"Career Connections" garners an additional $15k in weekly classified sales for Toronto
The Challenge
Maintaining and actually growing the recruitment category has been a challenge for many newspapers over the past several years. The team of the Toronto Sun decided to add value to their recruitment display advertisers by leveraging a new multimedia product with their existing print product called Career Connection. This partnership allowed the newspaper to compete against national, regional and even local recruitment companies.
Program Overview
The Toronto Sun offered recruitment advertisers the ability to place display ads in the regular daily classifieds as well as within their Wednesday recruitment based special section, Career Connection. In order to create more value for these advertisers, all recruitment display advertisements over a pre-determined size requirement, were sold with various bundled products and services.
The Career Connection special section was re-designed and additional content was added to increase its value as a "freestanding" job resource guide. Content areas were repositioned and branded in order to offer the most value to the reader as well as the online user. Some content areas included: advice from business leaders who have achieved career objectives, views on preparing for career changes and a look at specific local career options. This section, along with the corresponding Web site, was positioned as the premiere job resource guide in the area.
All of that day¹s classified line and in-column display ads appeared within the special section as well. This increased the utility of the freestanding print product to the reader. The actual cover and pages of the section took on a whole new look, positioning it as slightly different from the regular Toronto Sun content. It was important that readers and advertisers perceived this section as a career resource that had appeal for middle management and "high tech" job seekers and recruiters.
The online Career Connection product offered story areas from the associated newspaper special section as well as graphic ads that linked to "pop-up" versions of all qualifying display ads.
A new virtual recruitment service was also offered , provided by JobBoom.com, called the "Sun Job Board." The "Job Board" allowed online users to profile their skill sets and desired employment information; and in turn, prospective employers profiled their needs, in order to match themselves with the users. Online users registered themselves on the "Job Board" so they could be confidentially alerted from time to time via e-mail, of openings they were interested in. The Toronto Sun launched a marketing campaign as part of the program launch, that offered prizes for those that initially registered on the "Job Board."
Sales Strategy
Each advertiser who purchased a recruitment display ad at a size of 4 columns x 44 inches or larger, received:
Display ad placed with the Toronto Sun's "Career Connection" special section.
Display ad appearing online at the Career Connection site. This ad was linked from a designed graphic with one value statement sentence that appeared on every page of the Web site. When a user Œclicked" on the ad or "value statement," a pop-up version of the ad appeared. This "value statement" was featured text garnered from the content of the purchased display ad.
A corresponding line-ad, placed within the Toronto Sun¹s classifieds, for the same day(s) the display ad appeared within the Sun. This line ad featured text garnered from the content of the display ad.
The same line ad as above appeared within "Classified Extra" Web site for one full week.
A pop up online version of the newspaper display ad, accessible from a link incorporated within the searchable online line-ad described above.
A job opening "broadcast" to targeted registered users of the online "Job Board" platform. Advertisers also had access to other "Job Board" services provided by this JobBoom "powered" platform.
The same line ad as above appeared within "Classified Extra" Web site for one full week.
A pop up online version of the newspaper display ad, accessible from a link incorporated within the searchable online line-ad described above.
A job opening "broadcast" to targeted registered users of the online "Job Board" platform. Advertisers also had access to other "Job Board" services provided by this JobBoom "powered" platform.
The Blinder Group helped design the sales materials for this project which included a one-page sales sheet that outlined the bundled package in print and online. The Blinder Group also returned to the Toronto market to help close sales.
Results
The Toronto Sun was able to generate an additional $15k in weekly recruitment sales for this new bundled product. They raised display recruitment advertising rates an average of 10% to match the added value of the new bundled product. The Toronto Sun achieved additional revenues through that incremental rate increase, as well as through the acquisition of new advertisers, due to the competitive advantage the new packaging offered.
See this program live at: http://www.canoe.ca/CareerConnection
Contact Information
The Toronto Sun is a 245,000 daily newspaper located in Ontario, Canada.
For more information about the sales strategy of this program, contact:
Carmen Pulis, Classified Sales Manager
(416) 947-2400
carmen.pulis@tor.sunpub.comFor technical information, contact:
Jose Leam, President Canoe.ca
(416) 350-6194
jose@canoe.caLead Consultant for The Blinder Group:
Mike Blinder
(727) 847-2464
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
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