AWM Hot List '09: Top 10 Magazines

AWM Hot List '09: Top 10 Magazines
March 22, 2009
-By AdweekMedia Staff

Methodology

The Hot List and 10 Under 60 Hot list annually recognize consumer magazines with a recent track record of standout advertising revenue and page performance. To be considered, a title’s ad results must be tracked by the authoritative Publishers Information Bureau.

For the Hot List, we look at the last three calendar years, and for 10 under 60, the last two years. Thus, for the Hot List, a title must have been published for at least three years and must have taken in $60 million or more in annual ad revenue, while for 10 under 60, a magazine must have been published for at least two years and reported annual revenue of less than $60 million. You’ll notice that this year, we raised the eligibility cap for the small list to $60 million from $50 million. We did so to reflect the industry’s 23 percent revenue growth since 2003, when the threshold increased to $50 million from $40 million. In examining magazines’ ad performance over time, we give the greatest weight to the most recent year. W

e consider the performance of each title against its category peers, as well as the vitality of the category overall. We also evaluate circulation quality and performance, paying particular attention to the closely watched barometer of newsstand sales for the second half of 2008, as reported by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Finally, we consult a number of influential media buyers, who provide insight on which magazines they and their clients favor at the moment. So, please turn the page for this year’s AdweekMedia Magazine Hot List.

1. The Economist 2. Elle 3. People 4. Women's Health 5. Every Day With Rachael Ray 6. Real Simple7. Men's Health8. Family Circle 9. Vogue10. New York

Best Ads March 18, 2009

The week's best TV commercials-a review from BestAds.tv

Subway Art Gallery Opening

From http://improveverywhere.com/, 50 Improv Everywhere agents create and art gallery opening on a subway platform

Gum…Usful

Gmail Offers Point Of Return For Repentant

Spammers March 20th, 2009
Finally, those folks at Google are earning their free lunches.

Today the tech company announced that its Gmail service now has an Undo Send button that lets people stop an email message.

Handy for when you wrote that angry rant just to blow off steam, not to actually dispatch. Or when you accidentally hit “reply all” (a pet peeve of many colleagues here at mobileStorm).

Or when you have second thoughts about sending spam and realize your sender reputation is more important.

Unlike penning a snap-reaction email, though, the “Undo Send’ requires a little forethought. You have to go into “Settings” and the the “Labs” tab to activate it. And it only delays the message for five seconds–so the service doesn’t replace personal responsibility.

Small inconvenience. And a heck of a lot more useful than the drunk-messager test Google crowed about last fall!

Apple / iPhone: OS 3.0, featuring cut, copy and paste

Apple announced an update to the iPhone operating system at one of its love feasts in Cupertino today. The update will be available this summer as a free upgrade for the iPhone 3G, and for $9.95 for the iPod touch.

Top of the wish list was fulfilled with Cut/Copy and Paste, finally streamlining the OS with a feature that's been in Windows and Macintosh since their beginnings. The system will work by double-tapping or dragging across text, selecting cut, copy or paste in the bubble above it, and then using a similar routine to paste it into another place, or across applications.
What else is new in the upcoming iPhone OS 3.0?

Search: Last year Apple added search for contacts, and now there will be the ability to search your email, calendars, iTunes, and notes. Also added will be Spotlight, letting you search across the iPhone for a keyword.

MMS: the widely adopted Multimedia Messaging System will now work on the iPhone, letting you attach photos or audio clips to text messages for instant, you-are-there fun. You can also forward and delete messages.

Stereo Bluetooth: Inexplicably missing on the iPhone, now you'll be able to listen to stereo music over Bluetooth. Still missing: wireless synching via Bluetooth. The bad news? This stereo Bluetooth goodness and MMS won't work on iPhone 1.0.

Landscape typing in Apple Apps: Now you can turn your iPhone on its side and type with a larger touchscreen keyboards, a feature that was available in some situations but not in email. Finally.

Voice Memo: Record yourself a voice message, play it back easily.

Modified Google Maps application: now lets developers use Google Maps in their apps. But the big news is this will allow "turn-by-turn" applications, bringing GPS navigation to the iPhone. However, because of licensing issues, developers will be required to provide the maps.

Multiplayer connectivity: The iPhone will automagically discover other iPhones running the same app, and you can play games with them. Welcome to the social.

Accessories communication: Apps will be allowed to communicate with external accessories, such as a blood pressure cuff, FM tuner, or equalization for a docked speaker.

Push Notification: While Apple promised one-way background functionality ("push notification") last year but never delivered, Apple's SVP of iPhone software Scott Forstall says he means it this time.

No Background Processing: Apple tried running background processes on the iPhone, but the battery life was reduced by 80%, and there was a significat performance hit. That's why they're going with push notification, a one-way process that lets you know when you've received a message but requires you to open the application to respond.

New Apps: ESPN showed a streaming video application that also takes advantage of the iPhone's push capability, notifying users of sports scores. Electronic Arts demonstrated its The Sims 3 game, flaunting the iPhone's clean playback and animation capabilities. And, you can buy stuff within apps.

What's Missing: Still no support for Flash video and applications in Safari. No tethering, the ability to use the iPhone's 3G connection to get online with your laptop. Even though Apple says it's "supporting tethering on the client side," its providers aren't playing ball just yet. No video recording.

HRP-4C robot ready to put human fashion models out of work -->

Just in time for Fashion Week In Tokyo, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology has unveiled the HRP-4C fashion model robot.

As you can see in this video, the robot has a series of motors situated throughout its 5-foot tall, 95-pound body that give it a rather life-like appearance.

We've seen walking robots that look like Transformers wannabes, and we've seen android models that essentially function like animatronic toys, but the look of HRP-4C truly begins to take us into Ghost In The Shell territory.

The HRP-4C is scheduled to command the catwalk next week during Tokyo's five-day fashion extravaganza.