It seems that everywhere I go, I hear a lot of talk about the advantage our newspapers have in that they have the strong, trusted brand in our communities. But here's a story that is circulating in the industry that turns the table on that belief.
A major newspaper recently conducted some focus groups to understand consumer perceptions of its online entertainment content. The content was very good, but usage was low. Consumers seemed to prefer to use other entertainment guide / calendaring services from net-centric companies.
One participant cut through the fog. Why, he asked, would I got to Pizza Hut when I want a chicken sandwich?
Strong brands are indeed an asset, but we can't lose sight of the fact that they stand for something, and sometimes that something is out of sync with demand. Tinkering with the "core product" may amount to adding chicken sandwiches to a pizza menu.
Last week at the NAA Marketing Conference in Orlando, Arizona Republic VP Karen Crotchfelt gave a compelling presentation about the company's multiproduct "audience aggregation" strategy. Apparently Publisher John Zidich gave a similar presentation in Paris. It's a tale of about a dozen product lines, each carefully tuned to connect with a specific segment in a market with tremendous geographic, ethnic and age diversity. By creating, acquiring and heavily promoting new brands, the Republic has built itself back into the market-dominating position newspapers owned a generation ago.
And here's an interesting tidbit: the Republic projects that by 2008, the AZCentral.com website will be the "core product" in terms of connecting with an 18-39 audience. That's something to think about.