Sales-Fax

Ad-Fax Media Marketing, Inc.

What We Do

$ALE$-FAX NEWS provides sellers of advertising, sponsorships or marketing services with “must have” intelligence for getting their most competitive proposals to the right people at the right time.

Our Credo

We Interview, We Report; You Sell.

Our History

Laurence Ross founded $ALE$-FAX NEWS in 1993, as $ALE$-FAX, with a vision of what media sellers need most: Really good intelligence to get their proposals to the right people at the right time. Having worked in media planning and account management in advertising, as well as ad sales, he knew that by the time advertising news reached the press, it was usually too late to sell much more than remnants.

Starting out with only a Toshiba laptop and a manual fax machine, the first editions of $ALE$-FAX simply featured new contacts at advertisers and agencies. Early on, however, it became clear that the ad sales industry needed more than names and numbers. Sellers of advertising and sponsorships needed their own brand of news --- that is, who’s in planning now or will be soon. Not, short, vaguely related, news clips, without attribution, but real news, generated by real reporters. To meet this unusual need, reporters who could talk the talk of media planning & buying were recruited from the media industry, especially those who could tap into their relationships in the ad business or make new ones to publish “must have” intelligence for ad sales.

There was an additional catch, however. This news would only be forthcoming in a meaningful way to sellers if buyers could be assured that it was neither sold nor distributed to their competitors. The commitment was made, therefore, to serve as a platform for buyers to “challenge” the media to present their best, most competitive proposals, and to sell and distribute only to sellers. Gourmet, ABC and USA Today were among the first to buy, and many others in every form of media soon followed. Today, 15 years later, by staying true to these principles, we include hundreds of the best known names in media --- all sellers of advertising, sponsorships and related marketing services.

We consider it a great sign of success that we remain the ONLY resource of this kind to publish exclusively for sellers. Others have tried to imitate our product & service, but no one has ever successfully survived to serve this type of seller exclusively.

Importantly, our mission has always led to many innovations in content, technology and service. To help sellers determine who is most likely to seriously evaluate an unsolicited proposal, we introduced, “Protocol.” In this section, advertisers and their agencies tell our reporters to whom, and in what format, they want to hear from those who did not receive an “RFP.” When we went online in 2000, via sales-fax.com, we added an email link called, “e-proposal,” allowing our readers to immediately email a proposal from our site directly to those who permit us to publish their emails. As a news organization, we take the matter of privacy very seriously. We do not publish emails without permission. As a result, we have earned the trust of our sources, and approximately 65% of the articles we publish include emails in Protocol.

When it came to reporting on planning details, we implemented a Q&A format which delivered another innovative form of prospecting intelligence: Key word searches by theme or subject. For example if our readers want to sell around a health-related topic of interest, they can enter “heart” or “diabetes,” and they will get the name of every advertiser we cover who mentions the word. In the process, the results typically reveal targets from prescription drugs to the California Almond Board for its “heart smart” food. “Sports,” “environment”, “anniversary,” “luxury,” and “upscale,” are a few more key words that deliver impressive, often surprising, prospects.

Over the years, others followed with claims or promises to do what we do, but they have yet to catch-up with the depth or quality of our content in its entirety; our strengths in information retrieval; customized data maintenance, or the quality of our service. A few examples are cogent proof: Newswatch^TM, our alert system for updates to the NEWS of the user’s target accounts, allows the reader to indicate which articles are of interest. Then, the next time we publish news on the target, the new article is displayed at the top of the reader’s customized edition. Our Network Management System takes a buddy list, and turns it into an “intranet” for routing articles or “leads” with user comments and archives the exchanges for easy follow-up. Our Executive Edition enables top management to route the news portion of our twice-a-week editions to anyone on the subscriber’s staff.

In 2005 we decided to answer the call of the market for an alternative to directories, databases or advertising telephone books that over promise and under deliver. When we introduced our Power Brand and Power Agency directories, however, we were in for a surprise. So many subscribers asked, "You ARE going to still publish the news aren’t you?” Or, “You do know we do buy $ALE$-FAX for the news don’t you?” Our Editorial Director, Mary Ann Cavlin, wisely said, “We better add NEWS to our name. We don’t want our readers to think we forgot what they look to us for first!”

What we provide today in Power Brands and Agencies includes features that set us distinctly apart from others

1) our profiles of the brands and their agencies are currently active or considered by our reporters to be emerging national or regional players. By carefully screening the 7500 biggest spenders based on TNS reported spending, we deliver currency versus "recency." i.e., rather than simply rely on historic numbers to identify advertising prospects that may have cut spending in this volatile market, we pare this list down to 6,500 brands which our Editorial Director determines to have current potential specifically for our readers. As a news driven product, with measured readership, we know it’s far more important to focus on the brands and categories readers indicate they want than just working off a list 10,000 or more brands based on last year’s spending reports;

2) Any changes to our directories always start with the news, and are posted in as close to real time as possible. Waiting for monthly updates or changes --- that are discovered by way of proactively every 4 – 12 months -- is inadequate in a business where timing and building relationships are every thing; and

3) our decision makers are listed by function, and only those who have the potential to influence the purchase of advertising, sponsorships or marketing service. Names and titles, without descriptions of the individual’s areas of responsibility --- for which there may be several --- is not enough. Sellers need to know not only who they are talking to, but what they do. The same approach is applied to our Power Agency directory, but also features agency type, such as Interactive or Hispanic. Last, but not least, we poll each agency to indicate its most active brands, which are conveniently linked with Power Brands. There is an important, practical reason for this. Agencies use their Web sites to feature their creative, and as a result, typically do not accurately reflect its current clients

Most recently, we introduced, and patented, Sales-Chip^TM. This proprietary technology brings our readers the very latest news, contact & planning information any time they click one of our patented links in any Web-friendly environment, from PC’s to PDAs and any CRM or electronic address book. In fact, Sales-Chip has been a key catalyst in double digit growth for $ALE$-FAX NEWS since its introduction in late 2005. As users learned how easily it can deliver the latest results by category, territory, target, etc. by planning season --- how it can even auto-dial the number of any contact on mobile phones --- individual PC access has become a “must have” personal sales tool.

Throughout its 15 years, $ALE$-FAX NEWS has also led the way in service. Importantly, we assign not one, but two individuals to each account: An experienced senior, corporate sales manager who has significant experience in buying or selling advertising, plus at least one client support person. Both are listed on each user’s Network Management System for quick, accountable communication. We want every subscriber to feel there is a team at $ALE$-FAX NEWS that is their virtual partner when it comes to sales planning, prospecting or CRM help --- all at no extra charge.

Accountability has always been part of our credo. Whether someone has a question regarding what we reported; what they may have been told elsewhere; or the accuracy of our directories, we always welcome inquiries, and report our verifications or corrections promptly. We all know it’s impossible to be right 100% of the time, but we have our own, patented way to get the corrected information to our readers immediately. Any correction is immediately available with the just one click on the brand’s Sales-Chip.

Two things we are proud to say, though, have not changed :

1) $ALE$-FAX NEWS continues to be the only source of its kind to publish exclusively for sellers of advertising, sponsors or marketing services; and

2) Regardless of the media or rate class, everyone’s subscriptions are based one rate card consistently applied. No one who subscribes to $ALE$-FAX NEWS has to wonder if someone else got a better deal.