|
190 participants
from 43 countries Daily NewsSummaries of presentations at the 2002 WAN Advertising. These summaries will be posted each day. Please check back later for the most recent updates. For more information -- including the soon-to-be-published Conference Report -- contact Annabel Chourré, WAN, 25 rue d'Astorg, 75008 Paris France, Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00, Fax +33 1 47 42 49 48. E-mail: achourre@wan.asso.fr WAN members will receive the report – and all WAN publications – for free. Click here for membership information. Next event: The 55th World Newspaper Congress and 9th World Editors Forum, the global meetings of the world's press, 26-29 May 2002. Click here for programme and registration information. Thursday, 21 February
The Rainbow Approach Although the Media 24 group includes dozens of newspapers, major consumer magazines and television stations, it does not include a national advertising sales organisation. And Mr du Plessis likes it that way. "The group is too big and too diverse to have a national sales organisation," he said. "But also, the strong competition between the groups encourages flexibility, innovation and professionalism." The different advertising teams do co-operate as well, in what du Plessis called "the Rainbow Approach." Media 24 has created a Group Advertising Synergy Forum, where senior managers meet to share information and market intelligence and plan and execute joint presentations. They also carry out a joint training programme. "Synergy is important," he said.
How to Price in a Weak Market Newspapers are always being urged to listen to their advertising clients, but Mr Flyvholm went a step further: he acted on their recommendations and cut ad rates. "We didn't think we could grow in a market where circulation was declining rapidly. Even if we built up a better newspaper, our price was too high," he said. But that wasn't all. Advertisers were insisting on research to prove that newspaper ads work, and they wanted the newspaper to be dynamic and flexible in the market. They had advice for the ad sales staff: "we should better recognise and understand client problems. We should be administratively more efficient. And they expect us to have broad knowledge of media," said Mr Flyvholm. B.T., a Danish tabloid, is attempting to give them what they want. The strategy is called "Partners Develop Clients", and it has already led B.T. to overtake its closest competitor. Mr Flyvholm's presentation focused on how they are implementing this strategy. "We want to create an environment where we are looking after our client's business", he said.
Understanding Yield Opportunities Before newspaper managers think about creating new advertising pricing models, they ought to be sure that everyone understands the impact of price variations on profits. Hence the importance of a yield opportunity audit, which measures the impact of discounts on the bottom line. "If we expect to track and monitor the progress of discounts, then we have to expect that all the people in the business who are responsible for price variations should understand the impact that variation has," said Mr Byrne. Conference participants were given materials to help them develop yield. But understanding yield development is just the first step: Mr Byrne counsels newspapers to pursue the opportunities through accepting and exploiting comparative value, recognising and employing segmentation possibilities, and improving communication and negotiation skills. He emphasised the last item. "We shouldn't underestimate the opportunities the human factor brings to this," he said. "As well as good business models, as well as pricing strategies, the human element can play a large part."
Required Reading Before the Budget Meeting Here's how to convince the accountants not to slash the training budget: Tell them about a US study which showed that a small investment in training generated an exponential financial return for firms and their shareholders. Or cite a British study which showed that businesses that invest in training increase their profits twice as fast as those that don't. Ms Winfield provided this evidence, along with two case studies of companies that were facing too many complaints from customers and too much staff turnover and that solved their problems through cost efficient and award-winning training programmes. But there are other reasons to continue training through hard times, she said: it helps staff cope with inevitable change; it is cost-effective when you consider the cost of hiring new people and training them from scratch; it helps to retain your 'stars' by enhancing career advancement; and it can give staff new methods, new techniques and new enthusiasm for a job they're already doing. "Let's learn from the mistakes we made in the last recession," said Ms Winfield. "Let's not fall into that short-term trap of cutting staff investment and let's make sure we stay in good shape throughout.".
