Rance Crain, President, Crain Communications
Crain Communications publishes some 30 business titles, ranging from Advertising Age and Television Week to Automotive News and the newest, Financial Week. One, AutoWeek, is a consumer-oriented magazine with 365,000 circulation. Rance Crain, President of Crain and also Editor-in-Chief of Ad Age, TV Week, Crain's Chicago Business and Crain's New York Business, is a son of the company founder, G.D. Crain Jr. After the latter's death in 1973, his widow Gertrude served as chairman for 23 years. Ad Age, the company's flagship, began publishing in January 1930, during the Great Depression.
Q. What's the most important issue or concern facing the advertising community today, and for the longer term?A. No one knows where everything is going to end up. There's a lot of tentativeness among advertisers and media. Is it going to be video on websites? Is it video on mobile phones? Is it video on the sides of buildings? Nobody knows. For the longer term, one concern is the ubiquity of advertising. With product placements and other developments, advertising is showing up everywhere. Eventually, there's going to be negative reaction from consumers due to the fact they just can't get away from it. People are pretty accepting of advertising on traditional media – television, magazines, newspapers. But in unexpected places, it's jarring.
Q. The Torino Olympics did well on the web, not so much on TV, in part due to the six-hour time difference with the East Coast. Might the 2010 Vancouver Olympics – whose three-hour time difference will likely mean more live coverage – fare better in the TV ratings? A. I think it probably will. The nearer to the actual time of events, the better it is. I do think websites are going to become more and more important, too. We look at our own sites as worldwide television stations. It brings a whole new dimension to our business. This is probably the most exciting time since I've been in publishing.
Q. A few weeks ago, you donned your reporter's hat again when you covered the IAA (International Advertising Association) World Congress in your online "Dispatches from Dubai." How often do you do that kind of reporting? A. I don't get to do that too often, but I very much enjoy it. In Dubai, I was our only reporter there. It was a lot of fun. I forgot how much I enjoy being a reporter.
Q. You used to be an all-night deejay occasionally at some radio stations. How did that come about, and do you still do that? A. I always wanted to do that. (Laughs) It's a Walter Mitty kind of thing. I'd go to an Ad Club and say, "I'd be glad to speak there if you arrange my being an all-night deejay at one of the radio stations in your city." Then I'd come armed with my 45s from the '50s and "help lonely women get through the night," as I used to say on-air. I did it in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Billings, Montana; and Middletown, New York. But I haven't done it lately.
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