Dainik Bhaskar uses print campaign to save the tiger
23 May 2013 · By Sanjeev Kotnala
One major concern among environmentalists and conservationists worldwide is the dwindling tiger population. In India, this concern is even greater, as the tiger is recognised as the national animal.
Current census figures suggest that there are about 1,411 tigers in India, down from more than 12,000 just a decade ago. This rapid decline in numbers is attributed to various factors, which include deforestation, resettlement of tribal folk, and forest reserve guards not being appointed to protect them.
It was obvious that the local government was not doing enough. Dainik Bhaskar decided that something needed to be done and that it needed to be done quickly. Driving home this point is the fact that two states where tigers abound (Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) are home to more than 700 – or half – of the existing tiger population.
Seeing the lack of support for this growing problem, Dainik Bhaskar decided to take a stand. In September of 2010, the news media company launched a hard-hitting editorial initiative that had two clear objectives:
- Get the government of Madhya Pradesh to declare the four tiger reserves (Bandhavgarh, Pench, Kanha and Panna) as notified buffer zones.
- Convince the government to declare the appointment of a Special Tiger Protection Force to prevent poaching.
Fairfax creates national tourism commission campaign to promote down time
21 May 2013 · By Omri Godijn
Although South Australian Tourism Commission has a beautiful island for people to visit, the destination of Kangaroo Island was often overlooked by Australians themselves.
With a reputation for working longer hours than most countries — and leaving vacation time unused — Australians present a challenge for vacation marketers.
SATC wanted to promote Kangaroo Island’s natural, off-the-grid experiences, which included beaches, wildlife, food, artists and artisans, as well as the fact that the island is noticeably lacking in mobile phone coverage, Wi-Fi, and traffic.
The tourism entity partnered with Fairfax Media to help Australians realise they wanted, needed, deserved, and would benefit from taking a break.
Three-step approach to get readers’ attention involved a campaign that would do the following:
- Seed the desire to “switch off.”
- Interrupt readers and help them experience a taste of Kangaroo Island.
- Inspire them to visit Kangaroo Island for themselves.
Partnership between monks, De Standaard exemplifies successful activation marketing campaign
20 May 2013 · By Emmanuel Naert
At De Standaard, we believe the ideal conditions for successful marketing campaigns should create activations and awareness, and set the scene for close collaboration between a news media brand and an advertiser.
We believe the Westvleteren coupon offer was such a campaign.
“At aedificandam abbatiam adiuvi.” Do you know what this means?
It means, “I helped to build an abbey” in Latin.
To find funding for the renovation of their buildings, the monks of Westvleteren raised the production of their Trappist beer and launched a product called “The Brick” — the abbey’s 12° beer (they also make 6° and 8°) and two limited-edition glasses.
Normally, cases of beer are only sold at the gate of the abbey. It is an award-winning product and recognised by many as one of the finest beers in the world.
People travel to the monastery from all over the world to obtain the maximum of one case per person. To prevent fraud, the monks of Westvleteren take note of license plates to make sure no one returns for a second case on the same day. They are very thorough!
But this time — and only just this once — their beer was available at our retail partner Colruyt with a coupon we ran in De Standaard. Even with the coupon, The Brick cost more than €25 — not exactly cheap.
The coupon was published on a Wednesday morning. Within a couple of hours, the entire 95,000 bricks had sold out. There were reports of big disputes between people laying their hands on the last brick and people driving more than 100 kilometers to obtain one.
The monks of Westvleteren, who live a sober Cistercian life, normally produce and sell only enough beer to provide for their bare necessities. But with this one, well-targeted campaign, they succeeded in raising more than €2 million.
...[more]Irish Times’ multi-media campaign lets customers tell story of whiskey advertiser
19 May 2013 · By Viv Maher
When Powers Whiskey, the third-largest spirit brand in Ireland, wanted to rejuvenate its customer base, it turned to The Irish Times.
One of the greatest challenges for a media campaign was that the whiskey category is very competitive, and Powers Whiskey needed a fresh way to ensure it was on the radar screen for consumers.
Knowing its target audience consisted of men who like simple things in life — such as quality time with family and friends, a good pint, and sharing banter in a club — The Irish Times knew traditional advertising wasn’t going to engage them.
This market required content and stories that would draw them in.
The news media company turned to the old advertising campaigns of the 1970s and ‘80s, and found that the ads were more like short stories, capturing a moment in time and fitting in well with the Powers’ brand and its traditional, authentic Irish values.
To emulate those campaigns, The Irish Times decided to let the consumers themselves tell the story of what really matters most in life today.
...[more]The Chronicle seizes creative advertising opportunities hard times provide
14 May 2013 · By Rohan Gosstray
It has to be one of the most exciting times our industry has been through. Certainly difficult and immensely challenging, but exciting nonetheless.
Even the great contrarian investor Warren Buffett is seeing value in daily newspapers.
The newspaper industry has been weakened. And many of those who have felt victimised or vilified by our publications (in the public interest, of course) are now coming out to sink their boots into our battered carcasses.
