Is it possible to change the perception of the newspaper without changing its editorial content?
October 1, 2008 by marek.miller
The above question was answered by Bernard Asselin from “The Gazette” in Canada during the branding seminar of INMA Outlook 2009 conference.
A great marketing case study of “The Gazette” was presented by Bernard Asselin, the company’s Vice President responsible also for Marketing and Reader Sales & Service Department.
Bernard Asselin
In order to change the perception of the newspaper, the publisher named at first the most important problems it faced in its environment. The problems were:
- the decline in circulation (-3% year over year);
- media fragmentation;
- more snack news consumers;
- negative perception of print newspapers for being too old and too conservative (“The Gazette” is a 230 year old brand).
The company prepared a business plan, which was based on 4 corner stones:
1. a content that connects
2. great customer service
3. culture
4. brand that is promotive
Bernard Asselin is the man behind the second and the fourth parts of the plan.
As a result, the “Words matter” campaign was created. Below are some examples, take a look at them as they can really be inspiring.
The campaign was started with the first page of “The Gazette” printed with no words on it. Only the picture and the title plus frames with no text inside. On the second page the readers could find the name of the marketing campaign “Words matter”, and the A3 was actually the proper first page of the newspaper.
Simultaneously, different TV ads were being launched, focusing on the main topic of the campaign: “Words matter”:
Among many actions that were being taken, the editorial content of “The Gazette” was carefully backed up by the marketing campaign. For example, when the topic of the week in the newspaper concerned the global warming issue, huge ice cubes were put on the streets of Montreal with the sticker “Words matter” on them. Melting ice clearly communicated the danger of global warming. When, on other time, the main editorial topic concerned the problems with sleeping, 16 people were hired to dress in pyjamas and pretend to be sleeping on the streets of Montreal.
The careful integration marketing campaign with the editorial content of the newspaper brought this newspaper closer to its readers. The argument of being too old and too conservative was gone, what was proved by the slowing down in circulation decline of “The Gazette” (from -3% to -2,3% year over year).
Tagged: Case studies, conference, INMA, Marketing, Outlook 2009
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