Detroit Free Press/Detroit News Garner Hundreds of Thousands of Online Revenue from Newspaper Retail Ad Reps!
The Opportunity
Garnering a fair share of classified based online revenue has been a successful focus for the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, two JOA newspapers owned by Gannett and Knight Rider Newspapers. The challenge was to build a sales model that would garner more online dollars from their retail based advertisers. The Blinder Group was consulted to assist in the mission of motivating and training the retail outside ad reps how to do it.
Program Overview
Mike Blinder of the Blinder Group visited the Detroit Newspapers to explore their market and existing resources. It became instantly apparent that the two Web sites were a huge asset to the newspapers due to their large audience, favorable demographics and large number of online readers who saw the newspaper online exclusively. Recent research revealed that the DetroitNews.com and Freep.com combined, enjoyed a highly affluent, educated and younger readership. Moreover one third of the newspaper's online readers were exclusive to the Web site, never actually picking up a copy of either newspaper.
During strategic planning sessions, it was decided to deploy the Blinder Group's proven "Max Ads" sales training/ revenue generation program that has generated over 40 million dollars of new online revenue for other Blinder Group client newspapers worldwide. It was also decided that only retail based advertisers would be targeted for deployment of the program. The Max Ads program is targeted to a newspaper's existing display advertisers who are spending on competing media. "Max Ads" offers the newspaper advertiser to the ability to place elements of their weekly print ad on the Web site. The ads then rotate evenly (with other participating advertiser's messages) on assigned pages of the two newspapers' Web sites (DetroitNews.com & Freep.com). Since there is only a certain number of ad impressions offered for this program, a limited number of advertisers are able to participate.
The newspapers' in-house traditional ad designers were trained on the methods to create these online ads, making sure that the message of the online ad was displayed in such a method so that the reader did not have to "click" the ad in order to be impacted by the advertising method. This sometimes requires a discussion between the ad rep and advertiser to choose a single "Web offering" from a print campaign that may contain various products and/ or offers. The online ads would then have the ability to link to the advertiser's Web site; or to an online version of the advertiser's current print ad within the "Shop Local" pages of the Web site.
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All advertisers who participated in the program were to receive a guaranteed number of impressions for a top-of-page "banner ad position" that rotated (with other participating advertisers) on selected pages of the combined Newspapers' Web sites. The advertiser was charged a specific monthly fee for a manditory12-month commitment.
To take the program "to market" effectively, advertisers would have to be educated to the many features and benefits of the program; that include the ability to have their print message reach more potential customers through the expanded Web audience; as well as, increasing the "frequency" of exposure of their ad message, by having that message appear several thousand times a month, on the pages of the newspapers' Web sites. The advertiser would "reach" an "active" online shopper who would browse and search the ads within the "Shop Local" pages; as well as impact the "passive" shopper from the rotating online banners on the combined Web sites.
Sales Strategy
One of the key elements in ensuring sales success of this initiative is garnering advertiser approval of meeting attendance as well as the validity of the concept in general. Some of these advertisers are wary of trying new ideas. One of the most effective means of accomplishing attendance and acceptance is to introduce the advertiser to an industry respected "outside" consultant who has had success with similar programs, with similar businesses, in similar markets, all over the world. That is why many media companies contract with the Blinder Group to perform "4-legged" sales training closing calls with traditional ad reps, to assist in the launch of programs like the one defined in this document.
During an initial visit to the Detroit Newspapers, The Blinder Group conducted an onsite motivation, fun and faced paced, basic sales training program for all managers and "outside" salespeople. Topics covered included:
During the meeting the sales staff was also informed of the Blinder Group's pending return visit, in which "4-legged" sales training/closing calls were to be performed. Salespeople were urged and encouraged during the meeting, to set up a large amount of appointments, with qualified "decision-makers" of area businesses, so that they could experience "first hand" how to sell online products to their advertisers with Blinder Group assistance. Salespeople were given a "success kit" which reaffirmed the most important elements of the training. Plus it offered them a proven "appointment setting" script to assist in setting up the sales calls.
The Blinder Group also created multi-page sales support brochures for each salesperson to use in order to present the program to advertisers. The support materials outlined the Web site audience demographics as well as the features and benefits of the program.
After this initial visit in which the Blinder Group performed strategic planning and initial staff training, three Blinder Group associates returned to the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News two weeks later, to conduct "4-legged," sales training/closing calls on advertisers, with the ad reps of the newspapers. These calls helped train the sales force through example, on how easy it is to present online products to their advertisers. Also, the resulting revenue generated by the actual sales training calls went a long way to convince the traditional newspaper ad reps that selling online products can translate into commissions. The Blinder Group knows that there is no better way to convince a newspaper ad rep to embrace new selling concepts, than to "show them the money!"
Results
Hundreds of thousands of dollars of new online revenue was generated as direct result of the program. Most of this revenue was garnered from competing media spending. "The Blinder team helped us produce substantial new retail revenue for our online program. They were excellent to work with, and they did a great job of coaching and mentoring our ad reps to embrace the benefits of selling online to their advertisers. Also, their energy and enthusiasm played a big part in getting management and staff to embrace this new concept," said Randy Brandt, former SVP - Advertising Detroit Newspapers.
Rick Ratliff, New Media Director, offers these comments: "The benefit of the Blinder training program went beyond the over $25,000/month of new online retail revenue we garnered from our traditional newspaper sales team. Their training methods helped the reps understand the benefits of multimedia selling, of combining online and print to give advertisers a better audience. The momentum is there. And we continue to build on it."
The Detroit News can be accessed online at www.detnews.com; the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com. Detnews.com is one of the 10 most-visited newspaper Web sites in the U.S., according to The Wall Street Journal. For more local information on the local sales strategy of this program, contact:
Karan Tibitowski-Sandoval
Advertising Development & Training Manager
313-222-8859, ktibitowski@dnps.com
Lead consultant for The Blinder Group:
Mike Blinder
(917) 865-4827, Mike@BlinderGroup.com
The Blinder Group
Tampa Offices: 6139 Fjord Way
New Port Richey, FL 34652 USA
(727) 847-2464 ~ (727) 847-5959 (fax)
profit@blindergroup.com
SPEAKING PROGRAMS, seminars and workshops
CONSULTING/TRAINING: Strategic Planning ~ Basic Sales Training
Multimedia Sales Training ~ Assisted 4-Legged Closing Calls
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