Manchester 2006

It was raining in Manchester. I point this out not to further the stereotype, but more to set the scene as to the mood of the delegates as they arrived there for the conference.

Well, there is something of a black cloud hanging over the industry right now, isn’t there? The question is whether this has been caused by difficult current trading conditions or the more-than-stretching expectations of some media owners, their shareholders and the resultant lack of investment and forward thinking. This latter theme, in particular, was one to which a number of the speakers referred. More of that later.

As one delegate put it: ‘It’s been an interesting year for our wonderful business’, and despite the doom and gloom, most of those present would still agree that there is no better place to work than in regional press.

Conference chairman Howard Scott started proceedings by outlining some of the key themes. Routes to market, relationships and partnerships, facing up to our challenges, the need for creativity, and being prepared to innovate were among those things the audience would hear more of as the day unfolded.

Roy Greenslade

Keynote speaker Roy Greenslade started with a good old-fashioned exclusive (well, it was to those who hadn’t seen that morning’s business news - most of the audience!). DC Thomson, the ‘sleeping’ media giant, had completed a deal to purchase near neighbour Aberdeen Journals from Northcliffe, from under the noses of more acquisitive rivals. The deal was welcomed by most stakeholders, and the clouds began to lift, just a little. In the Thomson family we had another believer in the future of regional press.

He went on to say that our newspaper titles are hugely strong information brands which ought to be leveraged, that content is king and the gathering and packaging of it our main USP, but that this now must be distributed using multi- channels in a fully integrated way. More flexible thinking and working practices among journalists, and others, will be necessary to ensure that we embrace the changes, and stop others from further eroding our position.

This, argued Greenslade, will allow us to ‘preach the reach’, and demonstrate the true audience coverage being generated across the wider portfolio - something which is not currently recognised.

And finally, he talked of the threat posed by the BBC in local news and information provision, but countered with a broadside that publishers only had themselves to blame for this invasion of their territory, as a result of owners profit taking rather than innovating and investing to secure their futures.

Overall, a polished opening to the conference, but one that failed to give delegates inspiration as to how this migration can be achieved, where consumers and advertisers alike still appear less than willing to pay for ‘new media’.

Matt Harrison

Next up was Matt Harrison. Trinity Mirror Regionals’ newspaper sales director looked to have survived his first year in regional press fairly well, albeit possibly with the help of large amounts of his ex-employer’s product! (Matt was at Diageo).

Matt introduced the concept of ‘shopper missions’, and expressed the view that our sector has much to learn from FMCG in terms of driving casual sales. He’s right, of course, but it’s often overlooked that newspapers are just about the fastest moving of all CGs! He repeated Roy Greenslade’s point that re-defined print brands (no longer ‘just something your Gran reads’) must act as ‘parent’ for new products, channels and services but is optimistic about the future of traditional newspapers.

Understanding consumer motivations and behaviour, alongside partnering with retailers to then capitalise on this insight is, Matt says, the way forward.

Chris Pennock

Matt’s opposite number at Johnston Press, Chris Pennock, drew sympathetic laughter, when opening, by saying that this is the most exciting time in our business – ever .... just that it doesn’t feel like it! Of course, he said, we need to embrace change but let’s keep newspapers at the top of our ‘To Do’ lists.

Chris’ session focused a lot on customers, and he challenged the audience to ask themselves whether their business decisions were really based on what consumers and potential consumers want ... or, perhaps, instead influenced by process and cost. He proposed getting closer to them still, finding ways to interact with them at every opportunity.

The Chilean news organisation, to which Chris referred, initially posts all of its stories to the web, and uses volume of interest in electronic content to define what is included in its next print issue. This is a great example of the virtuous circle that can be created. Citizen editing as opposed to journalism. Circulation performance at the publisher in question tells us that there might just be something in this approach.

Listening intently, as Chris talked about content aggregation, I couldn’t help thinking, in the searchable information super warehouse of the 21st Century, that the role of regional publishers ought to be really clearly defined. If it’s true that ‘You don’t always know what you need to know’ then you can’t search for it. Therefore, somebody has to take control, and provide a pre-edited menu of stuff that will educate, inform, surprise and amuse readers who, at the end of the experience, feel that the time they spent with that product had been enlightening, useful and enjoyable. That way, they’ll probably make a date with it again, same time tomorrow.

