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| Welcome to the Circulation Blog! This blog is devoted to newspaper execs charged with marketing the newspaper to readers. It focuses on topics related to building readership, improving operations, and audience metrics. We encourage single copy and home delivery stories that demonstrate audience growth and/or increase revenues. If it is circulation or audience related, we want to hear about and share it with your colleagues.
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Success Selling Subscriptions through the Groupon Sales Channel
The leveraging the Groupon relationship may be the newest subscription sales channel success story. It has been reported that magazines and newspapers are using social discounting websites such as Groupon and Crowdity to rein in new subscriptions and the Chicago Tribune can document some early success.
It takes an aggressive offer and the Chicago Tribune picked a Sunday home delivery offer that was sure to get a response. In the Groupon world this is critical because the deal only goes through if a minimum number of people subscribe. In July the Chicago Tribune put up a one-year Sunday only subscription for $13 and required that 200 people subscribe to offer the deal. The 75% off opportunity generated 7,494 subscriptions.
It is worth noting that Groupon takes a 50% cut of the profit from the initial subscriptions. After a just a couple of weeks about half the members who responded have taken the step to contact The Chicago Tribune to activate the subscriptions. They have six months to start their orders with the Tribune, and the newspaper is looking forward to hearing from the rest as the get no name or delivery information from Groupon and have to wait for the subscribers to contact the paper.
The Washington Post also posted an offer and sold 3,365 subscriptions. For $10 you can get 20 weeks of Sunday home delivery of The Washington Post (a $40 value).
Sources: NAA, WAN, Nieman
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AOL Plans Expansion to More Than 500 Communities This Year As Hyper Local Competition Heat Up
This week's announcement of Patch's 100th site, Morristown Patch, included plans to roll out more than 500 U.S. neighborhoods in 20 states by the end of this year. Currently sites are up and running in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia with plans to expand Patch's reach into more than a dozen new states including Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.
Every Patch site's are run by at least one professional local editor who supervises a group of freelancers with the community rounding out the content which includes local photos, announcements, opinion postings and a community calendar.
Hyper Local is becoming increasingly competitive as the players seek to make the business plan work. Last month the New York Times' made the decision to leave the market and turned over its hyper local sites covering three towns in New Jersey to another hyper local player Baristanet as , reported by Poynter. Baristanet has been growing for nearly 6 years will expand from 90,000 residents to 150,000 with the addition of the Times' audience.
Gannett newspapers have also been operating and testing InJersey in New Jersey, which fits the ideal hyper local profile of being a multitude of small communities, with some success . InJersey sites number more than a dozen and provide hyperlocal news about specific New Jersey communities and are run by writers and editors from teams at Gannett's newspapers in the area including Cherry Hill, Morristown and Asbury Park.
The New York Times picked a couple New Jersey communities two years ago and launched their experiment with hyperlocal journalism with two full-time reporters, an editor, and some additional support services. The effort built an audience, but like all of the sites so far, monetizing the projects remains more challenging which makes the AOL effort newsworthy.
The hyper local site's competition is the local or community newspaper, in print and online, for both audience and local advertising revenue. The question, perhaps the opportunity that AOL brings to the formula is the potential of selling adverting from outside of the community.
Sources: NAA, Poynter, AOL, TIME
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Keeping the Value Story Top of Mind - The Courier-Journal & Meijers
In Louisville the strategy is to work together to drive single copy sales and promote the total value of the manufacturers' coupons contained in each Sunday's paper.
This value is prominently positioned in the masthead on the front page of each Sunday edition. Dynamic email blasts are deployed to subscribers and non-subscribers each Friday, alerting residents of the money that can be saved by purchasing a Sunday paper. Rack cards are printed and positioned in select retail locations to draw the attention of shoppers. Digital promotion is underway using Twitter, Facebook, courier-journal.com and Moms Like Me. The newspaper also capitalizes on the coupon value in telemarketing scripts and at kiosks selling new subscriptions.
The goals for a recent initiative were three-fold - generate single copy sales, sell new subscriptions and retain current subscribers. Promoting the value of the coupons on the front page of Sunday's paper reinforces the enormous impact that our newspaper can have on a typical household budget. The message is that the Courier Journal is actively helping consumers save money at a time when every dollar counts.
Regional retailer Meijer ‘s 11 locations provide The Courier-Journal excellent sales locations on Sunday to support the coupon promotion.
Meijer has participated in the discount Sunday promotions and numerous other promotions throughout the years which has added inside rack presence with the Sunday and Daily. The retailer has also been a 3rd party sponsor over the years with the Kentucky Derby events and their store management supports the newspaper's Kiosk program for home delivery and has been a supporter of NIE.
