A regional newspaper publisher has turned to digital media to promote the power of local papers in a bid to boost advertising.
A YouTube clip heralding the reach and influence of regional newspapers on their audiences had been published as part of research into different audiences by Newsquest’s media sales department.
The video, which has already been viewed more than 13,000 times, shows four young children apparently playing dress-up at a party.
One, dressed like Iron Man, represents online advertising; a second – symbolically dressed as The Hulk – is the national press, and a third is Thor, or TV advertising.
They argue about each of their strengths, but are blown away when a fourth, meek-looking child enters wrapped in newspaper and reveals her secret power – a strong bond with millions of local newspaper readers.
Head of commercial development at Newsquest, Matt Smith, said the video was released to “whet people’s appetite” for the release of the research in April which seeks to examine audiences for different platforms and the impact of advertising on each.
Said Matt: “Both print and digital mediums and the value of strong content there is very much what we are talking about.
“YouTube was chosen as the holding platform for it as we wanted to make sure it is easily sharable, but it will be available across our social media sites and websites.
“It’s about getting some well-deserved and long-overdue recognition for the regional press.
“I think all regional media should benefit from it, both in terms of awareness and from the message it contains about the power of local papers.
“We would of course like to see an increase in sales from this, as well as brands using us more intelligently to reach consumers in ways they may not have thought about before.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different and something which isn’t necessarily what you would expect from a media outlet.”
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Was the Newsquest child supposed to swear at the end when asking for a slice of cake? What sort of values are they?
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If that’s the best a company like Newsquest can do to promote Local Press I shudder with shame.
It’s so bad it embarrassing – it’s more likely to drive readers and advertisers away than to attract them. The swearing at the end was totally off putting.
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Obviously the child was supposed to swear. It’s clearly been made as a viral, so the kid swearing is a talking point – it’s funny, grabs the attention, unexpected, shocking etc, depending on your viewpoint.
Good for Newsquest for trying something different.
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The audience for this is clearly media agency planners and buyers – often 20/30-somethings, & this will appeal to that group. It’s patently not aimed at readers, that is obvious from the subject matter.
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Very funny. Too many spoilers in this article though! ‘Hard pressed’ and ‘Sub bot’ need to lighten up!
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LOL. spat my coffee out. Good idea Newsquest!
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I quite enjoyed it actually. I don’t think this is for readers though, so probably not worth getting too embarrassed by Hard Pressed?
Good luck: A brave execution, and you don’t see too many of those from regional media
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Credit to Newsquest, great promo, grasp the opportunity whilst you can… It’s about getting noticed!!! And that’s exactly what you’ve achieved.
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Very entertaining… but why can’t the local media champion afford a decent costume? Does the this also reflect the lack of investment in local journalism ?
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@lensman – I presume the costumes are based on how advertisers generally view each media
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