Doberman Digest ~ 08 June issue 66 pages

[Elaine]

We were at our M.C.K.C. picnic last night... sitting 'round chewing the fat at the end with some of the other club members... Forsyth gave me a copy of the Doberman Digest... the June 2008 issue. It is 66 pages with only 5 color ads (out side of the covers). The May 2008 issue also 66 pages. It’s tempting to attribute the size of the magazine to the competition from the Doberman Ring/ Doberman Pinscher Magazine... but the May / June Doberman Pinscher Magazine is only 70 pages... and the May 2007 Doberman Digest issue was 58 pages.

I have older issues of the Doberman Digest that were 250 - 350 pages. We were wondering, is print advertisement a thing of the past? If you aren't advertising, why not? Is it too expensive? Is there too little bang for your buck? Is it because you have your own websites now? Is it because of a bad ad (or feeling that a previous ad was a waste of money)? Is it because you got no response from an ad?

[mosso]

The print mag Afghan Hound Review is smaller than in years past, but I think this also might be due to lower registrations (fewer AH's) born. I think the online magazine AfghansOnline might be about 8-10 years old now. Print fees are notably higher than online fees.

As an advertiser, I don't think I've yet to advertise on AO (online), as I have a kennel website with very high traffic, but I have taken out 1 or 2 in the print mag. Probably when I have something to advertise I will go with both online and print. :)

I love the breed specific (or group specific) print mags for their archival value especially (though I'm a big fan of the all-breed Dogs In Review). And I love online advertising (obviously, since I own the online IG magazine). I think print is here to stay, and online is an add on. More is better eh?

But Dobe numbers are not down are they? (registrations? # in the ring?)
stir

[Elaine]

Not sure about Dobe numbers overall... AKC has that info... I'll check on it, in my free time :p (and btw, anyone know how to get a riding mower out of a pond? :o:().

Anyway, it seems to me standing ringside that entries are down, but, talking to "the Boss" the other day, he says dog show entries are stable overall, but we have so many more shows these days that the entries at any given show may be small... but overall the entries across the country are steady.

[dobesign]

The magazine page counts are dwindling, as is the regularity of issue. It seems more are combining months as well as making smaller magazines, and the written content often has nothing to do with the breed: even discussing cattle....on another note, to extract a riding mower from a pond is simple. First you point at it and whisper "Look Tungsten a TURTLE/bird/squirrel/insert critter here"....and then let go. He will retrieve and shake it dry. The trick is you need to remember to let go:eek:...learn from my experience:p...besides, I love swimming...:D

[Ann Lanier]

Oh yes, Doberman registrations are definitely way down. Without looking, I would say the breed now ranks about #35 in AKC numbers registrations as opposed to being very nearly the most popular breed years ago.

When I used to do a 650 page Doberman Quarterly, about 435 pages were advertisements. Likewise 215 had to be informative, interesting or historical articles. For many years we had Doberman World publishing at the same time, in fact Doberman World PRINTED the Doberman Quarterly for me for quite a while. And at one time the new magazine DobEdition was also published, making 3 fairly healthy magazines published concurrently.

I believe a number of factors play into the diminishing breed magazines. I do believe online sources, like the photographers web sites, the InfoDog type sites, the breed lists, and private web sites spread the 'news' almost instantly. And sadly the demise of several magazines leaving unfulfilled obligations has forced caution on would-be advertisers.

I think dog showing is returning more and more to the elitist sport it once was. Expenses of showing are rising astronomically. Showing dogs requires disposable income and more and more of it. Motorhomes are costing about a dollar a mile. I think this means two things. One, after the expenses of showing, dollars for advertising what everyone probably already knows is not high on the list. And two, since majors are so hard to find, it is difficult to work up a lot of enthusiasm for advertising a single point win over 7 or 8 dogs. Not when a major used to be 40 or 46 bitches.

Advertising used to be a valuable tool for breeders, who endlessly studied the pedigrees and knew the dogs in them. They studied the photographs, the judges who honored the dogs and learned from them. They watched the get of prospective stud dogs and referred to back issues for ancestors. Today those things are mostly all on the internet. I could be wrong, but from my perspective many less experienced exhibitors seem to allow their handlers to select their stud dogs, often their current specials. I don't presume to judge their decisions, but I believe this shortcuts the selection process and many just don't rely on the research magazines once enhanced.