The Coupon promotion is on-going. The Courier Journal's relationship has remained strong with Meijer and the store managers. Meijer Sunday is up 205 units or 17.3% YOY. The sales per outlet have increased 35.8 units YOY for the 11 Meijer. Meijer management sees the value in the coupon POP with their customers.
The promotion is very straightforward utilizing POP and the coupon value of the newspaper. Customers notice the value of the newspaper coupons which is targeted in the POP on the racks and the of masthead of the newspaper. This has resulted in enhanced newspaper sales for Meijer which equates to traffic and has positioned Meijer as an excellent destination to use the coupons.
Capturing the occasional reader has become more challenging, and success in single copy today means overcoming more obstacles. Single copy 2010: Overcoming obstacles to optimize sales .
NAA's just released publication, available free to NAA members, is part of NAA's Successful Circulation Strategies series and features a cross section of newspaper marketers discussing the most pressing issues, as well as what's working in their markets. There are success stories, some unanswered questions to consider and effective promotions or sales idea that you can apply in your own market. Click here for your free copy.
Source: NAA Merchandiser of the Year
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A small number of publishers are preparing to launch apps in local markets-which is still uncharted territory for Apple's tablet.
The iPad is considered a huge consumer electronics hit, with 3 million units sold in the first 80 days after launch. But the newspaper strategy for serving iPad users is still taking shape. Should newspapers invest in the creation of dedicated apps for a still relatively small installed base, or rely on the enhanced browsing experience of the tablet device? A new report, "Local Newspaper iPad Strategies: Apps vs. Browsers," examines practices from different newspaper companies with iPad and other tablet users in mind.
The nation's three largest newspapers saw immediate results from developing applications for Apple Computer's iPad, which sold three million units in the first 80 days after its April launch. Now a small group of publishers are preparing to launch iPad products targeted at local markets, offering a potential roadmap for how other newspapers could take advantage of the device. But is investing in dedicated iPad apps the right strategy for local newspapers?
This white paper explores how several newspaper companies are approaching these new devices. MORE
Source: NAA
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Newspaper Marketers Have Options on Qualifying Digital Editions As Paid Circulation
This past week the Audit Bureau of Circulations posted additional details and illustrations regarding the qualifications of digital editions following the July 2010 ABCs Board meeting. ABC's Preparing for October 2010 support center has been updated with new information so members can now find definitions, qualification standards and examples of digital hybrid and bundled subscription offers.
 There has been considerable discussion regarding the new definitions and qualifications of the digital editions that now comprise more than 5% of total US daily circulation. The changes are timed to coincide with the sweeping qualification and reporting changes set to become effective October 1st. ABC has also posted guides that include the definition of a hybrid subscription, the sale of a print and digital delivery package to an individual when the newspaper only intends to claim one circulation unit as paid each day, and a bundled subscription which is the sale of a print and digital delivery package, or a package of multiple digital editions, to an individual when the newspaper intends to claim multiple circulation units on any day. The site also details the qualification standards regarding payment options and access of the digital subscription by the consumer. Last month the ABC Board approved and released the prototype of the new Publisher's statement. Newspaper marketers can now take their newspaper current statements and plug the numbers into the new format to give themselves a preview and insight into how their numbers will look in light of the new rule changes.
NAA maintains a resource page for its members on these changes to assist members as they prepare for the move to the new circulation definitions and reporting requirements.
Source: NAA, ABC
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The Florida Times-Union's Long Standing Relationship Transcends Promotions
The Florida Times-Union and Gate Petroleum share deep roots in the Jacksonville community and have managed that common trait into a long standing mutual relationship.
The marketing staff at the newspapers will quickly tell you that Gate has helped grow their long standing co-promotions, supported new promotions and lead the newspaper to new sales and promotional partners. They explain that "the Gate organization is always open for new suggestions, supportive when the newspaper goes to them with ideas and then excellent at helping when the time comes to implement the promotion". Being so accessible and supportive has given the newspaper a great partner who is always be game for new sales ideas.
The Florida Times-Union successfully runs co-promotions with Gate Petroleum on a bi-monthly basis. Together they have offered a discounted coffee and newspaper six times a year .
This was the beginning of the relationship that has flourished within the past two years. Recently, The Florida Times-Union developed a promotion to raise *** cancer awareness in Northeast Florida by printing the newspaper on pink newsprint. Gate was a major sponsor, allowing the newspaper to solicit donations in acrylic boxes throughout 38 locations, forfeiting their profit on "pink" day.
