The International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) recently released a 45-page white paper called “Reallocating Marketing in the Age of Multi-Media.” Presented below is a summary of the relevant findings, highlighting key points of interest.
Branding
Organizations are focusing on delivering the brand across multiple platforms. They are ensuring the brand look and feel is the same while the content may differ appropriately by platform. The Australian has focused it communications on its brand first and on the platform delivery secondarily. The Los Angeles Times is adapting its marketing messaging to consumers to fit the platform on which it is delivered (rather than reformatted one ad for use in each different medium).
Customer focus
Some news media organizations are beginning to use traditional (packaged goods) marketing which is customer focused and uses brand managers. For example, Dow Jones is pursing a “customer-first” perspective. Verdens Gang (Norway) has begun using consumer research to understand how different news products can fit into consumers’ days. The Dallas Morning News wants to improve the value provided to readers and is considering a bundled offer called “TDMN everywhere” (one price for full access to all multi-media products).
Retention
Some (for instance Australia’s News Ltd. & Austria’s Kleine Zeitung to name a few) are moving from their historical focus on acquisition to retention. Also newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times, are now looking at the lifetime cost of acquiring and retaining customers (on any platform). More effort is being put into segmentation, predictive modeling on response rates and retention up front. As part of this initiative, many organizations are offering reader rewards.
Permission
A strong brand can be translated into new businesses and areas. Opportunities are being investigated by forward-thinking organizations. The Los Angeles Times is getting into new areas such as comic books and events. TribNation (Chicago Tribune) connects the newsroom with consumers in person and online via actual gatherings and social media.
Prioritization
Money and resources are limited so choices must be made based on each organization’s strategic direction. To overcome what might be limitation, news media marketers are beginning to collaborate with other organizations to make their resources go further. For example, Verdens Gang (Norway) has continued its sponsorships by finding co-sponsors to reduce costs.
Sharing
Everyone in the organization needs to be a marketer. To help make this a reality, it is recommended that news media organizations hold regular cross-functional update meetings to discuss new consumer research and/or initiatives.