From the standpoint of the so-called 'elitist' point, which would embrace those who seriously special, this is a whole other sport. While the dogs will most likely ultimately be used for breeding, the goal is breed or all-breed ratings. It's called campaigning for a reason, and in some ways is not unlike the current election process. In this instance the breed fancy is not the target of advertising. No, the judges and the all-breed community are the audience the specialing owner needs to reach. Best In Show competitors need to reach the larger public, which means all-breed publications. By virtue of having been extensively shown, the outstanding animals are already known to the breed community, so advertising them monthly in the single breed magazines is not always the most effective use of the advertising budget.

The editorial content of the magazine is supported by the advertising within. With magazines coming out so often, they are smaller. This naturally limits the length and variety of the articles, though cumulatively, frequency makes up for that overall.

a

[Elaine]

Ann,

I thoroughly enjoyed your post above, you've nailed just about every point dead on, intelligently, objectively, and without hyperbole or emotion.

I agree it seems silly to advertise wins of single points. And even if you wanted to, how often do you even get a photo from a show photographer you can use in an ad? Show Photographers just don't seem to care anymore if the photo is usable or not. Since we want an official record of the win, we tend to buy them anyway, but most are very "unprofessional." There are one or two good photographers, Perry Philips is one that comes to mind... but the majority of the photos we get are a huge disappointment, it's as though the show photographers just don't care. Looking at some we've received you've got to wonder, "What the heck made them snap the photo at that particular moment?" Or, they snap two, and expect one to be usable. Overwhelmingly our informal photos are much better.

Back to your points, you are right about who is advertising, and who they are trying to reach in their ads. Except for breed rankings (e.g. Dobe Top 20 rankings), the size of the entry is irrelevant when the goal is All Breed or Group ranking. Who cares if the Breed entry is only 6 total... when the goal is the Group or BIS win? I have yet to see the ad that says, “We just went BIS ... but the total entry at the show was only 450 dogs.” A GRI is a GRI and a BIS is a BIS. The "target audience" of Group and BIS judges is best reached by Dog News, Dogs In Review, The Chronicle.. etc.

People backing specials (the ones who spend the most on showing and advertising) are focused on attracting the Group and BIS judges... not breed enthusiasts. And, with one notable exception, most people specialing a dog seem to allow the handler to call the shots about when and where the dog is shown, about who the dog is bred to, about how the dog is advertised and about most other details as well. That's expecting one individual to steer the ship, chart the course, and gauge the wind direction, all the while designing new little sail boats... not sure if that is the best example, but my point is that it’s a lot of hats for a single individual to wear. Okay, screw the analogy :p ... but thank you Ann for your contributions to this forum. Your wisdom, experience and insight are treasured. :)

[perfdogs]

I have read the discussion about the print magazines, and agree with both Ann and Elaine. I still show, but much more minimally tha I used to. I have not gone places I normall would have this summer because of gas prices and rocketing expenses at home. I am trying to only go to circuits that are 4 or more days and likely to be majors. I am also sending the dog more often than "taking" her as it tends to be cheaper in the long run, and I am only 2 hrs from the handler (for dorp off and pick up). All of that to say, I have no extra dollars for advertising---print or otherwise.

Elaine, how in the h**** did you get a riding mower into the pond?????? It's got to be an amusing story...........
Sharon

[Elaine]

Elaine, how in the h**** did you get a riding mower into the pond?????? It's got to be an amusing story...........
Sharon
Why, I drove it in. Is there any other way? :p In my defense... the mower is one of those zero turn things... it’s like a lawn mower on speed :D. (looks like the one in the photo below, without the roll barn and the driver). It used to take us about 8 hours to mow, now it seems like we get it all done in 20 minutes... but we’re going 90 miles an hour most of the time... :eek: and there is no real steering... the front wheels are like a grocery cart’s wheels.. they spin in any direction. To turn the mower, you just give it more power on one wheel rear wheel or the other... it's all over the place. Two weeks ago I hit the house with it, then I hit a tree, it was inevitable that I would end up in the pond eventually. Fortunately I was able to pull the mower out of the pond with a garden hose and the one ton diesel dually, which then promptly got stuck at the bottom of the hill, :( but the truck's 4 wheel drive freed the truck... which then ran out of fuel... but I turned it off in time, got a neighbor to run me into town... got some diesel. Other than that it was a beautiful evening. :)And today all is good! Tomorrow is the Fourth of July... a special day for some folks, I’m taking the day off, just gonna play with the dogs. This farm life it killing me.:p

[mosso]

Hey Elaine!

Next time, aim for a Tree! (Go Green!) I find Trees quite handy for stopping tractors when you are faced with plowing down the neighbor's pool (or, in your case, a pond).

Seriously, no steering? EEEK!:eek: