At last. The Mail’s circulation has overtaken that of the
Mirror.
When it comes to thinking the unthinkable, this is about as much of a
surprise as George Graham joining Spurs. In fact, the ’so-what’ factor
was probably even greater - people have been predicting that this was
going to happen for months. Although the Audit Bureau of Circulations
figures for September aren’t officially published for another week or
so, the Mirror conceded in a statement last week that its average
circulation for the month is likely to be 2,375,000 compared with the
Mail’s 2,420,000.
The upside of this, from the Mirror’s point of view, is that months of
speculation have given everyone time to get used to the idea of a
mid-market newspaper being more popular than a popular. And the Mirror
even attempted to turn a potential embarrassment into an opportunity. It
was the Mirror’s initiative, after all, to release the news - and it
worked to its advantage by pointing out that, although the Mail was
doing well, the Mirror wasn’t doing badly either.
The message is that the Mirror’s ’rejuvenation plan’, launched in
January 1997, is still bearing fruit. Comparing the August ABC figures
with those from December 1996 - the month before the plan started -
shows that the Mirror has put on 72,000 sales, an increase of 3.1 per
cent. Across this period its sales performance is second only to the
Mail’s - and the Mail’s cause was advanced substantially by the closure
of Today in 1995. In short, we shouldn’t forget the fact that the Mirror
is also on a roll - and, if it continues, it will re-establish clear
water between itself and the Mail.
But market perception is delicate business. Will advertisers view the
Mirror differently now that it has been overtaken? Roger Eastoe, the
managing director of Mirror Group’s national titles, sincerely hopes
not. He comments: ’When advertisers buy a schedule they take into
account the proportion that we command of any particular target market.
We reach a discrete audience and a considerable amount of that is solus.
Our increase in sales is reflected in an increase in readership on the
latest National Readership Surveys. Any self-respecting media planner or
buyer will recognise that the Mirror is increasing in value.’
Eastoe reveals that he is preparing to initiate part two of the
rejuvenation plan. He adds: ’We believe we can continue to build on what
we have already achieved. Next year will be very interesting.’
Are agencies ready to listen? Tim McCloskey, the deputy managing
director of BMP Optimum, argues that the Mirror has relatively little to
worry about. He says: ’I think that what the Mail is doing is incredibly
good for the newspaper business generally. It’s good to know that
someone can increase copy sales and readership and do it with
traditional marketing tools like promotions and, more importantly, the
strength of the product itself. They are bringing in people on the back
of promos and actually keeping them.’
And he believes that the Mirror should join with the rest of the
industry in acknowledging the Mail’s achievements. ’I think there is
very little overlap in terms of potential purchasers of the two titles,’
he says.
’The products are certainly in no way substitutable and for the Mirror
to chase the Mail would be misguided. It should concentrate on its own
product strengths and its own circulation. When you talk to newspaper
people these days, they judge success in terms of losing copies less
quickly than their rivals. That attitude isn’t any recipe for success,
is it? As for advertising - I don’t think there are any implications of
this particular event. In advertising terms, the only potential victim
of the Mail’s success is the Express.’
Laura James, the press buying director of New PHD, agrees with Eastoe’s
point about the Mail’s recent success story being traceable to the
closure of Today. She also agrees that the Mirror’s achievements should
not go unrecognised. ’With a combination of a much-improved product and
some good marketing tactics, it has finally stemmed the circulation
decline in a decreasing market.’
But as far as James is concerned, each title operates in a separate
marketplace.
’I do not believe a shift in dynamics will change the way we operate
between the two sectors in the short term - the Mail is not suddenly
going to become a hybrid between the red-tops and the midmarket, neither
is there going to be a shift in spend from the Mirror to the Mail. The
Mail has successfully used a number of tactics to build circulation -
which arguably could attract popular tabloid readers - but, so far, it
has managed to retain its demographic profile.’
Guy Zitter, the managing director of the Daily Mail, will be pleased to
hear that. The easy assumption to make is that the Mirror’s lost
purchases are exactly the same as the Mail’s gains. Zitter does want to
create a hybrid but it will have nothing to do with the red-top end of
the market.
He states: ’I’m not the greatest fan of the National Readership Surveys
at present (the Mail’s circulation gains have not been reflected in its
apparent readership figure) but if you look at the percentage of our
readers in the ABC1 demographic, the figure is moving up - it is now 29
per cent compared with 22 per cent ten years ago. You can’t say that of
the Telegraph or the Times or the Guardian.
’We regard it as crucial that the quality of our readership is
maintained as we continue to push up the circulation. I don’t want to
stop C2DEs buying the paper - a sale is a sale - but while the quality
of our readership is continuing to improve I’m not complaining.
’I’m trying to build the paper into a powerful cross between a tabloid
and a broadsheet - and the most lucrative advertising market is in the
Times-Telegraph area. We’ve shown that you can build circulation without
resorting to cover-price discounting. It’s down to the quality of our
journalists - and we have been spending vast amounts on writers.
Essentially, the Mirror’s competitor remains the Sun - and you have to
ask yourself whether either of those papers is interested in the type of
editorial quality we provide.’
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