One thing that we at Fox Associates have always found fascinating is learning how publishers size up their markets, establish priorities and pursue opportunities. The process of creating a product and bringing it to market is inherently interesting.
And we certainly see many variations of initiative and innovation across our diverse customer base. We’re fortunate to play a role in pursuing many of these business-development opportunities.
We’ve got a new initiative here too. We’re rolling out a new occasional feature that shines a spotlight on all-star media performers, and we start in this issue with one of our newest clients, Red Bank, New Jersey-based Group C Media. The company’s Turf Magazine in particular was what we zoomed in on. We chatted with Turf Magazine Publisher Dan Ulrich. Turf is published six times per year and serves 65,000 lawn care and landscape professionals Here’s a transcript of our conversation.
Dan Ulrich.
Fox Tales: What’s Group C’s big opportunity in the Turf space?
Dan Ulrich: Within the Turf universe, our third-party email list and in-house email base absolutely dominate the space in our competitive set. We enjoy a near 50% greater audience size, and that audience is interactive toward our clients’ messaging. This has always been our advantage, and we pride our brand as a lead generator. As the business of Turf evolves, we are well positioned from an editorial standpoint to be on top of the latest trends in the industry. Turf has a long brand history and is well recognized as a top content provider.
Fox Tales: How is that market performing in a general economic sense?
Dan Ulrich: The Turf market is facing rapid change, from the introduction and adoption of battery power to regulatory pressures from the West Coast on noise pollution and lawn care chemistry. New solutions are being brought to the marketplace as alternatives to traditional pesticides, herbicides and plant health and nutrition. While this can be seen as disruptive to an industry, it is also boost for new products and services, in a market that continues to grow.
Fox Tales: It seems like there are significant cross-selling opportunities across your facilities brands. Is that a dynamic you’ve experienced?
Dan Ulrich: To some extent. Facility Executive, which serves facility managers and directors, has largely focused on the interior and structure of a building, more so than exterior beautification. However, given the recent push for greater efficiency of water, chemical usage and other factors, there has been some cross-over as facilities experts strive to create sustainability, and become stewards of the environment.
Fox Tales: Same question regarding Continuity Insights.
Dan Ulrich: CI and FE are far more aligned, running parallel in the marketing space as the audience is largely tasked with budgeting and forecasting building maintenance. They would also have a hand in business continuity, although not always the case. As business continuity evolves, it is becoming its own unique sector within business.
Fox Tales: Fox Associates is a, (maybe the), leading outsourced ad-sales provider. As you embark on a new relationship with them, describe your joint objectives.
Dan Ulrich: The objectives are to grow the Turf brand within the professional lawn and landscape community. Utilizing their geographic strengths, their relationship cultivation expertise, and our base of knowledge of the industry, we will partner in such a way as to increase revenues, outreach and brand recognition.