Transcript Document

Creating Brand to
Grow Readership
ASNE Convention April 10, 2002
The Readership Institute:
A joint venture of NAA, ASNE and
The Media Management Center
© Readership Institute
Readership Trends
D aily
Sunday
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Newspaper Readership Among
the Adult U.S. Population
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Source: Newspaper Association of America
© Readership Institute
Agenda Today
• Update
− Readership activity in the last year
• Report on brand project that is
heavily based on content
− New initiatives for light readers, 20-45
years old
© Readership Institute
Readership Institute (RI)
studied 37,000 consumers
Results in 4 cornerstones that
apply to every newspaper…
… of every size
© Readership Institute
4 Cornerstones of Readership
1. Content
–
9 types of content grow readership
–
A particular kind of local news
–
Content that is “easy to read” & navigable
–
Content that is promoted in the newspaper
–
Advertising content that grows readership
2. Service excellence
3. Constructive culture
4. Power of brand to grow readership
© Readership Institute
What Does Your Brand
Say to Your Readers?
© Readership Institute
Brand in Newspapers
• Newspapers can have a strong brand
– New York Times & Wall Street Journal
• Out of 100 papers, RI found 6 local dailies
that had a modestly distinctive brand
– Most leaders admit brand receives little
attention
– It’s difficult to make it actionable
© Readership Institute
Brand Remains a Puzzle
• Brand grows readership
– This is an enormous opportunity
• RI explored it with two goals
– Start with the special set of consumers
• Others dealt with brand for all readers
• We took on the more difficult task of how to use
brand to grow readership for a consumer
segment
– Make the results actionable
© Readership Institute
What a Newspaper Brand Isn’t
• It isn’t the paper’s logo or motto:
– All the news that's fit to print
– The nation’s newspaper
– Beyond words
– We know where you live
– We deliver
– It’s what you need to read
– Every day since 1829
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Measuring Readership
• RI measured readers’ usage of their
newspaper
• Reader Behavior Score (RBS) is:
– Time spent
– Completeness
– Frequency
• Many newspapers are measuring RBS
© Readership Institute
Readership Brand Model
Reader Behavior Score
Relevant experience
to me
Content:
News & Adv.
Brand
Perception
Service
Excellence
© Readership Institute
RI Focus on
Light Readers
© Readership Institute
Tests with Light Readers
• Four RI partners
– Herald-Sun
• Durham, North Carolina
– News & Observer
• Raleigh, North Carolina
– Journal Times
• Racine, Wisconsin
– Journal Sentinel
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
© Readership Institute
Types of Readers
• Non-readers or readers of another
newspaper (28%)
• Heavy readers (21%)
• Light readers (51%):
– Selectives (6%)
– Skimmers (11%)
– Sunday/weekday
sometimes (8%)
– Sunday heavy (6%)
− Light selectives
(10%)
− Weekday only
(3%)
− Sunday only light
(7%)
© Readership Institute
21-25 Year Olds
(% Reading Daily)
45 %
40 %
35 %
30 %
25 %
20 %
15 %
10 %
1972
1977
1982
1987
Source: General Social Survey 2002
1991
1996
2000
5 %
0
© Readership Institute
Who are Light Readers?
• These readers are not us
• RI studied how to increase RBS of
light readers:
– 20-45 year olds
– Households of $35,000 and up
– Educated at high school or above
© Readership Institute
You & I Can’t Share Light
Readers’ Mindset
• I feel drowned by the news
• I already know what’s going on
without the newspaper
• The paper repeats yesterday’s radio
or TV news
• Too much news is depressing,
uninteresting or a waste of time
© Readership Institute
Listen to What They Say
"Well, you’re inundated with news
on a constant basis. News updates
on T.V.. You see it in the paper.
You’re standing in the aisles at
grocery stores and you read it.
You're plagued by the news and
there’s just a point I don’t want to
know anymore."
