NEW WAYS TO TARGET DEALERS.

Two publishing companies launch magazines and other vehicles to help dealers succeed with new technology such as e-commerce

INTERTEC SAYS IT'S TIME TO APPLY

At a time when there are fewer ag dealers and distributors, you'd imagine there would be fewer publications. If that's what you think, then think again. There actually are more publications entering the category, and one of the newest comes from Intertec Publishing, Minneapolis. January 2001 was the inaugural issue of Apply* magazine.

"The number of dealers are down, but not the number of acres," says Ron Sorensen, publisher of Apply* as well as Farm Industry News. He contends acres are what's important.

Apply* will publish six times a year and will be a publication of Farm Industry News. It will target 15,000 high-volume ag chemical and fertilizer dealers and offer content to help them "achieve profit goals and satisfy their customers." Apply* will reach 15,000 current Farm Industry News readers who do custom chemical or fertilizer application. The plan is that it will be an audited publication and will include job titles and be supported by e-mail and Web addresses.

Intertec sees Apply* as a natural outgrowth of Farm Industry News, which "won its spurs providing large-acreage farmers with new product and technology buying information for the farm." Through Apply*, Intertec hopes to do the same thing for applicators and dealers.

Sorensen says some of the top-end Farm Industry News readers are evolving into dealers. In fact, several thousand of them already provide custom chemical applications for farm operations other than their own. He says it was this discovery that initially led Intertec to investigate the potential for a new publication to retailers and custom applicators.

Intertec conducted ag retail dealer research to determine interest in various editorial categories. The No. 1 category identified in that research was "new products and technology." Ag retail dealers also indicated high levels of interest in "crop production management" and "successful dealership techniques."

Sorensen says the potential of e-commerce will likely affect the way dealerships evolve, and that's one area Apply* editors will monitor carefully.

"Apply* completely describes the mission of the magazine," says Ron Ross, newly appointed editor who had served as associate editor of The Farmer and editor of Irrigation Age. "We will deliver the best new product, technology and industry trend information so Midwest retailers and custom applicators can excel at input buying and service selling."

Like Farm Industry News, Apply* will focus on the 12 north-central states plus Colorado.

"Other books cover the whole market, but we're not trying to cover too much ground," Sorensen says. "These states are the No. 1 market for agricultural chemical and fertilizer sales."

Specifically, Apply* states account for 54.2 percent of the market for ag fertilizer sales and 44.4 percent of ag chemical sales, according to Intertec.

Sorensen says the publication is just one way Intertec intends to bring services to the dealer and applicator group. Intertec Primemedia currently is doing workplace learning with things like closed-circuit training for fire and police. Sorensen expects the Agribusiness Division will utilize those lessons and capabilities within a year for ag dealership training. One possibility is webcast tutorials via the Internet on topics such as restricted-use chemicals. Ultimately, dealers will be able to initiate training sessions at any hour of the day to meet their individual schedules. Testing, evaluation and certification results will be stored on the server.

We're seeing a lot of changes in distribution, and that means we'll continue to see new and innovative approaches by publishing companies. Publications like Apply* are just the beginning.

MEISTER DEVELOPS CYBERDEALER INITIATIVE

It's been said that with change comes opportunity. If that's true, there are opportunities aplenty for companies which support the agricultural dealer/distributor market, with its consolidating numbers and increasing e-business usage. That's why Willoughby, Ohio-based Meister Publishing Co. has launched its CyberDealer Initiative. The company is developing a host of informational and educational tools -- in print, online and in person -- that ag dealers can use to succeed in the emerging world of e-business.

"Economic factors are driving consolidation, but with a smaller number of larger suppliers and farmers, new relationships become important," says Gary Fitzgerald, president of Meister. "Dealers have to come to grips with how they create value and transfer new technologies onto the farm."

Meister's Plant Protection Group, which has responsibility for the new initiative, also supports the ag distribution network with magazines like Farm Chemicals, Farm Chemicals International and the 900+ page Farm Chemicals Handbook. As part of the initiative, Meister will introduce a publication called CyberDealer with a January/February 2001 issue.

CyberDealer is a national publication directed to dealers, distributors and manufacturers, with wider circulation than Farm Chemicals. For example, it also has circulation among grain handlers and processors, whose information needs are changing as they work more with dealers in output management. CyberDealer will have deeper penetration at dealerships by including readers with titles such as precision technology specialist and Web manager.

But the new magazine is only part of the CyberDealer Initiative. While CyberDealer is United States-specific, its Web counterpart, CyberDealerLive.com, services a global audience much like Farm Chemicals International, even though its focus is the U.S. audience.

As part of the CyberDealer Initiative, the company piloted live workshops in December and will introduce "in person" training and seminars. The intent of the workshops and seminars is to provide important market knowledge covering the e-revolution and offer important networking opportunities for dealers to compare products, services and success stories.

"Retail organizations need a partner to help sort out the technology and lead them to the new millennium fully equipped to succeed in the wired world," Fitzgerald says.

The initiative's launch is aided by Meister's recent acquisition of Clear Window MultiMedia of St. Louis. Clear Window was a firm specializing in agricultural publishing, Web site development, video production and public relations.

With the purchase, Meister acquired Dealer Progress magazine, which served the same agricultural dealer/distributor readership as Meister's Farm Chemicals. The final issue of Dealer Progress was published in November 2000, and its most popular features will now be included in Farm Chemicals. Also part of the purchase were Clear Window's annual Precision Agriculture Buyer's Guide and Web site, www.precisonag.com, both of which Meister plans to continue, expand and link with several other Meister Web activities.

K. Elliott Nowels, president of Clear Window MultiMedia, will join Meister at its Willoughby, Ohio, headquarters as vice president of business development. Newels also will be a contributing editor to Farm Chemicals.

Leading the CyberDealer Initiative are Paul Schrimpf, editor of CyberDealer magazine, and Dan Bellanger, business manager. The CyberDealer Initiative is part of Meister's Plant Protection Group, under the executive management of Al Strohmaier, group publisher, and Jim Sulecki, executive editor.

Ten years ago "publishing" meant printed materials. Today, the definition is much broader as publishing companies like Meister explore new opportunities.

Paul Welsh is a freelance copywriter and marketing communications consultant based in Leawood, Kan.