This promotion raised $1,606.13 in donations to Komen N. Florida and helped with the overall success of the promotion. As well, they opened the door to a major partner Krispy Kreme, to do a promotion selling coffee, donuts and newspapers at a discounted rate at all Gate locations.
The relationship with Gate lends new ideas for monthly co-promotions and increases in newspaper sales.
Promotions are generally every other month and generally, newspaper experiences a 10% increase in sales during the promotion period accounting for approximately 200 more copies sold per day. Gate receives ad placement both in paper and online as well as in some ancillary products like the SMC product which reaches all area non-subscribers, driving additional traffic to their stores and an increase in both coffee and paper purchases.
During the most recent October promotion, the number of papers sold on "pink" day exceeded 20% of a typical Saturday.
Although the promotions yield more paper sales for the Times-Union, the residual sales and sustained sales are often higher at Gate stores than other local area convenient stores. The Florida Times-Union attributes this to the strong relationship they have with the upper-management at Gate and their ability to pass on to the local store leve their desire to maintain that rapport.
All of these factors that make the relationship work added up to the decision by the judges to award Gate Petroleum the NAA Merchandiser of the Year award this past year.
Source: NAA Merchandiser of the Year Award Winner
‘FREE to all NAA Members'
FInd more examples of building relationships with retailers in the just released; Single Copy 2010: Overcoming Obstacles to Optimize Sales
Newspapers are responding to the current challenges in marketing single copy. The strategy is to Optimize Sales and Enhance Revenue by Leveraging Retail Relationships,Pricing Strategies, and Distribution Alliances.
Capturing the occasional reader has become more challenging and success in single copy today means overcoming more obstacles. In this latest publication in the NAA Successful Circulation Strategies series you will find a cross section of newspaper marketers discussing the most pressing issues and then sharing what is working for them.
There are some success stories, some unanswered questions to consider and maybe an effective promotion or sales idea that you can apply in your own market.
Click on here to download the book.
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New Reports Approved and Qualification Rules for Digital Editions Upated
At its July 21-23rd meeting the ABC board of directors gave final approval to the NAA/ABC Vision Committee's recommended Publisher's Statement and an updated U.S. FAS-FAX prototype . The Board also moved forward on new standards it established for qualifying and reporting print/digital hybrid and bundled subscriptions. Newspaper members can find the details about those digital qualifications on ABC's website. These changes are also significant and will be finalized to coincide with the already approved sweeping changes effective this coming October 1st. The ABC board of directors also approved a number of related rule changes and members can find a complete summary of all the actions taken by the ABC board on board actions summary page of the ABC site.
In a communication to members ABC President and Managing Director Mike Lavery stated "The new U.S. newspaper Publisher's Statement prototype reflects the evolutionary changes many newspapers are undergoing as they expand their brands beyond print-only editions to multiple platforms and ad channels". The newly designed Publisher Statement and FAS-FAX reports are also the manifestation of the three year phase of the industry's substantive change in ABC qualification and reporting that culminates October 1st.
The first page of the new newspaper Publisher's Statement allows newspapers to optionally present a summary that highlights their total average paid and verified circulation, Audience-FAX readership data and publishing plans for a variety of products. If the newspaper elects to use this page 1 summary, the inside pages of the report in new detail the circulation for the print newspaper, its digital editions- including any and all platforms ranging from the e-replica editions to and mobile distribution, and whatever branded editions the newspaper chooses to report as audited circulation. These may include targeted paid or free newspapers, alternate-language newspapers, community newspapers, or Sunday opt-in publications.
With the approval and release of the prototype newspaper marketers can now take the most recent Publisher's statement for their newspaper and plug the numbers into the new format to give themselves a preview and insight into how their numbers will look in light of the new rule changes. NAA maintains a resource page for its members on these changes to assist members as they prepare for the move to the new circulation definitions and reporting requirements. For help with questions in where to assign copies in the new report, members can refer to the ABC online Q&R Support Center titled: Preparing for October 2010 and/or contact their ABC publisher representative.
Now is good time for newspaper audience professionals to review with their colleagues the changes in how their newspaper's circulation will be presented to their advertising customers and what impact that may have in how their newspaper positions their different products in terms of reporting circulation, and what products the newspaper may choose to report. If the newspaper wants to report their digital products, now is also the time to determine what actions will have to be taken for it to be measured and reported in terms of circulation.
It is no accident that the new Publisher's Statement and FAS-FAX report feature audience information first and foremost. The commitment to audience data as the premiere metric for newspapers to position themselves as the dominate player in their market place was a cornerstone of the NAA/ABC Qualification and Reporting Task Force when this process was launched three years ago.
