Newspapers are known as the clients from hell. It is an opinion
borne out by the repeated advertising account reviews called this year -
the Express and the Independent have done it twice, Sunday Business and
the Daily Record are doing it, and the Guardian has just done it.
Part of the explanation must be expense. Media owners use the same types
of suppliers as agencies, but the price-lists are wildly
disproportionate.
Photographers have one rate for newspapers and another, let’s say ten
times as high, for agencies. Then there are matters like layout. It’s
easy for a newspaper to write, tweak and redesign a complex page in a
few hours, while an agency will take a lot longer to perform a similar
task.
This is a major factor in the most frequently cited reason for agencies
and clients coming to blows, which is that newspaper people have little
respect for advertising.
Toby Constantine, the Times marketing director, says newspapers ’are
extremely disrespectful of the creative process’. In some cases, editors
believe in their own creative abilities and interfere with the agency’s
proposition.
As one agency boss says: ’Newspapers feel agencies are a bit tardy. They
do turn tactical work around quickly, but the quality suffers.’
The flip side is that some agencies prefer not to sully their hands with
the dry, promotion-led advertising that dominates newspaper briefs.
Moray MacLennan, the joint chief executive at M&C Saatchi, which counts
the Mirror among its clients, says: ’Most of the money is spent on
promotions and much of the agency world sees that as grubby.’
Tom Knox, deputy managing director of Delaney Fletcher Bozell, which
creates the advertising for the Financial Times, agrees: ’You have to be
a bit humble in the face of a media product. The advertising must be
transparent and you have to avoid imprinting your own creative product
on the medium.’
But many agencies argue that for the long-term strength of the
newspaper, a branding campaign is necessary. As one agency source says:
’You have to ask them ’have you got the will to help build a brand
through above-the-line advertising?’ They think they can build the brand
through the product - that you get readers in with a special offer, they
read it and it will grow from there. Agencies want to build long-term
equity.’
Underlying the client’s belief is the pressure to boost circulation.
A successful promotion, such as the Daily Mail’s Lucky Wallets, can
persuade 100,000 extra readers to buy the paper overnight.
But one agency source says: ’That causes a short-term boost among people
who shop around. It doesn’t generate any loyalty. Readers may move
between the Telegraph, the Independent, the Guardian and the Times.’
But there is a newspaper that appears to take branding seriously: the
Guardian believes in building emotional loyalty through its
advertising.
Its marketing director, Stephen Palmer, says: ’We want to give people a
reason to buy the Guardian over and above a particular promotion. The
Guardian has always had commitment to invest in the brand.’
Despite this approach, the Guardian split acrimoniously with Leagas
Delaney in May citing ’disagreements over strategy’. The paper has since
produced a campaign through Partners BDDH.
Often agencies do manage to persuade newspaper clients to invest in
branding campaigns, but they then change their minds when confronted
with unimpressive circulation figures. As one newspaper source says: ’A
common mistake is to oscillate between purely tactical advertising and
branding campaigns. Branding campaigns don’t deliver immediate sales and
so newspapers panic and start making special offers in their ads.’
But agency criticism of newspapers’ failure to use branding falls down
with the experience of the Daily Mail and FCB. The team has been
together for more than 20 years, creating product-led advertising and,
in the past year, the newspaper has enjoyed meteoric circulation
growth.
Robert Ballin, deputy chairman of FCB, explains: ’An important factor
has been stability at the Daily Mail. In the whole time we have been
working there, there have only been two editors. There has been
stability at FCB as well. The number of people involved with the account
has been very limited.’
Another explanation for the paper’s growth is its constant airing of ads
which feature special offers or promote an exclusive, salacious story in
the next day’s edition. Loyalty is built by the frequency of the
product-led ads. Ellis Watson, marketing director of the Sun and News of
the World, says: ’You will not strengthen a brand by running only
tactical marketing, but if you do it right you won’t damage it and you
sell more copies.’
There is a correlation between the clarity of a newspaper’s positioning
and the success of its relationship with its advertising agency. The
Times, the Sun, the Mail, the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Financial
Times all have an upfront brand with a loyal readership and a history of
sticking with their agencies for several years.
Sunday Business, as the newest Sunday paper on the block, has yet to
establish these relationships - its advertising is being put out to
pitch as its new managing director, Andy Hart, attempts to take control
of the title’s marketing.
The Express and the Independent are also struggling with their
positioning - a factor which inevitably leads to tension with their
advertising agencies.
