Marketing magazine and CARD staffs merged

Rogers Media Inc. is merging the staffs of its Canadian Advertising Rates and Data (CARD) directory and Marketing magazine. There will be a full integration of the two brands, with primary focus on the linking of their websites and online services.

Chris Loudon, the editor-in-chief of Marketing magazine, has been promoted to publisher and CARD publisher Bruce Richards will assume additional duties as associate publisher of Marketing. Carol Eby, director of sales and marketing for Marketing, becomes associate publisher, sales and marketing for both. Over all editorial management will be handled by Paul Ferriss, who is promoted to executive editor.

“In 2008 the websites will be more closely linked, but as for the print there will be no changes,” Loudon told mastheadonline (sub req'd). Richards said, in the same report, that the two publications share the same advertisers.

CARD is the monthly "bible" that publishes data about virtually every magazine, daily and community newspaper, radio and television station and networks, ad agency and buying service in Canada. Marketing is a business-to-business magazine with a paid circulation of about 12,000, concentrating on advertising and media. It will be turning 100 next year and recently went through a thorough-going redesign and resizing and reduced its frequency to be a biweekly.

(It will be interesting to see whether the CARD directory, which is both a fat print directory and a searchable online service -- both by hefty subscription -- will continue as a monthly, or as a print publication at all. Its US equivalent, Standard Rate and Data Service (SRDS) reduced its publishing frequency to quarterly last year.)

Loudon has had an interesting ride at Rogers, launching its Hello! magazine edition as editor, then being terminated, then being rehired as editor of Marketing. Before that he was with Inside Entertainment (Kontent Publishing) and was editor of TV Guide (Transcontinental).