BtoB Media Business - December 2009 - (Page 21)

Sales & Marketing Local coverage’s new level ‘New York Times,’ ‘Journal’ move aggressively to market local editions in tough times BY MATTHEW SCHWARTZ SALES & MARKETING AD VANTAGES ecent moves by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to introduce editions tailored to specific cities could be the opening salvo in a struggle by national media brands to gain ad dollars from local businesses that are shifting their marketing budgets to the Web, industry observers said. “Local advertisers are catching up with national advertisers on how to use the Web as an advertising medium,” said Colby Atwood, president of Borrell Associates, which tracks advertising and marketing expenditures. “National advertisers are doing more segmentation, and local advertisers are learning more about the Web and finding that the ROI is very attractive.” Overall, local advertising is expected to grow to $105 billion in 2010, according to Borrell, up 4% from 2009. During the same period, local online advertising is expected to grow 7%, to $14.9 billion. “If they can attract local advertisers to print and online—and provide good quality content—I would expect this model will be extended to other local markets,” Atwood said, referring to the Times and Journal launching editions targeting the Bay Area. Both the Times and Journal sense an ad vacuum in some regions left by financially troubled newspapers, observers said. Through September, circulation for the San Francisco Chronicle, for instance, fell 25%, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The Times rolled out a Bay Area edition in October, and the Journal in mid-November. Each is initially two pages total, with advertising. Dave Rowe, VP-media director of b-to-b ad agency Doremus, who is based in San Francisco, said ad rates for the editions will appeal to the small and midsize business market. “I have one client who wants to buy the Journal, but it’s always been too expensive,” he said. “Localized content makes [the buy] more viable.” The Times’ San Francisco edition runs on Fridays and Sundays with circulations of 40,000 and 60,000, respectively. Through September, total daily (Monday through Friday) circulation for the Times was down 7%, to 927,851, according to ABC. The Times also launched a Chicago edition, which runs on Fridays and Sundays, with cir- R culations of 25,000 and 37,000, respectively. There could be an opportunity for national brands in the Windy City, as well. The Tribune Co., parent company of the Chicago Tribune, the city’s largest daily, filed for bankruptcy in December 2008. Through September, circulation for the Tribune was down 9.7%, to 465,892, according to ABC. Scott Heekin-Canedy, president-general manager of The New York Times Media Group, said the Times has a deal with the Chicago News Cooperative to provide content for the Chicago edition and is about to tap a content partner for its Bay Area edition, where stories are now produced by Times journalists based in San Francisco. “In effect, it’s a local wire service in which we contract and pay for the content,” HeekinCanedy said. “We see [local editions] as a reader service, with the business rationale being circulation retention with ad support.” The Times is plugging both the Bay Area and Chicago editions in marketing materials and placing brief notes on the front pages to promote circulation, Heekin-Canedy said. Content will also appear on NYTimes.com. The Journal’s Bay Area edition runs every Thursday and goes to 92,000 subscribers in the area. Through September, total daily circulation for the Journal rose 0.61%, to 2,024,269, according to ABC. “We’re focused on our readers and their need for more than just the national, international and global information that we can provide,” said Michael Rooney, chief revenue officer of the Journal. “They love the brand, and the only thing we don’t give them is the local flavor; and here’s an opportunity for us to fill that void for them.” The content will be supplied by the Journal’s San Francisco bureau, which was opened in 1929. There are point-of-purchasing ads throughout the city promoting the new coverage and online ads across The Wall Street Journal Digital Network. WSJ.com provides regularly updated local coverage at WSJ.com/SF. Rooney had no comment about reports that the Journal is mulling adding local metroarea coverage in Chicago and New York. RDS’ new service, which rolled out in late October, is designed to help business publishers sell more integrated marketing packages and provide media buyers with a more comprehensive view of both the print and Web media outlets available in particular markets. The serBIO vice aligns the data GEORGE for roughly 10,000 CARENS Web sites with the President, SRDS’ traditional SRDS consumer and b-to-b magazine database, which includes 120,000 print, direct, broadcast and out-of-home media. George Carens, president of SRDS, discussed the change. MB: What are some of the ways business publishers can harness the new service? Carens: We’re collecting information about business publishers’ advertising offerings, print, online and direct, and including profiles about what those offerings are. We’re also offering sponsorship opportunities, where [publishers] can supply positioning statements of their integrated offerings; list and customize what their ad offerings are and put in their proprietary research. We can also offer sponsorship of search and online display advertising. MB: How will new the service impact online ad sales for business publishers? Carens: We still know from our research that 88% of buyers and planners are using search engines to identify the relevant sites. [The service] will make it tremendously easier for buyers to not only identify sites that are relevant but align them with all of the other media that they’re putting together in an integrated media plan for a client. —M.S. A fuller picture for media buyers S mediabusinessonline.com | December 2009 | Media Business | 21 http://www.NYTimes.com http://www.WSJ.com http://www.WSJ.com/SF http://www.mediabusinessonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - December 2009

BtoB Media Business - December 2009
Contents
Tough Times for the Big Three Business Titles
Publishers See Better Times Ahead in 2010
Looking for a Vendor? Check Out These Lists
Sales & Marketing
Audience Development
Events
Production
People
Benchmarks
Know Your Audiences, Serve Their Needs

BtoB Media Business - December 2009

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