Re: Newspapers are doomed?

From: Shawn Merwin <merwin_at_netsync.net>
Date: Mon 25 Sep 2000 17:26:12 -0500

DAVID YANCEY <dyancey_at_ibizadmin.com> WROTE:
> Just think of the grocery ads pages, for starters.
> You want to distribute coupons? What better method
> than the web, tying in your coupons to the local
> Piggly Wiggly POS system?
>
> Then look at all the ads for business services,
> financial services, events postings, new places of
> business announcements, and all the other items where
> an online delivery solution would be more effective.
> *IF* enough people in any given locality see it.
> "Enough" and "local" are the operative words, because
> the vital element in these ads along with most
> classifieds is their immediate connection with a
> physical community. The web is just not there yet, in
> terms of successfully "localizing" its advertising
> delivery options, but it's a safe bet it will be in a
> few short years.

David is striking right at the heart of the matter, in
a way I can speak to. My company is using our
email-messaging system to send targeted opt-in emails
for a large grocery chain in the Northeast. The
messages are connected (in terms of delivery schedule
and content) to the membership discount card system
used by the stores. The messages will include
everything from sales notices to e-coupons to recipes
to new product information to nutrition news. There
are currently 1.5 million active cardholders for this
grocery chain, and while it is still too early in the
campaign to tell what the results will be, you can bet
we are analyzing every bit of data in detail.

At the same time (as I said in a previous post), we are
also working with newspapers to take the content and
advertising they are known for publishing in paper form
and offering it via the Internet in a similar targeted
opt-in messaging system. I don't know how the public
will respond to technology replacing goods they are
accustomed to, like newspapers. But I have a hunch
that if the newspaper companies play their cards right,
they can capture some of the online interest in content
that newspapers are famous for. If I asked the
proverbial person on the street where the best place to
find information on job openings in the area, many
would say "classified ads in the newspaper." If the
source is trusted and well established in the minds of
the people offline, why not online as well?

As David points out, the key concepts at work here are
"enough" and "local." Smart newspaper companies are
getting their content online too and offering
incentives for businesses or individuals to publish ads
both in print and on the Internet to cover all bases.
In a time when a 1% or 2% CTR is considered excellent,
local businesses have no reason to give up that
advertisement in the paper.

Targeted messaging certainly has the potential to
change all that, when used wisely. But only if the
source of the message is trusted and the medium useful
to consumers. Even when a large percentage of the
population gets comfortable with the technology that
may or may not replace newspapers, who's going to want
to sift through dozens of spam messages each day to get
to the ones they really want? We've probably all
thrown out important documents that came hidden
underneath a pile of junk mail in our mail boxes. We
don't throw out the newspaper by mistake though,
because we recognize and trust it. This trust can be
more valuable, online and off, than technological
advances.

Shawn Merwin
Director of Communications
merwin_at_visionarysoftware.com





Received on Mon Sep 25 2000 - 17:26:12 CDT