Bridging the gap between newspapers and the market

Anna Serner, the CEO Tidnings Utgivarna, The Swedish Newspaper Publishers’ Association spoke today during the INMA / OPA Outlook 2010 conference about how important it is for newspapers to innovate within their own brands and in their relationship with their readers/consumers .
There is a market out there willing to pay for bottled water. Even in countries where the tap water is both free and drinkable. The consumers and advertisers are used to paying for the brands they trust. Yet the trustworthy business of newspapers cannot find its way to a similarly profitable business model in the digital market place.

The newsmedia publishers should be able to answer two questions: do they know the market, and who they are waiting for. They have to know the market, know the reader, and then give him what he wants.

Younger generations are the ones who are growing now in times, when everybody is talking about the death of newspapers. According to the Swedish Newspaper Publishers’ Association’s latest research in Sweden:

• 68,5% absolutely want a free subscription.
• 53% believe that the paper will exist in 50 years
• 16% believe that the paper is the most important media.

Anna Serner suggested that young people today have three features publishers should focus on mostly:  style conscience, individualism and experience orientation. Therefore newsmedia companies should:
1. Concentrate on style. As a great example, the speaker showed two different way of selling books online. One online bookstore does it this way:

Google does it differently:

Google does a lot of things publishers may not like, but there’s always chance to learn from Google’s mistakes. All pages do not necessarily have to look the same. Innovation and creativity are the keys.

2. Individualize. Many companies do it already. Time is experimenting with individual weekly, Niiu in Germany is trying to publish personalised daily. It is important for a newspaper to represent the same features as the reader has.

3. Experience. Maybe the solution is to look into other markets and study how the successful consumer brands act? Anna Serner showed the example of award winning marketing campaign of Diesel, that 2 years ago through viral advertising, integration with web 2.0, adaptation of the user generated content, dialogue and branded content, created an incredible buzz around its brand. It became one of top 10 YouTube videos, gained almost 35.000 new google search results within 24 hours. Below is the movie telling more about this action:

Will newsmedia companies dare?

More recent stories

INMA Outlook 2010: conclusions from the conference in Liverpool

The INMA Outlook 2010 conference has just ended. For 2 days Forum4Editors has been keeping its readers busy with live reports from the conference. Read this summary for better understanding and easier navigation throughout the articles.Before the official... 

French newspaper man wins top INMA Europe award

Olivier Bonsart was awarded the Golden Tie, the INMA Europe top honor, at the association’s conference in Liverpool on October 22, 2009. Mr. Bonsart, a top manager of a French newspaper company SIPA/Ouest-France, is a long-time INMA volunteer and... 

Mysteries of Kraków

Poland’s Kraków is an authentic mediaeval city great for tourists, business travelers, gourmet and night-life lovers. It is also the Host City of the INMA European Conference in 2010. Beata Palis of the Convention Bureau of the Municipality of... 

Outlook 2010: last moments of danger, and opportunity

The opportunity for newsmedia companies today is to accelerate cultural change before the economic rebound begins. This rebound is only months away, so the clock is ticking. In this closing presentation of INMA/OPA Outlook 2010 conference, Earl J. Wilkinson,... 

Should the content in 2010 be journalism?

When circulation and advertising revenues go down, editors cannot hide behind their wall. What you could and should expect from your newsroom to respond to the rapid change in readers’ and advertisers’ needs? Grzegorz Piechota, Vice President,... 

What’s in store for newsmedia companies in 2010-2012

What to expect from the news industry in the next three years was the focus of the presentation of Lauren Rich Fine, drawing on her experience as a former Merrill Lynch analyst looking at transformational change in the news and financial services industries.... 

Brainsnacks about transformation in today’s media

in.gr opening page During the afternoon brainsnack session of INMA/OPA Outlook 2010 conference speakers have only 7  minutes to speak about their ideas and experience. It was held by Nikos Gouraros, Business Development Director of Digital Business Unit...