Readers of a major Midlands regional paper are hailing it “modern, inspiring and entertaining”, a year after its successful relaunch.

Research among readers of the Birmingham Evening Mail shows its brand has never been stronger, and the paper has also retained and extended its reputation as the voice of the local community.

It is now more trusted and “championing” than ever, with an 84 per cent increase in its trust rating and a 55 per cent increase for championing.

Pre and post relaunch research was conducted in January and November 2002 with the sample split between regular, light and occasional readers, being demographically representative of each category of reader.

Editor Roger Borrell said: “Being the voice of Birmingham is critical to us. Since the relaunch we have run a series of high quality local campaigns and it’s gratifying to know that more readers than ever rate the Evening Mail as ‘proud of Birmingham’.”

Ratings for specific sections within the paper have also improved since the relaunch – coverage of local events, ethnic issues and consumer issues all saw significant gains.

The research monitored the views of regular and occasional readers and proved that the changes successfully repositioned the Mail in the eyes of its readers.

Roger said: “Last year’s relaunch aimed to deliver a new look Evening Mail [below] that was more modern, relevant and representative of the Birmingham population.

“So we are absolutely delighted that the tracking research has shown the Evening Mail improved its ratings in all these areas.”

The Mail’s rating as modern and useful increased by almost one quarter, while more than one third more people believe it is entertaining – and almost twice as many rated it “inspiring”.

Readers also agree that the advertising sections are better than before, with motors, entertainments and classified sections all getting a higher rating following the relaunch. The recruitment section now scores a nine out of ten.