The Beaver is Dead - Long Live Canada's History

After 90 years, The Beaver is no longer. It has been relaunched as Canada's History.

A major redesign reflects the magazine’s position as a Canadian ‘must read’. The rebranding features editorial and design changes that will engage and entertain readers eager for thought-provoking, fresh and relevant Canadian stories.

The website for all aspects of the organization is now www.canadashistory.ca and is really more of an online portal. Visitors will find plenty of opportunities to explore new research in history, to connect with schools and community initiatives, as well as offer reviews and ratings on history-related books, websites and travel destinations.”

Welcome Alix

New to Keystone is Alix Johnston who is Account Manager for national and retail accounts. Alix has more than 17 years experience in magazine publishing on titles such as Toronto Life, Canadian House & Home and Fashion Quarterly. In 1998 she moved to the UK where she was Publisher of WHERE London. In 2007, she returned to Toronto with her husband and two young daughters and worked on International Architecture & Design as Associate Publisher. She is bright, funny and very good at what she does.

Other developments:

In this very tough economy we are thrilled with how well ad sales held up for Food & Drink. And we are optimistic for 2010 as advertising in both the Holiday and Winter issues were up significantly over last year.

Finally, we are sad to report that we are no longer representing British Columbia Magazine, our first client and the foundation for our business. Things have changed and the fit was no longer right. We thank them for seven wonderful years and wish them the best as Tourism BC gets absorbed into the ministry next year.

Food & Drink

Things have changed around here -- we are now the proud media representatives for Food & Drink, the amazing magazine produced by the LCBO -- and we are so stoked!

Earlier this year, Keystone Media was one of a number of rep shops invited to submit a proposal for this contract which had been held by the same agency for about ten years. The odds were long but we gave it a shot confident that we would get a real listen to. We did and we won and now we want to show them that their difficult decision to change was a wise one.

Transitions are never easy but I must say that this one went very smoothly. Keystone Media staffed up, acquired an office at Yonge & Sheppard and developed a very sweet database (KAOS - Keystone's Advertising Organization System) customized to our very specific needs. Advertisers adjusted quickly and the incumbent rep shop provided sufficient documentation to allow us to hit the ground running. And we did.

Best of all is the terrific team we have assembled with the addition of Rita Cordeiro as Account Services Manager (joining us from Kontent Publishing) and Rose Giles as Account Manager (from The Walrus). Cheryl Pauchuk (National Account Manager) and Nancy Green (Western Account Manager) are still with us and our old colleague Whitney Ross, now living in the New York area, is our US Account Manager.

Food & Drink is one of the leading magazines in Canada. It is very popular both with readers (for it's elegant presentation and useful information) and advertisers (for its outstanding media value). Follow this link for the media kit.

Are we a fit?

If you are reading this, chances are you are looking for a Toronto-based, national rep house to sell advertising for your magazine. We do get quite a few calls and have to be selective in terms of who we work with. For example, we avoid directly competitive magazines. Essentially we want to work with publishers who can benefit from our core competencies with a goal that both parties profit from the partnership.

It is our preference that the magazines we partner with:

• have published for at least one year
• serve a viable ad market
• have strong editorial and design quality
  
• are audited or PMB measured
• issue at least quarterly
• are distributed nationally
• have a page rate of at least $5,000
• have a CPM that is under $200
• will assign Keystone Media as the exclusive rep for at least Toronto
• are based outside Toronto

If after reading this, you believe that there is a fit, please contact us.

The Keystone Media 10-Point Sales System

It's a simple process really. It all amounts to being prepared, respectful, diligent and service-oriented. Selling magazine space is challenging and it's important to have a process that builds from the ground up.

1. Meet the advertising planner/client for a general presentation. Be prepared with the account's magazine advertising history (sourced from LNA) and knowledge of their business and customers sourced from trade magazines, secondary research and the internet.
2. Determine when the account will be in planning mode and request inclusion on the RFP list of recipients.
3. Stay in touch by phone and email. Place on comp list. Send relevant articles. Arrange lunches. And always respect their time.
4. When briefed, submit a quality, customized proposal.
5. Address all queries promptly and thoroughly.
6. Follow-up at appropriate intervals.
7. Accept advertising bookings and collect/issue paperwork.
8. Deliver advance copies of issues with their advertising.
9. Address problems promptly and with the long-term interests of the magazine in mind.
10. Service current business with kid gloves – renewals are the lifeblood of the magazine and we jump through hoops to keep clients satisfied.