La Presse sees print-comparable ad rates 5 months after ending weekday print product

By Guy Crevier

La Presse

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Connect      

On January 1, 2016, La Presse successfully completed a key milestone in our transition to digital by officially ending publication of the weekday print edition and replacing it with the La Presse+ tablet edition.

We became the first major print daily in the world to make the shift to 100% digital on weekdays, while supporting a newsroom staff of 260 people.

Since announcing the end of our weekday print edition, weekly readership of La Presse+ has grown nearly 30%. La Presse+ is attracting new audiences and print readers continue to migrate successfully to the digital edition.

In a rapidly changing industry — where growth is rare — our success stands out as a model for any news media company looking to embrace change.

La Presse's decision to stop the press has profoundly affected business for the better. Stronger readership and ad sales support an experienced newsroom staff of 260.
La Presse's decision to stop the press has profoundly affected business for the better. Stronger readership and ad sales support an experienced newsroom staff of 260.

Today, advertising revenues from our digital platforms (tablet, desktop, and mobile) make up 82% of La Presse’s total advertising revenues, proving that our advertisers — in addition to our readers — believe in our platform as they continue to transfer print dollars to La Presse+.

In addition to expanding our footprint, we have also improved engagement by delivering an amazing experience to our audience. Each day, our readers spend between 40-60 minutes reading La Presse+. This level of engagement is unheard of in the digital media industry.

We’re also reaching younger readers: 63%of the La Presse+ audience is adults age 25-54, compared with 46% for the print version. Attracting a younger profile has helped the La Presse brand leap 16 positions in the rankings of the most influential brands in Québec among Millennials in the past year.

Plans to convert La Presse's core product to all digital began in 2010, and the transition was carefully planned and executed in stages. Just six months after becoming 100% digital on weekdays, the results are impressive.
Plans to convert La Presse's core product to all digital began in 2010, and the transition was carefully planned and executed in stages. Just six months after becoming 100% digital on weekdays, the results are impressive.

These results have translated directly into advertising rates comparable to those of legacy print. With La Presse+, we’re reaching a younger audience. We’ve preserved premium advertising rates, and based on recent polls, our ads are appreciated by 90% of our readers.

La Presse+ is now performing better as mass medium than the print edition of La Presse, with its 131-year history. Every day, an average of 260,000 unique tablets connect to La Presse+, a circulation that exceeds our most recent record weekly print circulation of 207,769 in 2009. Thanks to La Presse+, our quality content is more available and more widely read than ever.

With La Presse+, our goal was to transform our business model with an innovative digital strategy.

The objectives were simple: create a digital mass medium that would attract a younger reader profile than that of the newspaper and that, unlike new websites and mobile apps, would achieve significant levels of reader engagement.

Ad sales have been strong for La Presse's digital weekday edition, with rates comparable to its legacy print product.
Ad sales have been strong for La Presse's digital weekday edition, with rates comparable to its legacy print product.

We also wanted to make La Presse+ a medium of the future that would offer advertisers and agencies innovative, creative, effective, and measurable ad products that truly meet their new needs.

Three years after the launch of La Presse+, we’ve achieved our objectives. La Presse+ has established itself as an indispensable news and information reference in Québec, both for the numerous readers who have made it a daily ritual, and for advertisers who rely on it to support their brands.

About Guy Crevier

By continuing to browse or by clicking “ACCEPT,” you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance your site experience. To learn more about how we use cookies, please see our privacy policy.
x

I ACCEPT