Catalog and Publication Outlook: Finding the Right Mix

While there were some optimistic signs for the magazine and catalog sectors in 2012, many publishers and catalogers still faced rising postal costs, increased supply chain costs, finding the best path to multi-channel integration, and the reshaping of advertisers' mixes.

In 2012, magazine publishers saw a decline in newsstand and single-copy sales, with circulation trends for printed magazines down. But new launches outnumbered closures in both the consumer and business-to-business segments, and there was also an increase in advertising expenditures across many categories. Other good news this year was that page counts stabilized in most areas, while increasing in others. The forecast for ad spending for 2013 also appears to be optimistic.