David Cooke

Having heard what Matt Harrison had to say about partnership, senior buying manager, news and magazines at Tesco UK, David Cooke was happy to concur.

David talked of Tesco’s non food strategy, and of the fact that news was seen as being an entry point; a link between food and non food purchase. He informed delegates that regional press was worth £25m to them over the last 12 months (+8.6% year on year), and that 21% of Tesco customers buy a local or regional newspaper. (He didn’t say this but, wow, what an opportunity to work with them to identify and target the 79% who, by definition, don’t!)

A local view is taken of requests to stock products and to merchandise these within broad corporate guidelines, so relationships and an ability to demonstrate the value (both in terms of cash and sense of community) of our newspapers is the key. As is simplicity of service - perceived wisdom within Tesco is that ‘local newspapers keep staff in the back shop for far too long!’

However, this situation can only prosper, says David, where administration and communication (not surprisingly, barcodes was an issue he raised here) with head office is given the focus needed.

With lunch (and the chance for delegates to gorge, both on the buffet and the wares of the 15 exhibitors at the CEP-EX) looming, the morning session finished with two ideas showcases.

Neil Harnett & Rachel Suddart

Neil Harnett and Rachel Suddart, of the Newcastle Journal, presented Culture Club - an interactive members club which links to in-paper content and capitalises on the burgeoning cultural scene in North East England. A strong example of integrated print, web and direct marketing activity working effectively in reaching a clearly defined niche audience.

Sarah Little

Sarah Little, from (later to be crowned Regional Newspaper of the Year) the Belfast Telegraph, told delegates about the success of their discount petrol promotion. Prices at the pumps were a key issue for people at the time, but rather than just reporting that, the Bel Tel worked with Spar, Vivo, Texaco, Shell and BP to offer readers 4p per litre discount and half price car washes, giving savings of up to £5.30 per transaction. Copy sales increased by around 3,000 per day, and the partners saw spend increases of 35% on fuel and 16% on grocery purchases. I’m positive I saw David Cooke making a note to speak to his promotions manager Cameron Smith...

Next was the Editor’s Panel - expertly and humorously marshalled by Alison Hastings. Well, it was an achievement in itself to get the four gentlemen back from the buffet for 1.30pm resumption!

Martin Lindsay

Martin Lindsay, from the Belfast Telegraph, told us about the success of their tabloid conversion and am edition launch, that the right book serialisations are still a powerful sales tool for them and journalists were now of a mind to engage with the wider business. Phew! Must have been that article I wrote in the November/December issue of this, clearly highly influential, publication!

Bob Waterhouse

Bob Waterhouse took time out from launching the NW Enquirer to talk about the rationale behind the brand, how it would be positioned to differentiate it from the mass of dailies and weeklies in its not insignificant and highly diverse patch, and how it planned to communicate with and reach its clearly defined target audience. A brave decision to launch a regional print product in these seemingly austere times, and everyone present - even those who might find themselves competing against it - was secretly wishing it well. Success for the Enquirer might even reveal a chink of sunlight from behind those aforementioned clouds.

Nick Turner

Nick Turner, deputy editor of the Carlisle News & Star, demonstrated that CN Group’s web activity had clearly introduced a new and younger audience. He went on to say that blogging had to be harnessed, despite the legal implications, otherwise people would find different channels for this activity. Being bolder was his message; we must cease protecting our print products from on-line content, and allow them to become truly complementary.

Paul Horrocks

Only two things, apparently, keep Manchester Evening News editor Paul Horrocks awake. The thought of other people taking their readers and the Manchester rain! We are, he said, in the midst of a consumer controlled 24/7 media revolution, and we must work hard to remain as the chosen provider. Paul talked about convergence, the investment they were making in training staff in multi platform journalism, of their launch of City TV but we then came full circle. £7m, he told us, had been invested in direct delivery and order generation. Major investment made in state of the art printing facilities. Their Lite products had been a major success, with little or no impact on paid volumes.

