Friday, June 20, 2003
Week IV (cont'd)
1. Neglected to mention an additional detail about my trip to our satellite office on 6/18: I learned about a new, rapidly growing system which uploads tearsheets to the Internet. Called itearsheets.com, the site allows you to view tearsheets in .pdf format. A high-res. image of the entire paper is uploaded (and the tearsheets, of course, are contained within). So far the only papers that are involved are: Cleveland Plain Dealer, Columbus Dispatch, Deseret News, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Sun, Salt Lake Tribune, and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. One great feature allows us to view competitive tearsheets as well - great for taking the pulse of our market!
2. Follow-Ups: a) Still waiting for a call back from the rep @ the magazine, the one with which I was negotiating. b) Have decided to give the reps through the weekend, until Monday morning, to send me the requested contract information. If I don't receive it by that time I will start a new round of follow-ups to procure the needed documents.
3. Began pulling rankers for the new AJ Wright GO's in Arbitron. Next week I will input this information, after analyzing it in depth, into our media plan. I am essentially looking for the stations that have a pronounced presence within a 5- mile radius of our GO, compared against the metro market as a whole. I will then break down the Dayparts by percentage (i.e.- 10% Morning 30% Prime) etc. These stats, along with AQH, are then included in the media plan for consideration.
4. Received two FedEx's from two of our vendors. These were delivered in response to the Newspaper Project that I helped to initiate a few weeks ago (today, the 20th, was the deadline to receive information). I was extremely impressed by the ROP and lineage figures that were pulled as well as the CMR research that they had on hand.
5. Received more signed contracts and rate verifications.
6. Met with our rep from the Boston Herald, with whom I have previously spoken with on the phone, during a brief meeting.
1. Neglected to mention an additional detail about my trip to our satellite office on 6/18: I learned about a new, rapidly growing system which uploads tearsheets to the Internet. Called itearsheets.com, the site allows you to view tearsheets in .pdf format. A high-res. image of the entire paper is uploaded (and the tearsheets, of course, are contained within). So far the only papers that are involved are: Cleveland Plain Dealer, Columbus Dispatch, Deseret News, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Sun, Salt Lake Tribune, and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. One great feature allows us to view competitive tearsheets as well - great for taking the pulse of our market!
2. Follow-Ups: a) Still waiting for a call back from the rep @ the magazine, the one with which I was negotiating. b) Have decided to give the reps through the weekend, until Monday morning, to send me the requested contract information. If I don't receive it by that time I will start a new round of follow-ups to procure the needed documents.
3. Began pulling rankers for the new AJ Wright GO's in Arbitron. Next week I will input this information, after analyzing it in depth, into our media plan. I am essentially looking for the stations that have a pronounced presence within a 5- mile radius of our GO, compared against the metro market as a whole. I will then break down the Dayparts by percentage (i.e.- 10% Morning 30% Prime) etc. These stats, along with AQH, are then included in the media plan for consideration.
4. Received two FedEx's from two of our vendors. These were delivered in response to the Newspaper Project that I helped to initiate a few weeks ago (today, the 20th, was the deadline to receive information). I was extremely impressed by the ROP and lineage figures that were pulled as well as the CMR research that they had on hand.
5. Received more signed contracts and rate verifications.
6. Met with our rep from the Boston Herald, with whom I have previously spoken with on the phone, during a brief meeting.
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Week IV (cont'd)
1. A few co-workers are going on a Market Facts trip to Chicago to scout out some of our pre-existing AJ Wright stores (store checks) but mainly to visit three new stores that have opened up in '03 (some of them more recently). To that end I pulled up our map tool in iAnalyze which allowed me to plot all of our AJ Wright stores, along with there trade radii, etc. I was also asked to overlay that map with any demographics we have (a tall order since we have complete up-to-date demos ranging from Lifestyles and Values --> Ethnicity and Gender). While pursuing these interests I ran into a few small problems that needed to be rectified along the way. I am in the process of fixing them and will then continue my work.
2. Received more signed contracts and rate verifications.
3. Attended weekly status meeting, received some additional duties.
4. Finally completed ROP Rate Card. It is completely ready for distribution among the department etc.
5. The required software still has not been installed on my machine, however I was able to get the login/password to my co-worker's computer in order to access Abritron. I should have the opportunity to pull radio rankers etc tomorrow.
6. I was asked to watch a TJX movie called "Life of a Red Blouse," a short film which outlines the supply and distribution channels for the company's divisions. It is required that all employees (with the exception of interns and, perhaps, temps) view it as part of their orientation process. From what I've heard it's a fantastic training/enlightenment tool.
1. A few co-workers are going on a Market Facts trip to Chicago to scout out some of our pre-existing AJ Wright stores (store checks) but mainly to visit three new stores that have opened up in '03 (some of them more recently). To that end I pulled up our map tool in iAnalyze which allowed me to plot all of our AJ Wright stores, along with there trade radii, etc. I was also asked to overlay that map with any demographics we have (a tall order since we have complete up-to-date demos ranging from Lifestyles and Values --> Ethnicity and Gender). While pursuing these interests I ran into a few small problems that needed to be rectified along the way. I am in the process of fixing them and will then continue my work.
