Press Releases |
Powersports Publisher Brings "VROOM" Video to Web
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Affinity Group, Inc.
Tuesday November 7, 2006
(Minneapolis, Minn.) – As magazine publishers have begun to add video content to their companion websites, Ehlert Publishing Group, Inc. (Ehlert) has launched video programming across all its powersports sites in a big way.
“It’s a natural extension of our print mission,” said Steve Hedlund, Ehlert president, speaking at the American Magazine Conference (AMC) last month in Phoenix, Arizona. “Video brings to life the sound and motion of motorcycling, boating and snowmobiling – everything we do. It adds a whole other dimension to our dialogue with readers.”
Hedlund showed a sample video from one of Ehlert’s sites – www.snogoer.com - at the AMC. He said the initial response to Ehlert’s July launch has been very promising. “Unique visitors to our sites jumped over 50% in August, page views shot up 120%, and time spent on the sites improved by 40%. This is exactly what we are looking for,” said Hedlund. “While we certainly want more visitors, we really hope that readers who are already loyal to our niche magazines will reach deeper and deeper into our website content.”
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, what’s a video worth?” asks Stacey Marmolejo, Ehlert’s senior vice president for marketing and media development. “We’ve already got advertisers building video campaigns customized to our sites. In fact, the CEO of Polaris Industries was featured in a BrandWeek story (see http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/autos/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003283794) describing his unique use of video to challenge the CEOs of competing ATV manufacturers to a race in Las Vegas. Some visitors to our site (www.atvsport.com) loved it, some hated it, but very few were indifferent and it added energy to our content.”
While Ehlert’s video content includes personality interviews, events coverage and product reviews that are customized to each website, it also includes a 3-minute weekly “newscast” called Inside Powersports which runs across all sites.
“Inside Powersports is packaged in a more television-like format than the rest of our content,” says Marmolejo. “By using a TV-trained anchor person, we can move between video stories captured by our writers and print editors on-camera, all while creating an attractive advertising context.”
Ehlert’s web-video initiative drew notice not only at the American Magazine Conference, but it also just earned the 2006 Innovator Award from the Minnesota Magazine and Publications Association at its annual awards program, November 2.
Ehlert publishes 14 powersports (motorcycle, boating, snowmobiling) trade and consumer publications, all with companion websites. Ehlert is a subsidiary of Affinity Group, Inc. (Ventura, CA), the largest media, marketing and retail company serving the outdoor and recreational vehicle (RV) markets. Ehlert’s websites are administered by AGI Interactive, a division of Affinity Group, Inc.
Contact:
Steve Hedlund, President, Ehlert Publishing Group, Inc.
(763) 383-4444, shedlund@ehlertpublishing.com
Julie Calzone, CEO, Calzone & Associates
(337) 235 2924 Extension 3, jcalzone@calzone.com
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