It is also the reason NAA supported development of the new research resource that was launched this spring. This service provides mid-sized and smaller market newspapers an affordable cost effective research solution to the challenge of capturing and presenting top line data comparable to the national research available to larger newspapers.
As Mike Lavery stated in reference to the new ABC reporting formats, the industry is " in the midst of evolutionary changes as newspapers are expand their brands beyond print-only editions to multiple platforms and ad channels" as well as their effective portfolio of print products. The latest announcements by ABC reflect the acceptance and endorsement of these changes by newspaper advertisers as they work with newspapers to update their media strategies.
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Increases in Reader Revenue and Tighter Cost Controls are Improving the Bottom Line
Single copy and home delivery price increases are having a measurable impact on the bottom line.
Newspaper circulation departments are becoming increasingly in profitable according to the recently released 2010 National Cost & Revenue Study for Daily Newspapers, conducted by the Inland Press Association.
The annual study found that circulation revenue among the participating newspapers increased by 20 percent in 2009 will circulation expenses declined by about 9 percent. The result was "circulation profit", as traditionally defined by Inland, ranged from 46.9 to 48.1 percent for the various circulation sizes represented in 2009 which is up from less 30 percent the year before when averaging all circulation sizes.
Circulation profit is calculated as circulation revenue minus circulation-related expenses, divided by circulation revenue using the study's traditional definitions.
The National Cost & Revenue Study for Daily Newspapers is co-sponsored by the Media Financial Management Association and
has long served as benchmarking and budgeting tool for participating newspaper companies. This year's findings are derived from 178 daily newspaper participants and the results are measured for newspapers of 10,000, 25,000, 50,000 and 100,000 circulation.
According to NICS figures, base compensation for alternate distribution managers, a circulation position, declined 19.7 percent during the period, the biggest decline in the NICS. In the Web/online job category, creative directors' salary declined the most, by 7.4 percent.
Publishers' base pay declined 2.1 percent from 2009 to 2010. Editors' salary declined 4.6 percent, while entry-level and experienced reporters saw a decline in the 1 to 2 percent range.
Another Inland Press Association study found that while overall compensation at newspapers decreased an average of 1.42 percent, from 2009 to 2010 some postions were better paid. According to the study, "The largest pay increase went to audience development managers, a sales and marketing position, who received an average increase in the 10 percent range. National advertising managers saw salary increases in the range of 12 percent".
The findings are from the recently released Newspaper Industry Compensation Survey (NICS), conducted by the Inland . The annual survey "provides comprehensive pay data that compares compensation levels geographically by circulation size for more than 102 newspapers and online positions".
More details can also be found at at inlandpress.org.
More on the study is available at inlandpress.org
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Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority Cannot Ban News Racks Inside the Terminal
This past March lawyers for the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority asked the full 13-member U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear its challenge to a 2-1 ruling in which a panel from the same court held that RDU is violating the First Amendment with its ban on newspaper coin vending racks.
The answer the got came from J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond who made it very clear that the airport authority's refusal to allow news racks inside was a decision "to subordinate the clear First Amendment interest in the dissemination of ideas to the slightest administrative inconvenience, an odd and diminished place indeed for our foremost enumerated right".
The decision also stated that, "The hit-or-miss availability of papers in retail shops serves only to underscore the barriers the Authority's policy places in the way of newspaper publishers and readers. Here the record indicated that the retailers championed by the Authority not infrequently opened without papers in the morning, ran out during the day, and closed before the last passengers arrived or departed. The reality of the burden was further corroborated by complaints received from newspaper customers who lamented their inability to buy papers at the Airport".
This was the airport authority's fifth straight loss against The News & Observer, USA Today, The New York Times and the Durham Herald after the newspaper publishers first sued the airport in March of 2004. The decision by the court was a 7-4 vote not to consider the airports appeal of the earlier ruling.
A few day after the ruling The Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority acknowledged defeat after spending six years and more than $500,000 in a First Amendment fight to defend its ban on newspaper coin vending boxes at the public airport.
The airport said it will install one cluster of news racks in in the baggage claim area and one in the ticketing lobby of each terminal, but the newspapers want the locations in the terminal concourses where travelers wait for their flights.
According to The News & Observer , publisher Orage Quarles III said the newspaper won't be satisfied with the airport's terms. Air travelers are in a hurry to get through the security checkpoint when they arrive at RDU, he said, and they look for a newspaper only after they reach the secure terminal concourse.
"We want to be right next to the Redbox," Quarles said, referring to the movie DVD vending machines the airport has installed on the secure passenger concourses.
