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January 12, 2004 - Strategy Media Archive
News

Strength in numbers
Readership numbers prompt national advertisers to reconsider community papers

It looks like the Canadian Community Newspaper Association is finally getting the credibility and attention it's been looking for, now that the much-anticipated results are out for its ComBase research project.

Advertisers like Goodyear Canada have dabbled with community papers in the past, but because buys were exclusively made on circulation figures, with little to no information on readership, there's been little confidence in their effectiveness. However, with the release of the ComBase results, the tire giant is reconsidering its position on community papers.

"Business has always been too important to play the game without research support," says Ian McIntosh, general manager of advertising and marketing services for Goodyear Canada. "We've always been afraid to drop the dailies to gamble on the community papers. Now that they've done that research, we'll get into it in 2004. If the numbers are there, I think community papers are a huge opportunity for all of us."

Province by province, the numbers consistently show higher readership for community papers in comparison to dailies (See sidebar for details).

Virginia Dymont, media director at Toronto-based Goodyear agency Due North Communications, is excited about the possibilities of mixing community papers with radio, which has been the company's primary medium for the past few years, says McIntosh. The tire company's strategy has been one of using local media on a national basis to support its local dealers and address the timing of the seasons.

"(The study provides) good ammunition for community papers to be out selling and redirecting media dollars," says McIntosh.

ComBase president Elena Dunn expects the study will translate into increased advertising revenues this year, as she started getting inquiries from some of Canada's largest agencies soon after the release of the national results this past October.

ComBase held launch events on Oct. 7 in 10 centres across the country. There was, however, a two-week delay in getting the data into the hands of media buyers, because the size and complexity of the study, required longer processing and number-crunching time to format for use with agency planning software, says Dunn.

The results verify the initial findings of the pilot study of five markets in 2002.

"Readership is in the 70%-plus and sometimes 80%-plus region for the average issue across Canada. It didn't seem to matter if the newspaper was paid or free, it was just consistent," says Dunn.

"Saskatchewan has the strongest numbers and there was no surprise there because there is no overlap of markets. The community papers own the markets they are in. There are no dailies coming in."

The ComBase study, launched in 2001, covers 400 markets and sub-markets in all provinces. Readership of a total of 700 publications - including dailies, alternative, ethnic, shoppers, and agricultural publications - is measured, as well as 900 radio stations. The data was gathered through more than 24,000 interviews. It is title and market specific and provides both demographic and readership information.

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