Welcome, Guest [Sign In]

February 2008 - Strategy Magazine
Media

Beyond the printed page: As newspapers move deeper into the mobile and online space, strategy checked in with Canada's national newspaper warriors to find out what's working

by Jesse Kohl
page 27

Newspaper brands are in the throes of a major evolution, as they move content and advertising onto mobile and online platforms and launch new services and niche products to connect with more consumers. Strategy checked in with Canada's national newspaper warriors - CTVglobemedia's Globe and Mail and Canwest's National Post - to find out what's working.

You don't have to look far to find an obsession with death in the mediascape - or an argument about what's dying, anyway. We've heard that TV is dead countless times, ditto radio. And print - well, "print is dead" comes to mind with every new study on declining circulation or how the Internet killed the classified pages. And yet they all soldier on, with varying degrees of reinvention along the way. For the original media platform - newspapers - that currently means less paper-centric thinking and a wider definition of news content.

Both of Canada's national newspapers are deploying strategies that surround audiences with unique content of a quality far beyond the commoditized updates that span the web. Beyond the initial challenge of creating online products that can compete globally in the digital information game, they are shifting into a different kind of storytelling, as technology changes the nature of journalism for its practitioners, readers and advertisers.

The Globe and Mail and the National Post both redesigned their print products last year (the Globe in April and the Post in September), launched new sections designed for reader and advertiser appeal and forged ahead with new online initiatives - including high-quality video content and new plans for making content available on the go.

The Post went live with a soft launch of its newly redesigned NationalPost.com website on Nov. 24, and a hard launch, accompanied by ad creative and full-on promotion and aggressive marketing, followed on Dec. 5.

"This has been a huge year of transition for us," says National Post editor-in-chief Doug Kelly of the last 12 months. "Our newsroom from top to bottom has bought into the idea that we are delivering information across as many platforms as fast and deep as possible."

The paper opted for a fresh look online, more akin to NYTimes.com than its previous uniformity with CanWest's Canada.com network. In print, the paper also redesigned its Arts & Life section last April and added a Small Business Mondays section in September.

"I think you'll find newspapers becoming more analytical," says Kelly. "The commoditized news will tend to be pushed to the web and other sources. It'll be presented differently in the newspaper, and probably be more graphic-driven. Certainly at this paper, commentary is a big part of what we do, and that will be front and centre."

Following its full-on print redesign, which debuted last April, the Globe and Mail built ReportonBusiness.com to back up its existing magazine brand, introduced three new niche-targeted mags - Report on Small Business, Technology Quarterly (or TQ) and Globe Investor - and launched its Life section. Globe and Mail publisher/CEO Phillip Crawley says Life has attracted about 80 new advertisers to the Globe, and accomplished the paper's goal of attracting more women readers.

Quick Search