2. Received more signed contracts and rate verifications.
3. Attended weekly status meeting, received some additional duties.
4. Finally completed ROP Rate Card. It is completely ready for distribution among the department etc.
5. The required software still has not been installed on my machine, however I was able to get the login/password to my co-worker's computer in order to access Abritron. I should have the opportunity to pull radio rankers etc tomorrow.
6. I was asked to watch a TJX movie called "Life of a Red Blouse," a short film which outlines the supply and distribution channels for the company's divisions. It is required that all employees (with the exception of interns and, perhaps, temps) view it as part of their orientation process. From what I've heard it's a fantastic training/enlightenment tool.
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Week IV (cont'd)
1. Inputted TMC's into iBuy - rather lengthy process. I also found that many vendors/reps submitted incomplete or confusing information. This necessitated my calling them, which, in a way, completely negated the success of asking them to submit information in writing.
2. Began following up with the reps that I contacted last week. Received a few more contracts and rate verifications.
3. Went to our satellite office up the block - AJ Wright is housed there, and more pertinent to my 'mission,' Expenses Payable. I picked up tearsheets for half a dozen major newspapers in the major AJ Wright DMA's.
4. Finally, we had a meeting scheduled with two of our reps from the Boston Herald but one of my coworkers was sick and the other was out on vacation, so we rescheduled for next week (TBD).
1. Inputted TMC's into iBuy - rather lengthy process. I also found that many vendors/reps submitted incomplete or confusing information. This necessitated my calling them, which, in a way, completely negated the success of asking them to submit information in writing.
2. Began following up with the reps that I contacted last week. Received a few more contracts and rate verifications.
3. Went to our satellite office up the block - AJ Wright is housed there, and more pertinent to my 'mission,' Expenses Payable. I picked up tearsheets for half a dozen major newspapers in the major AJ Wright DMA's.
4. Finally, we had a meeting scheduled with two of our reps from the Boston Herald but one of my coworkers was sick and the other was out on vacation, so we rescheduled for next week (TBD).
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Week IV (cont'd)
1. Still waiting for my copies of Arbitron and SQAD so I can get started on a much-anticipated project.
2. Continued closing out contracts. Finished calling every single rep., waiting for many promised documents and returned calls.
3. Began receiving and organizing TMC information. Performed supplementary research via iAnalyze. Will begin inputting into iBuy today.
4. Invited, by my superior, to accompany her and select co-workers to do a market fact/store pre-check in a week or two. This is basically a scouting trip to view a new location, note some visual demographics, visit with the radio stations (they will eventually do live remote broadcasts for the GO), etc. I'm looking forward to the trip for two reasons: one - it will allow me to take some much-needed time out of the office and away from my desk. two - there is no substitute for hands-on, in-the-field experience. It should be great!
5. Used Geocode to pull "longs" and "lats" for some TJMaxx GO's. Added them to iAnalyze.
6. Put finishing touches on the TJMaxx Rate Comparison project.
1. Still waiting for my copies of Arbitron and SQAD so I can get started on a much-anticipated project.
2. Continued closing out contracts. Finished calling every single rep., waiting for many promised documents and returned calls.
3. Began receiving and organizing TMC information. Performed supplementary research via iAnalyze. Will begin inputting into iBuy today.
4. Invited, by my superior, to accompany her and select co-workers to do a market fact/store pre-check in a week or two. This is basically a scouting trip to view a new location, note some visual demographics, visit with the radio stations (they will eventually do live remote broadcasts for the GO), etc. I'm looking forward to the trip for two reasons: one - it will allow me to take some much-needed time out of the office and away from my desk. two - there is no substitute for hands-on, in-the-field experience. It should be great!
5. Used Geocode to pull "longs" and "lats" for some TJMaxx GO's. Added them to iAnalyze.
6. Put finishing touches on the TJMaxx Rate Comparison project.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Week IV
1. Followed up with more of the reps to clear contract folders and gather missing or incorrect misinformation (after I verified the rates in iBuy).
2. Thought about strategy and approach in final negotiation with the publication I've been working with. Will complete negotiations today - I promised myself I will get the rate that I want. Rep. decided to play some hardball, will call me back later in the week when she mulls over my offer.
3. Contacted seven vendors to secure TMC information. I will take this info. and input it into iBuy so that we can make visual cost-analysis for these TMC's.
4. Working with Helpdesk to get copies of Arbitron and SQAD for my machine so that I can begin pulling "rankers" for some upcoming GO's.
1. Followed up with more of the reps to clear contract folders and gather missing or incorrect misinformation (after I verified the rates in iBuy).
2. Thought about strategy and approach in final negotiation with the publication I've been working with. Will complete negotiations today - I promised myself I will get the rate that I want. Rep. decided to play some hardball, will call me back later in the week when she mulls over my offer.
3. Contacted seven vendors to secure TMC information. I will take this info. and input it into iBuy so that we can make visual cost-analysis for these TMC's.
4. Working with Helpdesk to get copies of Arbitron and SQAD for my machine so that I can begin pulling "rankers" for some upcoming GO's.
