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Mike Jeanes on regional newspaper sections

The full text of the speech delivered by Mike Jeanes, market research manager, The Newspaper Society, at the NS Newspaper Sales and Promotions Conference 2000.

This session takes a fresh look at the Newspaper Society’s recent sections research, focusing on five key issues. The presentation also shows examples of how publishers have taken on board some of the recommendations outlined in the report, and looks at the wider implications of the project, introducing plans for a new industry-wide sections database.

But to begin with, although many regional publishers have researched their own sections in detail, until last year there had been no attempt to collect an industry-wide snap-shot, and explore the effect of sections on readers, and in turn, on newspaper sales.

To address this, the NS commissioned Ocean Consulting, and Beck Consultancy to carry out a detailed research programme on behalf of the industry. Top line results were presented at last year’s sales conference, and since then, a strategic report has been produced, written by Alan Renwick and Jennie Beck.

The project involved a three-stage research programme including desk research, an industry audit, and a series of case studies in four centres. The overall research focused primarily on regional dailies, because it’s much easier to measure the effect of content, and structure, on newspaper sales by examining data on a daily basis.

Before we look at some of the key findings, let’s get back to basics, exactly what is a section?

Well, there are so many versions and differences of opinion, it was difficult to come down on one side of the fence or the other, in fact the report debates the pros and cons of at least eight definitions and descriptions, but it was eventually decided that the best description of a section is…….

“a printed product incorporating a collection of focused elements (editorial or advertising) on a single theme or themes, which carries its own masthead, and can be separated from the main paper”.

So now we know exactly what a section is, how have they developed over time?

The report reveals that the very first UK newspaper section was launched by the Sunday Times in 1962, and since then, some national newspaper (particularly the qualities) have become complex FMCG brands. For example, since the early eighties, The Guardian has transformed into a multi-section brand, each day attracting a different audience, with very different reasons for buying. The paper has developed a strong tabloid section, G2, which in itself is split into sub-sections catering for different niche markets on different days, with media on a Monday, education on a Tuesday etc.

Throughout this period, while the rest of the quality market has been quite turbulent, The Guardian has maintained its sale, becoming more commercially successful at the same time.

The regional press has also seen significant section developments in recent years, with almost every regional daily now publishing a section at some stage in the week. In order to compete against a highly proactive national market, regional mornings in particular tend to have a wider range of sections on a Saturday compared to their evening counterparts. The Eastern Daily Press, is a good example, publishing 10 sections throughout the week, culminating in a 32 page motors pull-out, and a “review”-style magazine on a Saturday.

This magazine gives the reader the quality of editorial, environment and reproduction found in the nationals, but with a distinct local feel, and it’s this local angle that gives the EDP its competitive edge. As with some of its national counterparts, the Eastern Daily Press is able to charge a differential cover price of 50p on a Saturday (compared to the average price of 42p Monday-Friday), and sales are still about 12 per cent, higher than average weekday performance.

This incremental uplift in casual sales on a Saturday supports findings from the Newspaper Society’s Single Copy Sales research. The results show that casual buyers purchasing newspapers on a Saturday are less likely to buy on any other day, than those buying during the week. This reveals a pool of Saturday morning buyers that “dip in” on a Saturday, and “dip out” during the week, suggesting that the Saturday product needs to be strong enough to ensure that these “solus Saturday buyers” come back next week.

Regional evenings tend to enjoy sales uplift on key classified days throughout the week, but they struggle to compete on a Saturday, where different lifestyle patterns dictate earlier news and entertainment, with less time available for reading in the evening.

There are of course exceptions to the rule. The recently re-launched Leicester Mercury is one of the best examples, where the Saturday paper carries a 56 page property section, and remains the second best selling day behind jobs on a Thursday.

However, results from the Single Copy sales research, still show that in most cases, the battle for share of print media time on a Saturday has been fought and won by morning newspapers where sales peak at around 9.00am. And almost four out of ten morning readers (national or regional), have already read their paper before 9.30. With this in mind, adding value to the Saturday regional evening package in the form of sections, is unlikely to have a major effect on sales unless the paper is available at the same time as its national competitors.

