Newspaper
Advertising
Newspaper Advertising Advantages:
They appeal mostly to an upscale audience, age
35 and over.
Newspaper advertising is extremely flexible,
with opportunities regarding space, color, coupon insertion,
choice of sections to fit target customers.
Newspaper advertising tracking can be more
scientific than radio or TV because of coupons etc.
Newspapers have high credibility with readers,
which provides a positive environment for
advertisers.
Media Credibility Ratings:
Newspaper 48
TV
10
Internet 10
Catalogs 10
Ads in Mail
9
Magazines
4
Radio
2
Newspaper Advertising Disadvantages:
Newspapers often contain about 60 percent
advertising, which contributes to "clutter" and makes it hard
for an ad to stand out.
Average reading time of a newspaper is 30
minutes, so ads are often overlooked.
Newspaper circulation has fallen behind
population and household growth.
Readership among young adults has especially
been lagging.
Dollars Spent on Newspaper Advertising in 2005
(millions)
Federated Dep't
Stores
831
AT &
T
630
Verizon
625
General
Motors
584
Sprint/Nextel
545
Time
Warner 359
Sears
234
Daimler
Crysler
226
Walt
Disney
218
General
Electric
210
Overview of Newspaper Advertising Today
Newspapers face a huge challenge because of the growth of newer
advertising media, especially the Internet.
But in 2008, newspapers trail only television
in terms of the amount of local advertising revenues they
generate. Newspapers generate about 50 billion in revenues
annually. About 85 percent of that comes from local
advertising.
More than 53 million newspapers are
distributed each day, but that's down from more than 75 million
in 1976. Circulation has been steadily declining since the
90s.
Newspapers account for about 18 percent of
gross national advertising revenues, down from 28
percent two decades ago.
Advertising costs have risen while circulation
has dropped, making advertising less available to some
companies.
Cable TV, which often offers highly targeted
audiences, has become affordable to many advertisers. This
has hurt newspapers.
Traditional newspaper advertising like
classifieds are being affected by website advertising.
Immediacy has declined with the arrival of 24
cable news, satellite technology, and the Internet.
Meeting the Marketing Challenge: Can It Be
Done?
Steps newspapers are taking to survive (besides
cutting staff and expenses):
Get newspapers into the hands of young
readers
Some papers have added youth
sections
Develop their websites as a separate entity
and market them accordingly
What's on the home page of a website? a
paper edition?
Keep editorial quality high but maintain
smart business practices
Reduce fixed costs
Newspapers are property, labor and
capital intense
Regionalize with suburban/neighborhood
editions
Types of Newspaper Advertising
Classified:
Often small ads, tightly targeted
Sometimes called "want
ads"
Called "classified display
ads" if there's an illustration
Separate department within
the newspaper
Three major concentrations:
employment, automotive, real estate
Display:
Anything that isn't classified
Local
Bought by local retailers
and advertisers
National
National retailers and
advertisers
Newspaper National Network makes
multiple buys easier
Local Newspaper Advertising
A huge focus of newspapers. Lots of retail
businesses.
Emphasis on brand name products and store brand
names may hurt newspapers because advertisers will focus
more on branding and image that price and seasonal or special
sales.
National Newspaper Advertising
In recent years has only amounted to about 15
percent of newspaper ad revenues.
Differing rate structures at various newspapers
has made it hard for national advertisers to make decisions
about which papers to buy.
Newspaper National Network has made it easier
for some advertisers to get access. The network has made it
easier to "spot target" markets and consumers.
Cooperative Advertising
Joint
promotion by local merchant and national
advertiser
Newspapers receive about
50 percent of all "co op" advertising dollars.
Rate Structures
Flat Rate: no discount
Open Rate: discounts
bulk discount: applied for
purchase of large amounts of space
frequency discount: applied
according to time intervals
ROP stands for "Run of Paper"
The ad can be placed anywhere in
the paper.
Preferred position
The advertiser chooses where to
place the ad. This may require a higher fee.
Related articles: Print Advertising, Magazine Advertising,
Elements of an
Effective Newspaper Ad.
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Advertiser chooses where the ad
will run.
Rate card
Published advertising rates. As
with radio and TV advertising, the rate card is usually
just a starting point for negotiation.
Circulation Analysis
The Audit Bureau of Circulations or ABC is an
organization sponsored by publishers, agencies and advertisers
to determine accurate circulation research.
There's some controversy because circulation is
one thing, but readership is something else. Most newspapers
conduct their own research into readership.
Newspaper-Distributed Magazine
Supplements
National newspaper Sunday supplements are
becoming more rare, except in large metropolitan areas.
National advertisers like them because they
reach a broad base, are efficient to buy, and offer a quality
magazine format that people are likely to spend more time
reading.
Two largest supplements in the U.S are USA
Today and Parade.
Newspaper Inserts, Zoning and Market
Coverage
Geography plays a role in newspaper publication
and circulation. Advertisers can choose:
Full coverage of the circulation area
Some waste is bound
to occur
Works
for for "big box" department stores, grocery chains,
etc.
Zoned preprints
Advertising
circulars and inserts
Distributed by zip code
Microzones:
smaller than zip code
Preprints are now a primary income source
for many papers
Newspaper becomes a form of direct
mail
FSI: Free Standing Insert (American Marketing
Association definition)
A preprinted advertising page(s),
commonly offering coupons or other promotional
activities, that is inserted into a separate
publication, such as a newspaper.
Weekly Newspapers
These are usually suburban or rural papers that
limit their coverage to a relatively small geographical area
and cover no national news.
There are some specialty weeklies that cover
art, politics, etc.
There are "free shoppers" that offer little
content and may even be 100% ads. EG The Pennysaver.
Research says there are about 6700 weekly
papers in the U.S. with a circulation of about 50 million.
Weeklies are often a favorite of small local
advertisers because rates are affordable and the papers reach
only the retailer's target geographical
area.
National Newspapers
Until recently, the U.S. has not had a truly
national newspaper.
Parameters for a national newspaper:
Must be published 5 days a week
Must print copies that are sold,
distributed and available nationwide.
Most revenues come from car makers,
computer-communication-financial services. "Common
consumables."
U.S. National newspapers now include
The Wall Street
Journal
1.7 million in
circulation (2nd highest),
focus on
financial news
appeals to
elite demographics
USA
Today
general
readership
an "easy read"
with brightgraphics, short articles
circulation of
2.2 million
The New York
Times
LA Times,
Washington Post and Chicago Tribune still are considered
regional newspapers
Ethnic and Foreign Language Newspapers
Spanish language press is fastest growing
segment of the U.S. newspaper market.
Many papers now have Spanish language
supplemets or sister publications. El Diario La Prensa and Hoy
are the two biggest Spanish language papers in the USA.
African American papers have generally been on
the decline since the mid 20th century because of greater
employment opportunities and greater coverage of African
American news by "mainstream" newspapers.
There are a number of Asian language papers.
But since the Asian population is smaller and more
linguistically diverse than the Hispanic population, there is
no large regional paper or national Asian press.
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