Something is happening though. Our staff, which was initially taken aback by a fall from grace, are now showing signs of understanding just how important our pictures, stories, and advertising are to our communities.
Instead of giving our stories away free on the Internet in a daily database dump of information, we are starting to think about how our stories are sub-edited and presented in a more valuable way on many new platforms.
The advertising possibilities are changing rapidly with the equivalent of full-page ads appearing on digital formats with animation, video, colour, and hypertext links. Amazing.
We are beginning to see green shoots from executive encouragement of risk taking and creativity. Senior executives and even company chairman have been heard to mutter “be bold.”
But how do we make sure we don’t miss the opportunity to grasp this momentous chance for transformation and success?
At The Chronicle, an APN News & Media newspaper, we have seized many such opportunities:
- Niche publishing: Our features/telemarketing team developed the “Black Book,” a small publication with targeted distribution to support the advertisers that advertise escort services in our publications.
“Black Book” utilises our existing resource and is aimed at a distinct target group with special editorial that would not run in our community newspapers. Staff members have tested various advertisers and are finding a group of new advertisers that value this audience. - Custom publishing: Our retail team approached the state branch of the Country Women’s Association to custom-publish a magazine for the group. We write and sell the advertising, using our state newspaper network to promote the publication four times a year.
The aim of the magazine is to present a contemporary view of the organisation and attract new members to the CWA. It has provided us with the opportunity to work with advertisers outside our market. We have also been fortunate enough to publish the group’s unique cookbook, which has already sold around 30,000 copies. - Newspaper-inserted magazine: Our staff members have taken ownership of our Style magazine. Through their passion and commitment, they have built up a strong monthly magazine that allows us to secure advertising from a new market that does not traditionally use the newspaper.
As part of the magazine’s promotion, staff took the initiative to organise a charity race day. To date there are 200 tickets sold at A$90 a head, and the town is buzzing about the event.
In all three cases, the initiatives have been driven by staff members and benefitted from their unique insights into the market and our customers.
We cannot all be Steve Jobs — one person with a vision that transforms an entire industry. What we do need are leaders who can encourage the small glimmers of creativity present in so many of our staff at so many levels of our business.
Our leaders need to provide the experience, resources, and support to help turn that creativity into innovation that goes straight to our bottom line. We don’t need one idea that leads to an innovation but hundreds of them.
Our businesses, after all, are made up of hundreds of parts. And the whole is worth much more than the sum of the parts.
In our industry, the appetite for risk has been poor. With so many hurdles put in place to prove a case for a new venture, ideas go terminal just after (or sometimes before) a business case is constructed with ROI and payback periods, etc.
Sometimes you have to have faith in people to follow through on ideas they are passionate about, making sure you provide the guidance and support to ensure that financial disasters are avoided and the political barriers are removed.
It is often the case that a big idea launched with a lot of fanfare (and a mandatory project name) can do harm if it goes off the rails, because no one pulls up early. Precious time and resources are tied up keeping the project alive when it would be better to do a quick side shuffle and kick start another project.
Lessons learnt and acknowledged can be used to grow the organisation’s experience curve and make for better execution the next time around.
There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a number of executives innovating in areas of their own strengths and passions. It makes a lot more sense to have a number of people across the operation innovating across a number of platforms and industries.
We are a remarkable business. We have provided value for years with integrated product that presents a package containing cleverly designed and organised news, information, and advertising.
It’s time to encourage our people — mostly clever, passionate, and creative — to explore, borrow, and develop ideas with the support and guidance of the leaders within our business. The people who work in our markets know the markets and have the potential to develop one of the many innovations to move our businesses forward.
It’s the job of the leaders in our business to facilitate the development of an idea into an innovation and make a difference.
Smartphone app takes Postmedia advertising campaign to new multi-media levels
12 May 2013 · By Maggie Greyson
When Nissan wanted to launch an innovative new campaign for its new Altima, it turned to Postmedia Integrated Advertising’s internal custom projects team, named 3i.
As a result, Nissan was able to deliver an effective, award-winning advertising campaign that transcended print and enveloped the digital space as well.
Brainstorming for the ad campaign, which ultimately ran in 10 of Postmedia’s local newspapers, crossed multiple departments, including editorial, mobile, video, print, automotive, sales, and production in a search for something that would be truly innovative and still relevant to Nissan’s early-adopter demographic.
The brainstorming led to the use of Layar, an applications for iPhones and Android smartphones that transforms print into an interactive medium.
Using augmented reality, or AR, the Layar app incorporates voice, images, and videos into a traditional print space. Readers could hold their mobile device up to the page, then access the digital content connected to that page.
Postmedia went to publishers across the Postmedia network and organised additional ad tickers across every available print page in their network on the day of the campaign’s launch.
Because AR is such a new application and had not been used by publishers in North America, Postmedia also took on the responsibility of educating users about the technology.
...[more]News media companies follow mobile revolution in The Netherlands
09 May 2013 · By Olaf Croon
News brands work — for the readers, for advertisers, and for society. In the multi-media landscape of today, news brands have also moved into digital, mobile, and social. A cross-media portfolio is the new standard.