Tough Training Makes A Difference When the Newspaper Society asked the United Kingdom's advertising community what the regional press could do to increase its share of advertising revenue, the answer was loud and clear; a large number of clients and agencies said that better training of sales staff was needed. Thus the National Sales Qualification, or NSQ, training programme was born. This initiative, carried out for the first time last year, put 40 advertising executives through a rigorous training programme (nine days in the classroom, 12 days in the field) and ended with 30 graduates who prepared and delivered media presentations to judges from the agency, advertiser and media industries. "There are 30 people in the UK who are able to use the letters NSQ on their business cards and their business letters," said Mr Hoath. "More importantly, it singles them out from every other media sales person and is a mark of real approval and respect among our customers as well as our own publishing companies." Mr Hoath's presentation provided a step-by-step blueprint on how to undertake such a programme. "I believe that the NSQ scheme will help retain, recognise and reward our staff for years to come," he said.
Tactics in a Tough Market As the newest daily newspaper in Europe, Business a.m. got off to a fast start following its launch in September 2000. Until its arrival, Scotland did not have its own business newspaper and the paper rapidly positioned itself as innovative, youthful and "funky." But then the bottom fell out of the advertising market, dipping 60 percent between April and December 2001. Suddenly, "out new bright newspaper had become old news," said Mr Henderson. "We had to reform and devise a new business strategy. Our intelligence and feedback from customers told us we had to do something differently," he said. The first step: "we used research like we never used research before." And what they found was an overlooked business opportunity that led to the creation of a supplements programme that is now an integral part of the business strategy. And well it should be: all supplements are sponsored and now account for 50 percent of Business a.m.'s annual income. A new lifestyle section "opened up opportunities to attract part of the industry not usually associated with business publications." A Scottish Business Directory, the first national directory aimed at the business and finance market, brought in new revenue, most of it coming from classified listings. A Scottish dining guide comes next. Mr Henderson offered conference participants ideas for overcoming hard times in the areas of commercial development, staff, events, databases, services and sales.
Sales Tactics as a Reflection of Market Dynamics It is no secret that Russia is an economic roller coaster, and Ms Chereshkina treated conference participates to a wild ride. Her company's flagship, the Moskovskii Komsomoletz, was a mere four-page, black and white edition in 1991 which today publishes 83 regional editions as well as a wealth of special magazines and supplements. That growth did not occur in a straight line -- and that's part of the success story. If it weren't for the market dynamics, the paper would be a much different product than it is today. Limited to four pages by their printer, the paper in 1991 was turning away advertising and discounts were unheard of. But when capabilities allowed larger editions, it introduced volume discounts. With the introduction of full colour and increased capacity between 1995 and 1998, ad volume exploded. New supplements -- on hunting, weapons, hunting dogs and family life -- were created, along with Russia's first weekend edition. But competition was fierce, with 1,066 newspapers publishing weekly, mostly in the regions. So the Moskovskii Komsomoletz -- until then a city magazine -- decided to take them head on, launching 60 regional editions. But the economic crash in 1998 caused a sharp decrease in business activity, reduced advertising budgets and eliminated any new business. The newspaper once again reacted with innovation: it opened new markets, launched special products, combined several editions and lowered prices. The newspaper is on the upswing once again, creating new products like foreign editions for expatriates, magazines for health and crossword puzzles, and much more.
Creating a Marketplace for Readers and Advertisers It is the editorial department -- and the readers -- that drive new product development at the Chicago Tribune, though Mr Majeri says the editors are thinking about the advertisers as well. "We've finally torn down the wall and recognise that, to have the future in view, we need some specific understanding of who we serve. We are learning how to create marketplaces that are interesting for the reader, and might also be interesting to advertisers," he said. Through intense research, the Tribune determines readers' needs and interests, and combines that information with a deep knowledge of the market in which the proposed new product might be launched. The editors then ask themselves a series of questions: who are the potential readers? What do they want? How do they see themselves? What changes in the market will affect them, and how? Why do they need another section? Would advertisers be interested? Mr Majeri's presented an exhibition of where this research, and these questions, might lead: the prototypes of sections and supplements that have been developed but not yet launched by the Tribune.
|
