Newspaper Opportunity

I talked in my last post about the death of the newspaper, but I would like to submit that perhaps the newspaper will be kept around for days such as today when everyone wants their piece of history. Knowing that newspaper sales will probably exceed the norm on post Election Day and even more significantly, the day after a historic election, the question must be asked.


Did marketers take advantage of the increased newspaper sales?

The New York Times reported today that they printed an additional 75,000 copies and customers were in line all day to get a piece of history they can preserve for their children’s children. Newsstand managers across New York City reported that they sold out of papers by 8 and 9 a.m. Further, the New York Times sales were up 10 % today and papers across the country experienced the same increase in sales. And if this weren’t good enough; the paper also experienced 2.7 million “mobile page views” today.

So, with this extra volume on this historic day, did marketers seize this golden opportunity to express their brand messages both in the daily newspaper and online?

Unfortunately, I am in no position to answer this question, but I can make a few assumptions, educated guesses, hypothesizes; or perhaps I could just tell you what I would do.

It certainly seems that a strong brand could send some clever brand messages with the unique opportunity for these messages to be inadvertently preserved throughout time. These newspapers are being seen by significantly more consumers than usual and almost like the Super Bowl ad they should be well thought out, have a clear goal and resonate with the consumer. For an event that only comes around once every 4 years with the proven increase in sales and readership on that following morning, it is a great avenue for both print and online, for marketers to get their word out!

References

Kilgannon, C. (2008, November 5). Dead tree additions sell out, so presses roll again. The New York Times. Retrieved November 5, 2008 from http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/dead-tree-editions-sell-out/.