You could definitely call it “a founder’s meeting” for our ambassador program. We were a small group of people who seemed to be cut from the same cloth. And this was really amazing for me, as I had not focused on this aspect when I was contacting the guys whether they want to join our program. On Friday night we went to our favorite Italian restaurant and had lots of fun with quite some red wine. The dynamics of the group seemed promising for the next day.
Saturday morning we met in our office. We were all in a good mood and highly motivated to fill our empty frame with some essential cues for the program. After a brief self-introduction of all participants intense hours of idea exchange followed.

First of all we mutually agreed upon that everybody’s own life history is essential for getting things to work. Everybody has got a job, private interests, maybe a family, a life in sports and on top of this to put yet another point on the agenda would simply make the program fail. Therefore we tried to extract from everybody’s everyday schedule where biestmilch could fit in without consuming extra energy. We agreed that it needs a certain time of training to get used to the fact that biestmilch is your new everyday companion.

To support this identification process we shall design a special logo and create other tools making it easier for all of us not to loose the biestmilch track when it comes to the sometimes overwhelming everyday routines again.

Except Reinhard who is a surfer from the bottom of his heart all the guys are involved in triathlon, but beside this life focus there are other territories which matter for them. To be aware of the fact that biestmilch is not only a triathlon thing but got properties that give it a position in its own right in many other situations be it all kinds of health hazards from allergy to tumor or preventive approaches were a another important concern.

Networking is one of the essential tools to be successful as an ambassador, and thus recruiting more people is very important. We started to work on a list of potential ambassadors. We also agreed that growth has to start around our current ambassadors and biest athletes. The nodes of the network should be as dense as possible not to loose contact, because the farther the distance the more difficult it is for a signal to arrive unmodified or at least recognizable. In the near future ambassadors, biest athletes and selected stores hopefully form a dense regional network.
Concrete activities were already outlined. Karsten, Wolfi and Mario are working in training camps. They are going to take biestmilch with them and telling its exciting story. Moreover we were discussing activities around triathlon events and triathlon stores.

An important issue was to intertwine all our digital platforms (websites and blogs etc.), to exchange topics on a monthly basis, and present the different views of the group members on the same topic… which could be inspiring for dialog and discussion.

There is still a lot to do and discuss. Our next meeting is planned for April 10, and we hope that our English speaking BA’s find the time to join then.

Magazine newsstand sales plummeted 9% in the second half of the year compared to last year. Certain popular titles like Newsweek, Time, and W took it particularly hard, losing more than 30% of newsstand sales.

While these sales aren't make-or-break for magazines, they contribute a fatter profit than subscriptions, since most subscriptions are sold at a discount to the cover price.

This decline in sales explains, in part, why media companies are praying at the altar of the iPad and other tablets. The market for applications is gaining steam at the same time the market for physical magazines is dying. If publishers can get into the biggest online newsstands in the world, the theory goes, they can regain some of the vanishing sales.

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