Regional press backs pounds 3m marketing drive

Regional newspaper owners have agreed to back a pounds 3 million

generic marketing campaign by the Newspaper Society to try to win a

larger share of national advertising.

In an unprecedented step, regional newspaper owners have pledged

increased subscriptions to the NS to support the new campaign. Five

agencies have been selected to pitch for the account - Faulds, BDH TBWA,

IMP, Smith Bundy Carlson and Clark McKay Buckingham. A decision is

expected by the end of the year.

The campaign, which starts in March, will use trade and regional press,

direct mail and PR. It is expected to run for two years, with a review

after the first year.

Consolidation within the industry, both in terms of the number of

regional newspaper owners and sales points, has led to the bigger

publishers pushing greater resources behind generic marketing.

Trinity’s chief executive, Philip Graf, said: ’Trinity is committed to

the cause of raising awareness of the local and regional press and the

ultimate aim of growing our share of national advertising. The need for

the campaign is clear and we fully support it.’

Media agencies welcomed the news. Robert Ray, the managing director of

MediaVest, observed: ’There’s a wave of change gathering in the regional

press. I sense an honest acceptance among publishers of the challenges

they need to overcome to get more advertising share.’

The campaign will be co-ordinated by a steering group of NS member

publishers.

Regional and local press generate pounds 240 million in national

advertising, which represents 11 per cent of total regional press ad

revenue.

Charles Ross, the national development manager for the NS, said: ’The

most important thing is to place regional press as a medium firmly on

the agenda for advertisers and agencies.’

This article was first published on Campaign