"We just want strategic locations, for the convenience of our customers. We never anticipated loading up the terminals with news racks. But there are times when papers aren't available."
For more on the topic of newsracks and the law: NAA has recently released published Newsracks: A Business and Legal Guide for the Distribution of Printed Materials by Vending Machine. This excellent guide for publishers, circulation professionals, and lawyers on legal rights relating to the use of newsracks to distribute newspapers is a resource that is available to all NAA members.
Source: news&observer.com and leagle.com
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Case Studies Track the Impact of Paid Content Strategies in Four Markets
To understand the impact of paid content strategies, NAA looked at four newspapers from two companies - Freedom and Dow Jones Local Media - that have launched pay walls in the last year. These case studies track the impact of those strategies from each newspaper.
Dow Jones Local Media completed a six-month trial in two local markets to evaluate the impact of pay models focused on a metered model, with the goal of building a new revenue stream with minimal disruption to online advertising revenue. The decision to shift to a metered model came from analyzing two key metrics: sell-through rates of 54 percent and the observation that 75 percent of visits were generated by 35 percent of the audience. Allowing users to sample limited numbers of local news stories allowed DJLMG to approach paid content "from a sales point of view," with the idea that regular site visitors would ultimately become paid subscribers.
Since launching the metered model in January, the overall decline in traffic in both markets has been less severe than projected, with no significant change in online advertising revenue. One surprise is that online-only subscriptions are outpacing print-online combination subscriptions by nearly 2 to 1 in both markets. With three months of data, it's difficult to assess the overall impact on home-delivery subscriptions however, preliminary results suggest an increase in single-copy sales in both markets that has not been seen elsewhere in the newspaper group. Read the details...
Anticipating significant drops in page views, Freedom opted to experiment with paywalls in two smaller markets, creating a dashboard of key criteria identified through researching other companies' paid content experiments.
Starting in July 2009, all local news content was placed behind a paid subscription wall at two Freedom daily newspapers-one in the Midwest, the other in Texas.
Typical monthly page views fell by 35 percent in Texas and 26 percent in the Midwestern market-but that was only part of the story. Sports, classifieds and obituaries-all left outside the paywall-moderated overall site declines while traffic to local news content accessible only to subscribers fell to "devastating" levels.
Page views for paywall content fell by at least 50 percent in the first month following the shift to paid content in both markets, though that traffic gradually rebounded in the Midwestern market, where there are few competitors for local news. As a result, and with no appreciable increase in advertising CPMs in either market, the Texas newspaper abandoned its pay wall in April. With a lack of rival local news outlets contributing to a gradual rebound in page views, the Midwestern paper considers its experiments a "qualified success, but not successful" Read More...
Visit www.naa.org/paidcontent to access these members-only case studies, part of a series of articles and reports that help frame the discussion about paid content and inform NAA members as they consider pay wall strategies
The series of articles and reports created since early 2009 to help frame the discussion about paid content and inform NAA members as they consider pay wall strategies. For links to other articles on paid content, click here.
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Single Copy Partnerships Build Long Term Relationships
7-Eleven worked with The Sacramento Bee to create a three month long promotion to help increase sales of the 7-Eleven products, promote sales of The Sacramento Bee and establish a repeat buyer of both products. The goal was to build a consumer habit of purchasing a coffee and/or grill items, as well as, The Bee.
Instead of doing a normal promotion, both parties decided to take a creative approach and try concepts that would promote daily and Sunday sales and a non-traditional item in one of the months.
The first month was a combination promotion of buying a 12oz coffee and daily Bee for $1.50. The second was a premium promotion of buy the Sunday Bee and a taquito (both items at full retail price) and receive a second taquito free. Lastly, we ran a buy a Big Bite hot dog and daily Bee for $1.50 combination.
7-Eleven had great input into the artwork created for each promotion and even went to the extent of meeting in person to suggest various spots for the POP throughout the stores. This included register visibility, gas pump spots, and coffee and grill areas.
In addition to the POP placement, an extra selling location was approved for all stores. A Mystery Shop program was implemented in each promotion. 7-Eleven employees were extremely active in the program winning 91.5% of the time. As always, they do an incredible job of partnering with and promoting of The Sacramento Bee.
When the single copy teams thinks of a retail partner for The Sacramento Bee, 7-Eleven is one of the first to come to mind.
Maria Ravera, The Bee's Director of Audience Development explains, "They have been open to just about any idea we've had in partnering with them. They are quick to acknowledge the importance of newspapers to their customers. With that being said, they have done many different promotions over the years. Every promotion is world-class from the communication to the store levels, additional display locations, and POP materials to the participation of their employees in the Mystery Shop programs."
