APN CEO Brendan Hopkins has called for a higher standard of consumer marketing from newspapers, saying cover prices need to be raised for papers seeking a “superior” audience.
Addressing the annual Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers conference in Brisbane yesterday Hopkins said newspapers needed to make a more competitive, mass market approach to marketing to capture readers who have an increasing amount of choice.
“Reader loyalty can no longer be taken for granted,” Hopkins said.
“Like a straying spouse, the reader is starting to look at what else in on the shelf, or as likely, scan the shelf and decide not to purchase. Great editorial and effective advertising are still essential ingredients for our newspapers, but they are not on their own sufficient.”
“The editorial and advertising teams are now being joined by the marketers as the third force in newspaper publishing.”
