"We want to sell newspapers, and in a sustainable way."

That could be the mantra for newspapers everywhere, and it is what the Irish Independent keeps in mind when it considers its promotional strategy, which doesn’t include giveaways that produce a one-time spike in sales.

So, in Ireland, where people love to read, and love great books, the Independent has come up with what it calls "great" promotions.

"Our ‘great’ promotions have all had the term ‘great’ in their theme. Great Irish Writers. Great Children’s Books. Great Biographies. They certainly delivered great results!"

The Independent’s objective was not to sell a lot of books -- though sell a lot of books they did. Rather, they wanted to create what Ms Murphy termed a "renewable" sale. One of the keys, she says, is to closely identify the newspaper with the books themselves. Establish a kind of reflected glory. In the case of the Great Irish Writers series, a collection of 20 books sold for 5 Euros each, the marketing theme was, "Great Writers from a great read."

In addition to choosing the collection to "fit" with the newspaper brand, Ms Murphy said it was also key to win the support of editorial -- get the Literary Editor to "endorse" the collection -- and of the news agents who will be selling the books.

Bread for Today, Hunger for Tomorrow

Promotions clearly produce short-term gain -- in some cases 10 percent of revenues.

And do short term gains turn into long-term gains?

"No, in many cases it is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. Look at circulation numbers in mature promotion-saturated countries. They are not the ‘magic formula’", says Mr Ferris.

Promotions are like a drug, he says -- they produce dependency, even if they don’t lead to sustainable circulation gains.

Rather than focus on the short-term, newspapers should focus on creating loyal customers, he says. "Your customers are with you until the day after the promotion ends and then they say ’ciao’. A loyal customer is a post-promotion reader."

But there is a kind of promotion that is worthwhile:
 IF they are highly correlated with the paper.

 IF they are not for free and require the buyer to pay.

 IF they serve a social purpose, such as donations to charity.

 IF they are promoted as “we think you might like this promotion at this price... furthermore, you will help others”

But they should never be the key element of a marketing strategy, says Mr Ferris.

New Product Development - Ideas for a Profitable Future

A sneak preview of a new Strategy Report from the WAN Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project shows that, contrary to accepted wisdom, newspapers are proliferating. But profound and disruptive market shifts are forcing publishers to rethink their approach to how newspapers are brought to market, says Mr Byrne.

"Contrary to persistent predictions of the demise of newspapers, in truth, a surge of new daily newspapers has flooded markets worldwide in the past five years. The demand for new printing presses has never been greater. The demand of newsprint is up on every continent except North America," says Mr Byrne.

His presentation was drawn from "New Print Products," the first of six annual reports from SFN, which identifies, analyses and publicises all important breakthroughs and opportunities that can benefit newspapers all over the world. SFN, available exclusively to WAN members, provides strategy reports on these developments, a library of case studies and business ideas, and a wealth of other vital information for all those who need to follow press industry trends. More on the project can be found at www.futureofthenewspaper.com.

The report shows there has been a quiet revolution in the number of daily launches. This burgeoning growth of daily titles worldwide has largely gone unnoticed by market makers and media pundits obsessed with the digital media revolution. Meanwhile the real-world growth of newspaper titles and circulations continue inexorably.

For example, the total number of paid-for newspapers grew by 1,179, and the number of free dailies grew by 109 titles, between 2001 and 2005. In 2005, the total number of paid-for daily newspaper titles worldwide jumped over the 10,000 mark for the first time in history, fueled by a steady 13 percent growth since 2001, when there were 8,930 paid-for dailies. Total free daily circulation worldwide has more than doubled from 2001 to 2005, from 12 million copies in 2001 to 28 million in 2005, an increase of 137 percent.

Three key trends are shaping the print newspaper landscape worldwide:

 A proliferation of new genres of newspapers-targeting new audience segments and requiring creative marketing and distribution scenarios.

 The surge of new, free titles thrust into the paid-for market are the result of many publishers rethinking the cover-price revenue model in place for more than 400 years.

 The trend of the shrinking newspaper format, from broadsheet to tabloid, has challenged publishers to carefully plot out the transition and maximize new advertising prices and distribution strategies.

"Whilst the number of titles and total circulations are on the upswing, the era of the one-size-fits-most newspaper is on the decline in many parts of the world," says Mr Byrne. "A new era is dawning, and it is about launching new, tailored newspapers for targeted groups to complement the general circulation papers. Unlike broadcasters, newspapers see fragmentation as an opportunity to aggregate new audiences, improve their relevance to existing readers and provide attractive markets to advertisers."

The SFN reports are available exclusively to WAN members. To learn about the benefits of company membership in WAN, click here.

What’s Next? A New Serious Newspaper for Young People

A new newspaper in the Netherlands is proving that there is market for paid-for newspapers for young people.

Nrc.next, which began publication in March, has already passed its circulation target and has daily, mostly subscription-based, sales of 70,000 copies a day.

Mr Nijenhuis’ presentation provided an editorial and marketing formula for success.

Newspaper circulation in the Netherlands, as in many mature markets, is declining, and the number of young readers was declining even more sharply. The publishing house NRC Handelsblad decided the solution was to change from mass marketing to target group marketing, and to create a new product specially aimed at readers under 35 years old. But rather than jumping on the free bandwagon, extensive market research indicated that young people were willing to pay for a newspaper addressed at them.

"If something is for free, how can if have value?" he says. "If something is for free, it’s for everybody. If something is for everybody, it’s not for me, because, hey, come on, I’m special."

Here are two of the things Mr Nijenhuis says are essential for a newspaper for young people to work:

 The content has to be serious -- not "news for kids." The market for non-serious information is saturated, and nobody wants to be treated like a child.

 Make clear choices and do not fear missing something. The job of editors is to select what is worth knowing, apart from everything that is already heard on radio, TV and the web.