Regional newspaper owners have agreed to back a pounds 3 million
generic marketing campaign by the Newspaper Society to try to win a
larger share of national advertising.
In an unprecedented step, regional newspaper owners have pledged
increased subscriptions to the NS to support the new campaign. Five
agencies have been selected to pitch for the account - Faulds, BDH TBWA,
IMP, Smith Bundy Carlson and Clark McKay Buckingham. A decision is
expected by the end of the year.
The campaign, which starts in March, will use trade and regional press,
direct mail and PR. It is expected to run for two years, with a review
after the first year.
Consolidation within the industry, both in terms of the number of
regional newspaper owners and sales points, has led to the bigger
publishers pushing greater resources behind generic marketing.
Trinity’s chief executive, Philip Graf, said: ’Trinity is committed to
the cause of raising awareness of the local and regional press and the
ultimate aim of growing our share of national advertising. The need for
the campaign is clear and we fully support it.’
Media agencies welcomed the news. Robert Ray, the managing director of
MediaVest, observed: ’There’s a wave of change gathering in the regional
press. I sense an honest acceptance among publishers of the challenges
they need to overcome to get more advertising share.’
The campaign will be co-ordinated by a steering group of NS member
publishers.
Regional and local press generate pounds 240 million in national
advertising, which represents 11 per cent of total regional press ad
revenue.
Charles Ross, the national development manager for the NS, said: ’The
most important thing is to place regional press as a medium firmly on
the agenda for advertisers and agencies.’