Hardly the behaviour of a company which believes the printed medium has no future. No, a business genuinely committed to being the long term, first choice news and information provider to people within its marketplaces - regardless of how they want to access it.

Carolyn McKinnon Ure

Deputy group circulation director of Northcliffe Newspapers Group, Carolyn McKinnon Ure, posed the question: ‘How many copies will you sell tomorrow?’

Now, there’s a question most of us have asked many times, with finger waving in the air! Carolyn gave details of the Demand Planning System, based on computer algorithms, which had been tested in Leicester and Stoke. The basis of the trial had been to reduce waste by 2 percentage points, whilst maintaining current availability levels. The result? A success in cost and resource terms, with sale forecasts within 5 copies 80% of the time (now that’s accurate!) and a proposal to roll out the technology throughout the group.

Gareth Nicholls & Paul Helsdon

Gareth Nicholls (on the left) and Paul Helsdon, of Archant Norfolk, were next on stage as the ideas continued apace. Their act involved a ladder - but no dangerous stunts - the loyalty ladder, and Paul and Gareth took delegates up the rungs of how they created 90,000 copy sales last year, whilst managing acquisition activity in a smarter way based on previous and current consumer behaviour.

Tracy Marsh

Tracy Marsh, from the Western Mail, explained how the sales momentum created by major news and sports events, in this case Wales’ 2005 rugby grand slam win, can be maintained through partnership promotions - in this case collector (trump) cards of the triumphant squad. The success of the initiative proved that, if a promotion is good enough, people will pay to take part, and that activity aimed mainly at kids relating to content that their parents are interested in reading about, can be a powerful combination. Tracy was unamused when I asked her later if, due to a disappointing 2006 championship for Wales, the activity had been re-branded ‘From Trumps to Chumps’. Only joking Wales fans, honest.

Catherine Keetley

We all know that it’s a numbers game, and Catherine Keetley, of the Herald, proved that capitalising on hot topics is a must. With the Sudoko craze sweeping the nation quicker than a Japanese bullet train, the team at the Herald bought a ticket and set up a major piece of related activity supported with multi-media promotion. A sales lift of 10%; now that’s the type of number we like!

Ian Murray & Arthur Couchman

Having been brought up at the Press & Journal, I guess that you could have me down as ‘a geographical editions are vital’ type of a guy. Well, the debate was joined by Ian Murray (on the left), editor of the Southern Daily Echo (Southampton) and Arthur Couchman (on the right), circulation manager of the Express & Star (Wolverhampton). Ian told the contrasting stories of how a production-driven reduction in editions had resulted in a -7% sales swing but, with lessons learned and the belief that the best story sells, when the time came to introduce a properly planned truncated structure, no negative impact was felt.

Not surprisingly, and with trophies in the cabinet for their long term circulation performance, Arthur talked of how having 11 local editions was at the heart of the News & Star’s success in the highly complex region that is the West Midlands. The newest edition, Stafford, had seen 70% reader retention after 12 months, clearly demonstrating that the product was hitting the mark for people there. Of course, this approach requires investment but, Arthur argued, true localness is our only uniqueness against mainstream media.

So, the jury’s out on this one. The only possible verdict being that what works for your type of product within its own unique marketplace is the way to go. On the fence or what?

Mark Challinor

We were treated to a rousing finale laced with Scouse humour (yes, I am talking about Mark Challinor, INMA’s European president!), and a whistle-stop and largely upbeat tour around the world of newspapers. Interestingly, there were few issues raised that hadn’t been touched on during the course of the day, proving, if nothing else, that regional press in the UK knows what it needs to be doing, albeit, a number of the examples of how things were being done elsewhere provided another lesson in the need for greater creativity and investment.

As delegates filed away to don their penguin suits and little black dresses for the awards dinner (not telling which I chose), the rain had stopped. By almost any standards, our industry is in good health and highly successful, so let’s talk it up, think and act positively, and use the brand strength and profit margins we enjoy to ensure that regional press’ time in the sun is far from over.