The success rate of the Mystery Shop program shows just how tuned in everyone at 7-11 is to promoting the various programs and The Sacramento Bee . Through the last promotion, they had a 91.5% success rate in winning prizes.
Addressing the topic of point of sale support Maria Ravera explains, "Beyond the promotions, day-in and day-out 7-11 does an excellent job of promoting The Bee. Just about every location has several different pieces of POP. This ranges from penny trays to window clings to buttons that the employees wear. Also, many stores have kept additional displays due to high Sunday sales, to include countertop displays, which are right by the registers."
Prior to promotion, 7-Eleven single copy sales were down 15.18% daily year compared to the previous year and down 11.06% Sunday. During the Coffee/Bee promotion, daily sales improved to just -2.0% daily, a year over improvement of +13.2% prior to promotion and 40% of the stores were up over the previous year. Sunday sales also improved. During the Taquito promotion 32% of the stores were up compared to the previous year.
According to Maria, "Though the circulation numbers were not record breaking, many other positives were gained. The Bee received POP materials at the registers and gas pumps, which is rare in our market. Additional selling locations were secured in each store and many employees are still wearing their "Don't Forget the Bee" buttons."
For 7-11 The Bee was able to help them increase their coffee and prepared foods sales which were identified as the priority before any of the promotions came together.
Recently, 7-11 began to participate in The Bee's "Extended Sunday" program and the results have shown. Each week, Sunday sales continue to increase by leaving a few extra copies behind for a couple of days.
Maria Ravera sums it up when explaining their continued success; "In the beginning and the end it's all about the relationship". Time and time again, 7-Eleven continues to be a great partner to The Sacramento Bee and it is a relationship that continues to offer benefits to both parties.
Tune into NAA's upcoming single copy webinar; "Looking at Newspapers from the Retailers Perspective - The Convenience Category".
Craig Pichinino, Market Manager for 7-11 talks with Maria Ravera of the Sacramento Bee about the role of newspapers from the retailers perspectives and changes in today's retail environment. Topics will range from the future of 7-11, their strategy for growth, how newspapers can be effective promotional partners to more specific questions such what are the most effective types of POP in a convenience store.
In addition to recapping successful promotions that increased newspaper sales the conversation will address the retailing challenges a c-store operator faces, what are the most critical categories and what are the biggest operational obstacles newspapers must overcome to be better partners. Thursday, July 22, 2010 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM The Webinar is Free for NAA Members
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NAA's 2010 Single Copy Summer Webinar Series:
NAA's Single Copy Committee has assembled a three part webinar series looking at single copy sales opportunities and overcoming the obstacles to success. The focus in this series is on building last partnerships with retailers that can provide the co-promotional positioning, pricing and locations necessary to maintain sales.
Expect to learn more about promotions that worked in an environment of higher prices and limited budgets. Each session is Free to NAA Members.
"Pursuing the Reader on the Run: the Dining Category" - A conversation with Adam Stansberry of Caribou Coffee on how to construct effective partnerships that build traffic and sales.
When: June 23rd 2:00 pm Eastern time
Host: Jeff Gibson Single Copy Sales Manager Detroit Media Partnership
Jeff Gibson, Single Copy Sales Manager for Detroit Media Partnership, looks at opportunities in the breakfast segment in a conversation with Adam Stansberry of Caribou Coffee. Together they have put together successful promotions that have increased the breakfast business at Caribou locations in the Detroit market while increasing single sales of the Free Press and Detroit News.
In the interview they will discuss the value of newspapers at Caribou, how this changed over time and how newspapers can partner with a breakfast spot or restaurant to increase traffic, volume, and profits. They will cover the challenges faced everyday by eateries and how newspapers can be a solution to the everyday challenges of building business, capturing customers and building repeat business.
Newspaper marketers will learn about the formula necessary for successful promotions in the Detroit market and other examples Jeff will share and leave with a better understanding of the dining segment and the opportunities for sustainable sales increases while meeting the needs of an important partner. Register Today
"Looking at Newspapers from the Retailers Perspective - The Convenience Category " Craig Pichinino Market Manager for 7-11 shares a perspective talks with Maria Ravera of the Sacramento Bee about the role of newspapers from the retailers perspectives and changes in today's retail environment.
When: July 22nd 2:00pm Eastern
Host: Maria Ravera Director of Audience Development Sacramento Bee
Craig Pichinino, Market Manager for 7-11 talks, with Maria Ravera of the Sacramento Bee about the role of newspapers from the retailers perspectives and changes in today's retail environment. Topics will range from the future of 7-11, their strategy for growth, how newspapers can be effective promotional partners to more specific questions such what are the most effective types of POP in a convenience store.
