Johnston Press has launched a nationwide campaign across its titles to encourage readers to support independent businesses.
The regional publisher’s newspapers across the UK have started their “Shop Local, Eat Local, Play Local” initiative to help boost town centres.
As part of the campaign, the titles will focus on businesses in their areas and tell readers how they can play their part in supporting them.
The JP campaign, which has won the backing of the Federation of Small Business, also encourages people to support their local pubs and restaurants.
A story about the launch of the initiative said: “Our town centres are the lifeblood of our local economies, and vital to their success in the future are the local independent retailers – some four million around the country – who offer a unique range of goods and services.
“Over the next few weeks and months, we will be focusing on some of those vibrant businesses as well as explaining just how you can play your part.
“Independent retailers – your traditional butchers, bakers, and even candlestick makers – have long served us well, but in a period of ever growing competition they need our support more than ever.”
JP chief executive Ashley Highfield said: “Our campaign shows how committed we are to supporting our local businesses.
“Our newsbrands are the heartbeat and voice of our communities, and through this campaign we are delighted to be able to bring our SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) partners and readers closer together.”
The publisher is using the Twitter hashtag #jpshoplocal to promote its campaign.
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…and print local? And have a local newspaper office? This beggars belief and is an insult to hundreds of ‘local’ journalists who have lost their jobs with the JP ‘newsbrands’.
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Not very committed to supporting your local staff AH. Particularly hard to hear from someone that sent local jobs to India. There must be plenty of redundant JP staff who are now unable to support local businesses, much as they’d like to, as they now have to count their pennies!
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You couldn’t make this up……
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Apart from the stunning irony of JP promoting localism, it’s obvious that regional newspaper executives have a time machine they leap into when they’ve run out of ideas.
It gets a lot of use.
How many times have we seen a “Shop Local” campaign over the last ten years?
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How about a campaign to buy local…ie your local newspaper…………
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“Newsbrands”? Ugh. That just about sums up the sheer hypocrisy of it. LOCAL shops & businesses don’t have “newsbrands” or any sort of “brand” (unless they sell them), they have a local reputation. Only giant, national & international, faceless corporations are “brands” because they don’t know or care about local reputations.
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I used to be able to support local business, but then my partner was made redundant from guess who, yes JP – it beggars belief!!
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The key words : “In their areas”.
What exactly does JP mean by that?
My local weekly, the Clitheroe Advertiser, used to carry whole page advertising features entitled “Come shop in Skipton.”
Skipton is a rival market town to Clitheroe some 15 miles away.
Is this what Ashley Highfield means by supporting local businesses?
I’d pop into the local greengrocer after publication day and the boss would say to me:
“Bloody Clitheroe Advertiser! I spend good money advertising in your paper and they go and put my advert next to a page promoting greengrocers in Skipton!
“Next time they want an advert they can b-gger off!”
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Brought to you by the company that is closing its office receptions saying people can place ads online.
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This often used campaign has been launched to boost JP advertising revenue. Where will the ads for the local retailers be produced? Not from Leeds, Peterborough, Edinburgh or Sheffield studios as that work is being produced by designers in India. Wonder what the local advertisers would make of this campaign if they knew that?
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What hasn’t been mentioned here, is that, without doubt, this is an initiative to generate advertising revenue from those local businesses, so supporting the failing JP ‘newsbrands’.
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Why would anyone advertise in a non local paper with non local reporters and a diving circulation, local trade campaign or not?
JPs cynicism towards readers, staff and advertisers is breathtaking.
Sorry Ashers, people aren’t dumb. Just senior JP managers.
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Hypocrisy of the highest. Their real motto is #jpshaftlocal
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Priceless!
The first thing that JP did after taking over EMAP Newspapers was to stop centres sourcing services and supplies locally, despite the fact that they were often more cost effective. We had to go to a chosen JP supplier for everything – Toner, cleaning services, stationery etc etc
This resulted in poor service, increased costs and delays in deliveries.
So, after taking their business from the local area, they now want their readers to support them!
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#jphypocrisy
No doubt the “newsbrands” will be supporting the independent postcode mags set up to carry the sort of local advertising referred to by Get Real.
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Ex Jp Ad Man – Without doubt this is an initiative to generate advertising revenue. Any yes, what you call the ‘newsbrands’ are failing. But this campaign is, above all, a colossal act of hypocrisy when local JP jobs have been shed without compunction. Any idiot – and that includes the JP management – can see that.
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