Entries for month: December 2011

Newspapers don’t need to reinvent the wheel, just package it better

At a time when newspaper buying habits-and advertiser habits-are dramatically changing, we need to be developing products that will engage around new behaviours, not defending old practices.

"You have a delicious cupcake that people love but can only eat every so often," I told an editor who was asking for advice on how to improve her section and attract a different audience to her publication.

"The question is not how you can make a more delicious cupcake or stretch the batter to make it a pie. The question is what else can you put on the menu that will convince people to buy regularly from your bakery?"

In the same way that McDonald's now has a healthier-options menu, with salads and wraps, as well as burgers, and in the same way that Coca-Cola has developed iced teas, bottled water and "vitamin drinks," newspaper companies need to think differently about their markets and the products they are developing in them to expand their appeal.

But the mistake too many newspapers continue to make when it comes to product improvement is to assume they need to improve an existing product.

This is why we see newspapers that believe the best way to turn a product around and make it more attractive to advertisers is to create more of it: more stories, more pages, more content, all in the same vein of what went before.