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.

   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.