In addition to recapping successful promotions that increased newspaper sales the conversation will address the retailing challenges a c-store operator faces, what are the most critical categories and what are the biggest operational obstacles newspapers must overcome to be better partners.
"Meeting the Needs of Your Partner in Today's Retail Environment - The Drug Store Category" The session features a discussion with a manager of Walgreen's Stores on the issues facing retailers in this critical category growth for capturing busy readers and how newspapers can deliver solutions and increase sales.
When: August 19th 2:00pm Eastern
Host: Dee Mostofi Director Retail Sales & New Business Development San Francisco Chronicle
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Making the Business Case for Newspapers and E-Readers
A recent article in the NYT explored the challenge newspaper publishers face in monetizing the consumer's attraction to Apple's iPad and the sales growth in all e-reader devices. Following the launch of iPad the national newspapers and several magazines got off to a good start with sponsorships and initial subscription offerings. And it appears advertisers are willing to pay a premium for the environment and the audience.
According to a very recent New York Times article advertisers are "paying newspapers and magazines up to five times as much to place ads in their iPad applications as what similar advertising costs on regular websites". But there are many qualifiers going forward. E-reader sales will have to continue to soar at a pace that makes the potential audience worthy of an ongoing advertising investment and newspapers will have to invest in developing and maintaining compelling applications.
The New York Times says 300,000 people had downloaded the newspaper's free app by mid-May. Apple has said it sold two million iPads in less than 60 days following the product's introduction.
The demos are excellent and e-reader purchasers are newspaper readers. According to MRI Fall 2009 data, 69.8% of e-reader owners read newspapers compared to 69.6% of all U.S. adults. They also read more newspapers per capita than the general population; 24 issues per month vs. 19 for average adults. In addition, newspaper readers that own an e-reader have 63% higher household incomes than U.S. adults at $98,272 Median HHI.
Target announced this week it will begin selling Amazon's Kindle e-reader in all 1,740 of its retail stores in June. It was the first brick-and-mortar store to carry the Kindle in April, when it begaon selling the device at its downtown Minneapolis store and select stores in Florida for the same price as on Amazon's website (see Target® Stores to Sell Kindle).
But at the very least the national newspapers have reason to be enthusiastic. The article quotes the director of mobile products for USA Today' and Gannett Co., that the newspaper " is charging Marriott about $50 for every thousand times, or impressions, the ad appears. The average rate for USA Today's regular Web site is less than $10, he said. In the printed newspaper, the cost per thousand impressions on a full-page color ad that runs nationally is $103".
Newspapers and magazines are pushing forward with apps and are seeing an enthusiastic response from readers, many who are willing to pay a monthly subscription rate for access. The addition of advertiser support might add up to a workable business model for any newspaper that can achieve the necessary scale in their market.
Sources: NYT, Target Stores, CNN Money
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The 25 Fastest Growing US Daily Newspapers Show Strength in Print and Online
Which newspapers are having the most success growing audience? An analysis of the most recently released ABC FAS-FAX data identified the 25 newspapers with the largest increases in combined print and online readership.
The Audience FAX data is based on past seven days in print/30 days online net combined audience for designated market areas. In each case the data is provided by Scarborough Research on behalf of the Audit Bureau of Circulations and is based upon the six month reporting period ending March 31, 2010 and is compared to the same period a year ago.
To make the list requires some success in both print and online. A closer look at the numbers generally shows that almost all of these newspapers had at least modest gains in daily and sunday print readership to compliment substanital increases in online readership. But the print audience at all of these newspapers remains substantially larger than the number of online newspaper readers which means anything more than a fractional loss in print readership of the daily newspaper is difficult to offset with online gains.
