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THE JANESVILLE GAZETTE INSTALLS PBS MEDIAPLUS® CIRCULATION AND PBS MEDIAPLUS® BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
More Sophisticated Reporting, Better Integrated Operations
Minneapolis, MN – March 9, 2006 – Publishing Business Systems, North America’s leading source for integrated enterprise-wide newspaper business software systems, today announced that The Janesville Gazette has licensed PBS MediaPlus® Circulation, MediaPlus® Circulation InSight, MediaPlus® List MatchPlus and MediaPlus® iServices Subscriber. Also licensed are MediaPlus® General Ledger, MediaPlus® Accounts Payable and MediaPlus® Bank Book from the company’s MediaPlus® Business solutions suite.
The Janesville Gazette is the dominant source of news and advertising in southern Wisconsin. The Gazette also publishes GazetteExtra.com, an online edition that is updated daily with news stories and classified advertising from the print edition. GazetteExtra.com also provides exclusive online directories and other Internet marketing services such as custom Web site design to link businesses and customers. The Gazette and GazetteExtra.com are owned by Bliss Communications Inc., a family–owned company that operates newspapers, radio stations and Web sites in Wisconsin, Illinois and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The Gazette was looking to better serve its customers. “Customer service reps can make or break relationships with subscribers,” said Mary Jo Villa, circulation director, the Gazette. “Thanks to PBS, our reps now will have an easy–to–use tool that will help improve customer satisfaction and increase customer retention.”
That tool is MediaPlus Circulation, a comprehensive, revenue–generating system that expertly manages the entire circulation business cycle, from processing subscriber information to delivering the newspaper. MediaPlus Circulation includes tools to increase sales, manage returns and create, test and analyze direct marketing campaigns.
The Gazette will also install:
- Circulation InSight, a robust analysis and reporting application that uses circulation data to help newspapers understand and grow their business
- List MatchPlus, which makes it easy to upload demographic and other data for prospecting, direct marketing and more
- iServices Subscriber, a self–service application that allows new subscribers to start subscriptions and empowers existing subscribers to manage their account information online
In addition to the PBS circulation solutions, The Janesville Gazette and Bliss Communications’ other papers also licensed PBS MediaPlus Business solutions: General Ledger, a point–and–click financial information system; Accounts Payable, a comprehensive cash management system; and Bank Book, an easy–to–use bank reconciliation tool.
“We considered a number of competitors, but chose PBS because of the ability to integrate circulation with such robust accounting solutions,” said Villa. The Gazette also wanted user–friendly products that would be easy for employees to learn. “Many companies have analytic tools that sit on top of their applications,” explained Villa. “But they’re often so complicated. PBS solutions, including basic screen structures, are easy to understand and use, which means our customer service reps will be happier and more productive.”
In choosing PBS, Villa also cited the company’s implementation process. “PBS adjusted its implementation process to our specific needs and clearly spelled out every step of the process, even before we signed the contract,” said Villa. “PBS gave us a detailed timeline and is helping us stay on track. As a result, our implementation is going smoothly.”
MediaPlus Circulation, available with Oracle® or Progress database compatibility, is being installed on Progress for the Gazette.
