Newspapers will confront entrenched internal cultures in 2007 to reposition themselves as multi-media companies in a race to capture consumer attention across platforms, according to a blunt new report by the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA).

"Newspaper Outlook 2007: Embracing the Transition to Multi-Media" represents the sixth annual strategic examination by INMA of what the year ahead will look like for newspaper companies. The report is authored by INMA Executive Director Earl J. Wilkinson.

The eye-opening new INMA report shows how investors and advertisers are pushing newspapers to expedite their move into multi-media news and advertising delivery. The heart of "Newspaper Outlook 2007" delves into the rarely discussed topic of transitioning from mono-media to multi-media. INMA concludes that this transition is necessary -- but painful for a management culture hooked on high profit margins and an editorial culture unaccustomed to change and accountability.

"This report boldly says what many newspaper executives only whisper about," says Ross McPherson, president of INMA and managing director of McPherson Media Group in Australia. "As an industry, we are good at identifying where we are and where we will go. Clearly, multi-media is our future. But we hesitate to confront the transitional issues necessary to get to that multi-media future. The 'Newspaper Outlook 2007' report tells it the way it is. Now, let's see if newspaper companies will follow where readers and advertisers are leading us."

Bulding on the theme of transitioning to multi-media, the INMA report also examines:

• Customer Evolution: The fast-evolving customer mindset and how that relates to media, how advertisers are reacting to these mindsets, and how newspapers are positioned to take advantage of these changes.

  

• Management's View: The view from industry influencers on the newspaper business and what they suggest to turn fortunes around - including a region-by-region outlook for the year ahead.

• Core Business Projections: What will likely happen to the newspaper's core business in the year ahead, including circulation, advertising, and the marketing budgets that support these revenue streams.

• Updates on Industry Experiments: The latest developments in recent industry experiments involving web site profitability, free daily newspapers, "lite" newspapers, mobile telephony, and format change.

• What the New Multi-Media World Might Look Like: How markets are evolving toward a niche culture, how media consumption is changing, why a multi-product portfolio is necessary, and why broadband is crucial to forecasting future product development.

  

• The New Product Focus: New ways of delivering on the newspaper value proposition in the new multi-media environment, featuring how five newspapers in five countries are embracing a hyper-local editorial focus, integrating user-provided content, injecting consumer web use into editorial decisions, and integrating constant innovation processes into editorial decision-making.

About the Author. "Newspaper Outlook 2007: Embracing the Transition to Multi-Media" is an illustrated strategic report written by Earl J. Wilkinson, executive director of INMA, an author of numerous books and reports on newspaper publishing, a frequent conference speaker, and someone who is widely quoted in newspapers and magazines worldwide.

Who Should Order This Report? This report is written for newspaper chief executive officers, senior commercial and marketing managements, strategists, and those influencers of the newspaper's future. It is considered "required reading" for all INMA members.

How To Order This Report? The "Newspaper Outlook 2007" report is available to INMA members for US$95 and to non-members for US$195. The digital report may be ordered at the INMA.org Bookstore. The digital report is 4 MB in size, and will be e-mailed immediately and directly to you.

About the Association. INMA is a non-profit association dedicated to promoting advanced marketing principles within the newspaper industry. More than 8,000 members and subscribers belong to INMA, which publishes a monthly ideas magazine, four web sites, The Newspaper Industry E-Newsletter, Media Monitor and Consumer Trends e-newsletters, conferences, books, reports, and more.

Click on an image below and preview the first page of each chapter in the "Newspaper Outlook 2007: Embracing the Transition to Multi-Media" report. From left to right are Chapter 1: The Transition, Chapter 2: Consumer Mindset, Chapter 3: Management Perspective, Chapter 4: Core Business, Chapter 5: Innovations and Experiments, Chapter 6: A Multi-Media World, and Chapter 7: Future Content Focus.