Disney Publishing Worldwide said today it is rebranding FamilyFun magazine into an integrated, multi-platform set of products, and is renaming the print edition Disney FamilyFun.
According to group vice president and general manager Aparna Pande, it was important to more clearly connect the FamilyFun brand with the Disney name. “There is real value in uniting ‘Disney’ and ‘FamilyFun’ so that readers and advertisers immediately identify and benefit from our rich legacy and positive association with families.”
Disney also said it will change the name of its U.S. consumer magazine publishing division to the Disney FamilyFun Group.
As part of the rebranding, Disney expects the FamilyFun Group to roll out a number of branded initiatives this year, including a custom publishing division, a line of family cookbooks and a series of special interest publications, the first being a Halloween-themed book-a-zine.
No “material changes” are immediately planned for FamilyFun’s Web site, Pande told FOLIO:. Pande joined Disney last summer after serving as general manager of Meredith’s Parenthood Group.
In January, Disney said it would shutter three-year-old Wondertime magazine with its March issue. In February, Disney upped FamilyFun’s rate base from 2 million to 2.1 million.
In addition to FamilyFun, Disney publishes 350,000-circ Spanish speaking quarterly Disney en Familia, which launched last fall.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Rodale Seeks to Block Release of ‘Trade Secrets’ in Florida
Rodale recently filed a petition with a Florida circuit court challenging the state attorney general’s decision to release information that was gathered about the Men’s Health publisher as part of an ongoing investigation into its sales and marketing practices.
The petition, filed last month, seeks to prohibit the attorney general’s office from “releasing, in response to a public records request, Rodale’s protected trade secret documents and proprietary confidential business information” that the publisher was subpoenaed to produce.
According to the office of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, it is investigating “several negative option marketing methods allegedly employed by Rodale, including automatic shipments and automatic subscription renewals, and whether the marketing materials for these methods adequately disclose terms and conditions.” The office said it also is looking into whether Rodale “sends consumers merchandise that has not been ordered.”
The investigation has been ongoing since February 2008.
"We are cooperating with the Florida attorney general's office on their request for information and have provided relevant materials," Paul McGinley, Rodale’s senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement to FOLIO:. "We have filed a petition with the court to prevent disclosure of the information we submitted to the attorney general to a third party as we believe the bulk of this information is proprietary and confidential. Any information that includes customer names is highly sensitive."
McGinley added: "Our practices are compliant with the law. We have had marketing materials reviewed by outside counsel consistently for several years.”
It was not immediately clear when a ruling on Rodale’s petition would be made.
The petition, filed last month, seeks to prohibit the attorney general’s office from “releasing, in response to a public records request, Rodale’s protected trade secret documents and proprietary confidential business information” that the publisher was subpoenaed to produce.
According to the office of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, it is investigating “several negative option marketing methods allegedly employed by Rodale, including automatic shipments and automatic subscription renewals, and whether the marketing materials for these methods adequately disclose terms and conditions.” The office said it also is looking into whether Rodale “sends consumers merchandise that has not been ordered.”
The investigation has been ongoing since February 2008.
"We are cooperating with the Florida attorney general's office on their request for information and have provided relevant materials," Paul McGinley, Rodale’s senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement to FOLIO:. "We have filed a petition with the court to prevent disclosure of the information we submitted to the attorney general to a third party as we believe the bulk of this information is proprietary and confidential. Any information that includes customer names is highly sensitive."
McGinley added: "Our practices are compliant with the law. We have had marketing materials reviewed by outside counsel consistently for several years.”
It was not immediately clear when a ruling on Rodale’s petition would be made.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Bret Michaels injured by set piece at the Tonys
Rock singer Bret Michaels had a run-in with some stage scenery at the Tony Awards.
Michaels, star of the reality show "Rock of Love," took to the stage with his hair-metal band Poison during the telecast's opening production number, featuring performances from the season's Broadway musicals.
They performed "Nothin' But a Good Time" with the cast of "Rock of Ages," and as Michaels exited the stage, a descending set piece smacked him on the head and knocked him to the ground.
Tonys spokeswoman Christina Stejskal says the rocker "missed his mark." Though it looked it, he did not break his nose. Stejskal did not immediately know the extent of his injury.
"Rock of Ages" celebrates 1980s hair music and features songs by Journey and other bands. It stars Constantine Maroulis as an aspiring rock star.
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