Observer adds new sections in attempt to stem sales slide

The Observer is launching three new tabloid sections in a bid to

boost its position within the competitive Sunday newspaper market.

The three sections will include Escape, which looks at travel and

leisure, a TV listings and film section and a personal finance section.

The changes will kick off on 3 January and will be supported by a

marketing and advertising drive.

Stephen Palmer, marketing director for the Observer, said: ’We see these

as an enhancement of the Observer package. You are getting much greater

value for your pounds 1 and we will end up with a package providing a

more entertaining, useful and stimulating read.’

Palmer added that an advertising campaign which will include TV, will

run during January and February to draw attention to the new-look

newspaper. Ogilvy & Mather is the newspaper’s creative agency.

The new sections are the first significant changes made by Roger Alton,

who took over as editor from Will Hutton in July to become the paper’s

fourth editor in five years.

Life, the Observer magazine which currently includes the travel section

and TV listings, will instead carry more lifestyle features.

The October Audit Bureau of Circulations figures show that the

Observer’s circulation was down by just 0.3 per cent month on month, but

the six-monthly year-on-year figures reveal that the Sunday broadsheet

lost 11.5 per cent in sales.

This article was first published on Campaign