Many publishers already print earlier on a Saturday, the Southern Daily Echo and Leicester Mercury to name but a few. But remember, the Saturday product must be strong enough not only to stimulate initial purchase, but also to ensure that these Saturday buyers come back next week!

In addition to the Saturday debate, the Sections report goes on to highlight some of the key findings from the research, and provides recommendations for action. So here we are six months down the line, but what were the FIVE main issues, and how have publishers reacted?

Well, firstly, the report reveals that sections are thriving in the regional daily press. Of the 50 daily titles audited (from a total of 96), virtually every one published a section at some stage during the week, and this isn’t just a reaction to what the nationals have done. Most sections are launched in response to specific reader demand, and many – such as the Yorkshire Post’s sports section – pre-date the nationals. Reader demand is the key phrase here, and prior to launching a new section, publishers should fully research reader requirements, and carefully review the economic consequences, and the various stages of launching a section are summarised in a flow chart in the centre of the report.

The chart covers everything from idea generation, through to testing reader demand, assessing the revenue implications, developing the appropriate section, branding the required investment and launch plans, and I would recommend that any publisher, considering a new launch should use this chart as a check list.

Moving on, although regional dailies tend to enjoy stronger brand loyalty than the nationals (expressed in their high levels of home delivery), the report highlights a high degree of product variation across the week, which in turn impacts on daily sales performance. If we look at daily sales indexed against average weekly performance, this chart shows that Thursday is by far the best performing day, followed by Friday and Wednesday, and Saturday struggles to compete.

Regular regional daily readers tend to buy their paper for local news, and they are less aware of sections, and less likely to view them separately from the main paper.

Less frequent readers, on the other hand, primarily buy for day-specific content such as jobs on a Thursday, or property on a Friday, and it’s worth remember that six out of ten regional evening readers are classified as less frequent “occasional” readers!!!

Content areas such as jobs are often contained in sections, and occasion
al readers are far more likely to take the section out when they read it.

This is clearly a problem for daily publishers, but if jobs were spread across the week in an attempt to attract job hunters on a daily basis, the critical mass of job ads would be diluted, which in turn, would fail to attract job-seekers, and discourage sits vac advertisers.

But maybe what can work, is moving jobs from one day to another, not drastically, but maybe one day “either side” of where it currently sits, and if anyone needs further information on how this can work successfully – please speak to Karen Edwards or Graham Glen at the Nottingham Evening Post.

Thirdly, these variations in sales across the week suggest that regular and occasional readers have two very different sets of needs and purchase motivations presenting publishers with two possible product development options:

The first option is to develop the main paper, in product terms, this means excelling at the basics; local news, sport and information. In marketing terms, it means driving home delivery.

However, while regional newspapers enjoy their close relationship with their loyal readers, this strategy won’t work in isolation for most titles. Any newspaper putting all of its eggs in the home delivery basket could risk exposure to the long-term decline in brand loyalty evident in almost every business sector.

The second option is the development of sections. We know that readers of sections tend to be casual buyers, and we also know that the majority of regional daily sales come from casual purchase, so not only is this a bigger market for the regional press to chase, we also know that sections do attract people in the market to buy particular products and services, which in turn impacts on advertising response.

Customers Choice IV shows us that people looking to move house are 50 per cent more likely to browse through the property sections of their local paper, while those looking for a job are twice as likely to read the sits vac pages, and this translates into increased sales.

Jobs is probably the best example, where many regional dailies experience sales uplifts of up to 20 per cent on recruitment day, while property and entertainments achieved an uplift of about two per cent, and publications such as Ipswich Live endorses these results, by helping the Tuesday paper achieve a sales increase, of two per cent year on year.

But it must be remembered that a high proportion of day-specific readers lapse back into non-purchase for the rest of the week, and as we saw this morning, publishers should explore possible hooks “or shared areas of interest” which could encourage job hunters to read the rest of the paper, or buy into another day – in other words what else interests job buyers? – what else do they want from their local paper?

