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Part Five Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Program
Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
12. Evaluation of Print
Media
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
problems of reproduction quality and rate differentials, newspapers face competition
from other media for both national and local advertisers’ budgets. The newspaper
industry is particularly concerned about the bypass, or loss of advertisers to direct
marketing and telemarketing.
To deal with this problem, many newspapers will have to gear up to compete as
direct marketers. Many papers are already building databases by collecting information
from readers that potential advertisers can use to target specific groups or for
direct marketing. Newspapers already have a distribution system that can reach nearly
every household in a market every day. It is likely that many newspapers will find
ways to make their extensive databases and distribution systems available to marketers
that want to target consumers with direct-marketing efforts. By supplementing
newspaper advertising with direct mail, marketers can be encouraged to invest more of
their advertising dollars with newspaper publishers.
The intermedia battle that newspapers find themselves involved in is no longer limited
to national advertising. Many companies are investigating the Internet as a marketing
tool and a place to invest advertising dollars that might otherwise go to
newspapers. Local radio and TV stations (particularly cable stations), as well as the
expanding number of Yellow Pages publishers, are aggressively pursuing local advertisers.
Newspapers will have to fight harder to retain those advertisers. Many newspapers
have expanded their marketing capabilities and are making efforts to develop and
sustain relationships with their advertisers. Some have created sophisticated databases
and direct-mail capabilities, which they offer as value-added services. Others are
increasing their marketing research departments, preparing comprehensive market
studies for major customers, and, in some cases, serving as media advisors and marketing
partners. 32
Circulation The newspaper industry has been struggling for years to reverse
declining circulation. While most of the major newspapers in the United States have
been able to maintain their circulation, the rest of the industry has been experiencing a
decline. 33 Like magazines, many newspapers are taking a closer look at their circulation
and analyzing whether the cost of getting additional circulation is justified by the
advertising revenue it generates. Many papers are raising newsstand and home delivery
rates and circulation revenue is accounting for more of their total revenue.
Several major metropolitan newspapers have found that advertisers use newspapers
to reach consumers within specific geographic areas and do not want to pay for readers
in outlying areas. Thus, some papers are eliminating what has been called “ego circulation”
and focusing more on regional editions in their immediate trade area.
Cross-Media Buys Another area where newspapers may be following the lead
of magazines is cross-newspaper and media buys. Newspapers within, as well as
across, various regions are banding together to offer national advertisers a package of
newspapers so they won’t have to purchase space in individual papers. A number of
newspaper networks are being formed to help newspapers compete for more of the
media expenditures of national advertisers.
Cross-media buys involving newspapers with other media vehicles are also likely
to become more prevalent. For example, the Washington Post has been involved in a
cross-media deal with Newsweek, while large companies that own newspapers, magazines,
and broadcast media are also offering cross-media packages to advertisers
(Exhibit 12-26).
Attracting and Retaining Readers The growth of newspapers as an advertising
medium may be limited by the reduced popularity of the medium itself. Newspaper
readership has been on a steady decline for the past two decades. The percentage
of the adult population reading a newspaper on the average weekday has declined
from 78 percent in 1970 to 54 percent today. The percentage of U.S. households
receiving a daily newspaper has declined from 77 percent in 1980 to 60 percent. The
decline in newspaper readership can be attributed to several factors, including the fastpaced,
time-poor lifestyle of the modern dual-income household and the continued
growth, popularity, and viewing options of TV.