Are news media reinventing themselves? Of course not. The sector is just innovating. And that is no devaluation of print. Traditional media, like print, TV, and radio, are undiminished, strong advertising channels that are used widely.
A revolutionary change is visible in news reading on mobile devices: Year-to-year indexes in The Netherlands show a 41% growth in reading news on smartphones and a 133% growth in news consumption on tablets. This is a positive development because it leads to more overall consumption of news.
News enriches our lives, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. It’s not just because of the wide range of news items, but also due to the many ways to follow the news. News is omnipresent and news has impact. News in itself represents relevance and urgency.
For example, all newspapers in The Netherlands recently paid close attention to the April 30 throne change, when Queen Beatrix stepped down and her eldest son, Prince Willem-Alexander, became King Willem IV.
The advertising pages of newspapers throughout the country were coloured orange — representing the House of Orange, the royal family. Advertisers such as Aegon, Nationale Nederlanden, and Heineken sponsored throne-themed editions.
De Telegraaf, thanks to its size, featured the largest picture of the news event, devoting its entire front page to King Willem-Alexander taking the oath. De Volkskrant dedicated its entire front and back pages to pictures of the royal couple (King Willem and his wife, Princess Máxima). Regional newspapers also paid much attention to this festive event.
People choose news brands they trust, that analyse, and that are relevant. News media companies enable citizens to make good choices, based on good information. Whether this information is gained through print, TV, radio, or Internet is of no concern.
Advertisers are looking for effective communication and activation. News brands know how to reach people’s hearts and are also capable of reaching a target. And that’s what advertisers are looking for.
News media and advertisers together are in a better position to respond to consumer demands with better advertising propositions. Every ad deserves the impact of the news.
That’s our promise to the advertising market. And we believe that the high quality of the “news GRP” (gross rating point) can make the difference.
Ebela breaks myth that older readers are print’s only audience
08 May 2013 · By Supriyo Sinha
ABP Pvt. Ltd. is one of the leading media conglomerates in India, with its footprint across vernacular dailies, English dailies, magazines, television, radio, Web sites, book publishing, and media training.
The flagship daily newspaper, Anandabazar Patrika, has a heritage of 90 years and is a market leader, being double the size of competition. The other group assets are also leaders in their own markets.
On September 17, 2012, the ABP Group launched Ebela, a new morning daily, in tabloid format and written in Bengali (the most popular language of Eastern India). It has shattered the myth that the new generation is averse to reading regional language newspapers.
The refreshing, sleek, and smart content of Ebela is building a young readership base. Recent research by Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB, part of WPP group) shows 30% of Ebela readers are below 30 years of age, while the average for all other Bengali newspapers is only 20%.
The Bengali newspaper market has been dominated historically by Anandabazar Patrika, with a circulation of 0.65 million copies per day in Calcutta alone (total circulation is about 1.2 million copies per day across the entire state of West Bengal).
However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to engage the young audience through Anandabazar Patrika, or any other Bengali newspaper, for that matter. This is critical because today’s young generation will drive the economy during the next several decades.
Therefore, the ABP group launched a new daily, Ebela, designed to meet the needs of this young generation, with both content and presentation. The target group of the brand is anyone 20 to 40 years old who is young-at-heart and can read Bengali. Presently this newspaper is circulated in Calcutta, one of the four most important metro areas in India.
...[more]Daily News readers’ choice contest engages advertisers
07 May 2013 · By Mariam Rahiman and Robin Gould
With the creation of a new Readers’ Choice contest in 2004, the Daily News found a way to showcase the best businesses in Durban.
One year later, the contest’s name was changed to Your Choice, and the competition uses readers’ votes to determine the best businesses and services in Durban.
The ballot covers virtually every category of business, and readers are asked to cast a vote for their favourite businesses based on their personal experience. From retailers to restaurants to home improvement, all types of businesses are included.
The categories are divided across two ballots — one for Services & Shopping, the other for Entertainment & Home Improvements. Ballots run in the Daily News for two weeks, and readers are asked to vote for their favourites in a minimum of 15 categories per ballot.
The ballots also are available online for the five-week period during which the contest runs, but readers can only vote once per ballot.
...[more]Advertising partnership puts Gannett curriculum in 1,000 schools
05 May 2013 · By Neal Sullivan
“Lead2Feed,” a marketing programme developed by Gannett Company’s U.S. Community Publishing group, brought together Lift a Life Foundation and Yum! brands, two non-traditional advertising clients.
This multi-media programme was designed to teach high school and middle school students leadership skills while addressing hunger in their community.
Based on the book Taking People With You, written by Yum! CEO David Novak, the idea was to join the principles of his book with Life a Life Foundation, his personal foundation. Working with Gannett, he was able to connect the two and create Lead2Feed.
...[more]
Dawn McMullan is the editor of the Ideas Blog and senior editor for INMA. If you are an INMA member and would like to contribute a case study, 