In terms of strengthening the main paper by increasing pagination and perceived value for money, there is clearly a limit to the amount of newsworthy local news available, so pagination can only be increased through brand extensions such as sections (unless a “grass-roots news policy” is introduced – which could only really work for very local community papers).

Sections offer publishers the opportunity to widen their readership, improve their reader profile, and generate new advertising streams. Furthermore, with declining levels of loyalty, the introduction of brand extensions in the form of sections, should be considered by all regional dailies, especially those with larger, more metropolitan readerships.

Fourthly, for those titles adopting a sections strategy, the report reveals that readers expect content in regional sections to have a regional and local focus, and that generic national content is unlikely to compete with the national press in terms of quality.

However, the most successful regional sections are those where national quality is combined with a local feel. Several publishers have taken this advice on board, and some of the best examples include the Eastern Daily Press, Southern Daily Echo, and the Western Daily Press. All these titles produce a Saturday lifestyle magazines, which appears to be positioned against the mid-market national tabloids.

We’ve already seen how the EDP has achieved sales success on a Saturday, well the Daily Echo has achieved similar results with sales up ten per cent on the previous year.

However, it’s worth mentioning that the Echo’s Saturday strategy also includes a bumper weekend recruitment section which repeats Thursday’s job ads.

Saturday sales of the Western Daily Press are also up 2.4 per cent on last year, compared to average Monday to Friday sale down 6.5 per cent.

So faced with a constant barrage of bad news about the sale of evenings on a Saturday, there are some success stories, and this “national quality with local content” formula seems to work well for both evenings and mornings alike, as long as the paper is available early in the day.

Finally, in order to maximise sales opportunities, the report demonstrates a need for clearer indexing and sign-posting of sections to overcome “Russian Doll syndrome”, in other words where one section appears inside another, inside another etc. The report highlighted one regional paper in particular, that contained a daily TV guide, wrapped around a women’s section, which in turn had a wedding special inside, which was wrapped around a monthly arts guide. More surprisingly, there was little instruction on the front page to guide the reader to the relevant section.

You’ll be glad to hear that since the research, this paper has rectified the problem, and now carries a much clearer index on the front page, with easy to follow instructions guiding the reader to what’s inside and where. It’s essential that the main paper and any sections it carries talk to each other, and clear indexing and sign-posting is a key to success.

So, there seems to be a lot going on the industry at the moment, and in order to keep track of the expected increase in the number of regional sections in the future, the Newspaper Society plans to develop an industry-wide sections database. Next week marketing managers throughout the industry will receive a new electronic questionnaire which can be filled in on-screen, and e-mailed back to the NS.

The questionnaire will collect data on all sections published throughout the industry, covering average pagination, frequency, advertising ratio and much more. The aim is to gather data for every single regional daily, paid for, and free weekly, which in turn will provide essential intelligence to assist product developments, and provide crucial information for ad agencies and advertisers to target their campaigns more precisely.

So to wrap up, the Sections report show that, in line with the nationals, the regional press has developed a proactive sections development programme, with almost every regional daily now publishing some form of section throughout the week.

The report also reveals that regular readers tend to purchase for local news and regular content, whilst sections on the other hand, are more likely to appeal to less frequent readers, who tend to buy for day-specific content such as jobs, property or motors, and due to the high level of casual buyers “dipping in and out” of purchase, there is high degree of sales variation across the week, with Saturday still causing problems for regional evenings.

However, some titles such as the Southern Daily Echo are grabbing the “bull by the horns” and achieving success in this area, with the launch of two new sections, and what seems to work well, is national quality with local content.

In terms of product development, the report suggests that publishers have two main options: to either develop the main paper through increased pagination and more local news (probably at grass-roots level), or to pursue a brand extension strategy through section development.

With this in mind, more community-based titles could focus their efforts on
developing grass-roots news content, and building home delivery, whilst larger metropolitan titles on the other hand, could target casual buyers and new advertising streams by investing in strong sections.

For those publishers who pursue the sections route, it’s essential to provide clear indexing, a sign-posting and cross-promotion between the section and the main paper.

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