© Readership Institute
Meeting Light Readers’ Needs
• Think how different
your paper would have to be
if you felt that way about it
© Readership Institute
Find Relevant
Experience for
Light Readers
© Readership Institute
Process to Find Relevance
• On the West Coast, light readers talked
about the relevance of the newspaper
for their lives
• RI synthesized findings into 20+
possible brand ideas to change their
newspaper experience
• Tested the ideas in Midwest & East
© Readership Institute
Process to Find Relevance
• RI developed four brand concepts from
those tests
– Created and tested prototypes of the
concepts
• Going forward
– Turn the concepts into content that will
work in the local market
– Make marketing and promotion plans
© Readership Institute
Four Brand Concepts
• Update
– Quickly show the key stories that matter
most to me
• Talking Points
– Debatables
• Guide
– Guide to ideas, news, places to go …
• Enrichment
– I grow. I’m in the know …
© Readership Institute
Four Concepts for
Light Readers
• These four concepts are just the
beginning
– From your younger, light readers you
can find other big ideas
• These might look like what you’ve
seen or already do, but suspend
judgment:
– Four concepts have the potential to
change your light reader’s experience
with your newspaper
© Readership Institute
Update
© Readership Institute
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© Readership Institute
Update Appeals to Broadest
Range of Light Readers
• Update tailors the newspaper to me
– I already know the basics of the news
– I use Update to track the news I care
about
– I use it to manage the news
– I use Update to dig deeper into stories I
care about and skip the ones I don’t
© Readership Institute
Update on the Front Page
• If I have to open the newspaper to find
Update, the experience is lost
• If Update is inside:
– It’s the same old newspaper
– I have to waste time digging for things
• Update is my connection to the paper
– It’s not just an item or index
© Readership Institute
What Update Means
• Update is not an index like in USA
Today, the New York Times or the Wall
Street Journal
• The Update brand concept makes
using the paper a new experience for
me
• Update lets me make it my newspaper
© Readership Institute
Talking Points
© Readership Institute
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Talking Points’ Impact
• Talking Points are stories that:
– Arouse my curiosity
– Make me see the larger question behind
the story
• Realize that it’s not one side or the other
– Make me think or wonder
• I want to think about them and discuss
or debate them with friends
© Readership Institute
Guide
© Readership Institute
© Readership Institute
© Readership Institute
Response to Guide
"I like this a lot. You know what? I
would probably read this first. This
generates more interest here. It
generates interest for the articles. You
may not even have a chance to
research some of this stuff, but it
shows you that the information is out
there, you may think to yourself, well
I'm not going to snow job. I have the
opportunity to go and look for myself."
© Readership Institute
Guide Brand Concept
• My newspaper summarizes what I
need to know
• It points me to other media if I want
more
– I already use those media; Guide
helps in that endeavor
– It adds to the stories in the newspaper
• It sends me to other places where I
can add to the story or experience it
© Readership Institute
Enrichment
© Readership Institute
© Readership Institute
© Readership Institute
Enrichment Brand Concept
• My newspaper gives me the news and
teaches me something at the same
time
• I get analysis and background that
enriches my understanding
• Everywhere I look my paper features a
quick lesson that makes me smarter
© Readership Institute
Brand Concepts are Different
• Brand concepts like these are
fundamentally different because they:
– Have a sharp focus on distinct audience
– Are done prominently and consistently
• Every day, front-to-back
– Must be promoted
© Readership Institute
Brand Concepts are Different
• They are a contract with light readers
– Guarantee the light reader a new
connection with the paper
– Provides them an important, relevant
experience in their lives
© Readership Institute
Readership Brand Model
Relevant experience
to me
Content:
News & Adv.
Brand
Perception
Service
Excellence
© Readership Institute
4 Cornerstones of Readership
1. Content
–
9 types of content grow readership
–
A particular kind of local news
–
Content that is “easy to read” & navigable
–
Content that is promoted in the newspaper
–
Advertising content that grows readership
2. Service excellence
3. Constructive culture
4. Power of brand to grow readership
© Readership Institute
Also at ASNE Tomorrow
• In the morning, in the Treasury room we
will share new findings about:
– Making readers more satisfied with stories
– Promoting your content more effectively
• Answer your questions from today
© Readership Institute
RI Focus in 2002-03
• More on:
– Brand that drives RBS
– Light readers
• Ways of breaking down defensive
cultural barriers
• Advertising that drives RBS and
revenues
• Measures that track growing
readership across media platforms
© Readership Institute
Creating Brand to
Grow Readership
All RI research materials & slides from
today’s presentations are available at:
www.readership.org
© Readership Institute