$75 million flushed down the drain

The Newspaper Association of America announced a $75 million marketing campaign to declare its relevance in the internet age as advertising revenues were flat, buffeted by major mergers and a wounded domestic auto industry. Here's more from the AP wire story:

It's the second year in a row that the Newspaper Association of America has advertised directly to its advertisers, trying to change the perception that the industry is on the decline, executives said.

"I am sick and tired of all the doom and gloom reports out there about the death of this industry," said Earl Cox, chief strategic officer of The Martin Agency, the marketing group in charge of the campaign. The perception is "inaccurate and it's unfair and it's unacceptable."

Well Earl, I'm sick and tired of the newspaper industry failing to innovate and admit that it is not adapting fast enough to the changing media landscape. Wouldn't it have been better to spend the $75 million actually doing something?

Newspapers are yesterday's news. In the UK, online will overtake national newspaper revenue in 2007. And it isn't happening because the IAB decided to spend $75 million on a PR campaign. It is happening because of innovation, consumer adoption, proven metrics and people determined to beat the hell out of dinosaurs trying to buy advertisers' opinion rather than earn their respect. From the same AP story:

Ad revenue at its member papers in the third quarter of last year declined 1.5 percent from a year earlier to $11.79 billion, according to the NAA. Traditional print ads fell 2.6 percent to about $11.2 billion while online ads rose 23 percent to $638 million. Total ad revenues were slightly up for the first two quarters of the year.

I think there is a vital role for newspapers to play. They are natural authorities and have coverage and experience that only the networks can come close to matching. There is a cooperative role for newspapers to play, but it involves innovation and the tearing down of borders previously thought to be sacrosanct.

"This is about audience and audience is a multimedia term," said John Kimball, the association's chief marketing officer. "Newspapers have multiple channels into the marketplace that we didn't used to have and that's what we're talking about. That audience is not shrinking. That audience is growing."

I agree with this statement, but I find little evidence showing what the newspaper industry is doing to make this scenario a reality. Other than trying to buy opinion, what is the industry doing? Their online/digital numbers may be up, but they are not leading the information revolution. Most of the time, I think the industry is fighting it.

What I really wonder is what would happen if newspapers from the Southern Hemisphere spend this kind of cash ... Would it flush down in the opposite direction?


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