| TOP 25 AUDIENCE GAINERS |
As of 03/31/10 |
As of 03/31/09 |
% Change |
| DESERET NEWS SALT LAKE CITY, UT |
552,507 |
451,952 |
22.25% |
| EL NUEVO HERALD MIAMI, FL |
511,909 |
429,779 |
19.11% |
| TRIBUNE-REVIEW GREENSBURG,PA |
831,881 |
741,953 |
12.12% |
| SPOKESMAN-REVIEW SPOKANE, WA |
432,840 |
392,080 |
10.40% |
| THE TRIBUNE CHICAGO,IL |
3,599,458 |
3,280,345 |
9.73% |
| THE REGISTER NEW HAVEN CT |
415,813 |
384,754 |
8.07% |
| THE ROANOKE TIMES VA |
429,927 |
400,316 |
7.40% |
| VENTURA COUNTY STAR, CA |
437,103 |
407,443 |
7.28% |
| THE HERALD-JOURNAL SPARTANBURG, SC |
259,881 |
243,196 |
6.86% |
| THE JOURNAL WINSTON-SALEM,SC |
382,021 |
358,356 |
6.60% |
| THE ADVOCATE STAMFORD, CT |
181,718 |
171,214 |
6.14% |
| STAR TRIBUNE MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL MN |
1,884,206 |
1,777,278 |
6.02% |
| NEWS JOURNAL PENSACOLA, FL |
313,406 |
299,326 |
4.70% |
| THE TENNESEAN NASHVILLE, TN |
950,047 |
907,635 |
4.67% |
| THE PRESS ENTERPRISE RIVERSIDE CO |
969,455 |
929,819 |
4.26% |
| AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN |
897,400 |
861,105 |
4.21% |
| PRESS REGISTER MOBILE, AL |
445,361 |
427,677 |
4.13% |
| JOURNAL NEWS WESTCHESTER NY |
819,704 |
787,741 |
4.06% |
| ASBURY PARK PRESS NEPTUNE, NJ |
869,579 |
837,491 |
3.83% |
| REGISTER ORANGE CO.CA |
1,660,202 |
1,600,031 |
3.76% |
| THE BEE MODESTO, CA |
366,398 |
353,223 |
3.73% |
| THE GAZETTE COLORADO SPRINGS, CO |
335,928 |
324,344 |
3.57% |
| THE KANSAS CITY STAR MO |
1,102,676 |
1,065,431 |
3.50% |
| TIMES-PICAYUNE NEW ORLEANS, LA |
848,961 |
820,374 |
3.48% |
| DAYTON DAILY NEWS DAYTON, OH |
556,909 |
538,328 |
3.45% | Source: Scarborough Research
Last year NAA posted a report, Newspapers Growing Audience: Proven Success, that took a closer look at the newspapers that made the top 25 in the previous reporting period to identify the strategies and tactics that contributed to their success. A similar project is currently underway to be released by NAA in July that will examine the success of newspapers among this updated list.
Source: NAA, ABC, Scarborough Research
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Low Cost Quality Readership Research Now Available Small to Midsize Newspapers
There is new answer to the challenge that small and midsize newspapers confront in producing high quality audited readership studies at an affordable price.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations and American Opinion Research, a leading full-service quantitative and qualitative media research firm, have partnered to conduct readership studies for U.S. newspapers. By retaining a single research firm to conduct all the studies and standardizing some questions, newspapers can now obtain high caliber, independently verified readership studies at a total cost of $11,500 which includes incorporating the results in ABC reports. The price may be as low as $9,500 if the popularity of the packages meets expectations and a sufficient number of newspapers choose to participate.
In an effort to make primary audience data more affordable for local newspapers NAA supported this concept of using a single provider and list of standardized questions while also providing newspapers a low cost option of upgrading their readership study package to include additional questions and improve the local ROI . For example, a newspaper may ask its readers questions about their shopping and readership habits or their familiarity with the newspaper's other publications that would enhance the value of the research in working with local advertisers.
The end result is the local newspaper has separate print and online readership numbers along with combined unduplicated reach data, that they can promote in the local marketplace. The final audited data can also be included on ABC Publisher's Statements, Audit Reports, FAS-FAX reports, two Audience-FAX online databases and a stand alone Audience-FAX readership report. Participants also receive the complete electronic file of research study with cross tabs and details of any audit findings.
More than 175 U.S. newspapers are currently participating in Audience-FAX, an industry initiative launched in 2007 that integrates newspaper circulation, print readership and online audience measurement data on ABC's U.S. newspaper statements. But most of the participating newspapers are from major markets and use data from the Scarborough local market study that is available to them through the collaboration among NAA, ABC and Scarborough Research. This formula provides exceptional value for these newspapers that get the credibility of the Scarborough brand and the dissemination of the data by ABC all for a price that is a fraction of the cost of generating their own research.
This new initiative focuses on providing top line readership and audience data for smaller local newspapers that are outside of the Scarborough local market study . But it can be more. By adding the customized questions the program offers publishers the opportunity to capture data relevant in the local marketplace while the results from the standardized questions are reported to advertisers along with the largest ABC newspapers. More information is available on the ABC site or by contacting ABC's Bridget Fleagle, manager, marketing, and sales, at (224) 366-6356 who is administering the program.
Source: ABC, NAA
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