels of the agricultural sector, and inspires more young people into the farming industry.”
The recession has been a time of expansion for CPL and has not been wasted. Investment in quality of content has delivered increased market share. Research for Country-Wide by TNS Conversa shows that each of the publications in the market occupies relatively distinct positions with each being recognised for different attributes.
According to the research, Country-Wide is most strongly recognised for articles about pasture management, farm management and animal health; Straight Furrow for farm machinery; Farmers Weekly for farm news and market information; with Rural News less distinct and sharing recognition with other brands.
There is little, if any, difference in readership between the brands, says the research, but farmers do spend more time (according to TNZ Conversa) reading Country-Wide than Straight Furrow and Rural News.

– graham.medcalf@ihug.co.nz

Riders on the storm
Napier-based ad agency Adplus has found itself shielded from the worst effects of the financial crisis because of its “unique” position as a specialist in the provincial agriculture market, say media director Willie Verburg & strategic planner Lucy Dobbs.
“Based in the heart of the North Island for 18 years, we have a deep understanding of the market, with clients to match – FMG, Farmlands, Fort Dodge, Hatuma and John Deere Australasia,” says Verburg.
“Rather than a way of life, farming now is a business that is all about driving productivity.”
“With the recent acquisition of CPL, NZX has openly acknowledged that farming is the biggest single industry underpinning the very heart of the economy,” says Dobbs.
“NZX has identified the opportunity for improved information delivery to this vital sector. Their vision is to ensure that capital markets become as relevant to farmers as foreign exchange hedging already is.”

Crisis? what crisis?
Horticulture often takes a back seat to its larger pastoral relations in the agriculture sector – but there’s no disguising its importance to the NZ economy. In 2008, horticulture was NZ’s sixth largest export industry, earning $5 billion.
Reflecting this, The Orchardist magazine (www.hortnz.co.nz), the official publication of Horticulture NZ, has exceeded its targets each month this year, and this month’s October issue is the biggest in the title’s 82-year history.
“The pendulum has swung back to considering horticulture as a way out of the recession, due to our exports,” says ad manager Jackie Enright. “New clients are searching for new audiences, and wanting to expand their reach. They’re looking more at the rural sector.”
The magazine circulates to 5000 fruitgrowers (pipfruit, kiwifruit, nashi, citrus, tamarillos, feijoas, avocados, boysenberries etc) and 400 olive growers every month.

© Copyright AdMedia magazine October 2009

All material appearing is copyright and cannot be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher.

Please contact the copyright officer: Ph 0-9-845 5114, Email copyright@mediaweb.co.nz.

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Rural : Dow on the farm