A series of free newspapers in Kent have been given a new look from this week.

The Kent Messenger Group’s eight “Extra” titles are now boasting a new, uniform design following an extensive research project carried out by Marketing Works across the county last year.

The old design can be seen left, while the new look is on the right.

The titles circulate in Ashford, Canterbury, Folkestone & Dover, Gravesend, Dartford & Swanley, Maidstone, Medway, Sittingbourne and Thanet. Collectively, an average of 384,695 copies were circulated weekly across Kent between July and December 2008, according to the most recent ABC data.

The KM Group also plans to make greater use of user-generated content in the eight titles and is trilaing this in the Canterbury Extra.

Brand Manager, Sarah O’Hara says “This is another important step in the development of KM Group’s multimedia platforms.

“In a changing industry it’s clear that interacting more with the audience and developing user generated content is vital.

“By refreshing these key titles we have opened the channels of communications with our audience and are developing audience touch points.”