Ask the Tribun Timur Editor
We’re not just a newspaper, we’re also a multi-media brand. Itulah statement pimpinan LA Times mengenai visi baru salah satu perusahaan surat kabar terbesar di Amerika Serikat pada "newsmedia", bukan lagi era "newspaper".
Sumber: http://worldcongress.inma.org/FullAccess/blogitENG.cfm?category=none&id=21
Los Angeles Times: Entertainment Is Big Business
World Congress attendees got a glimpse into one of the largest U.S. newspapers during a study tour of the Los Angeles Times at the newspaper’s facility in downtown Los Angeles. In the entertainment capital of the world, the Times is a major force, and is working strategically to strengthen that position.
“L.A. is a company town,” said Lynne Segall, vice president for entertainment advertising at the Times, during a series of presentations in the newspaper’s auditorium. “It’s home to every major studio and talent agency, and entertainment drives the Southern California economy.”
The movie industry is responsible for $120 million in movie ads each year, she said, but the Times faces pressure on two sides, she said – from the entertainment “trade” publications, and from economic pressures being felt by the entertainment industry, through rising costs, flat ticket sales, and the US$3 billion economic impact of the recent television writers’ strike.
Segall said that a major part of emphasising the company’s importance is “working with the studios to make them understand the value of what we’re doing every day. We want to change the perception of the Times in the entertainment industry. We’re not just a newspaper, we’re also a multi-media brand.”
One way of strengthening the relationship is through increased co-promotion with movie studios, she said, including the recent release of the blockbuster movie Iron Man..
Emphasing the multi-media theme, Rob Barrett, senior vice president and general manager for online, said the company stresses a “solution set” not just for the entertainment industry, but for all potential advertisers. The company’s LAtimes.com site has grown 25 to 35 percent each year for the past several years, he said, “but more importantly, engagement is growing. People are coming to the site more often, and they’re staying longer.”
He pointed out two products designed to enhance the relationship with the entertainment industry. TheEnvelope.com is designed to be an entertainment-industry vehicle that competes with information found in trade publications, while hollywoodbacklot.com (which will be launched in the next week) is a unique site that offers “behind-the-scenes” photos from movie productions.
“We have to create new content,” he said. “And to see it, you’ll have to come to LATimes.com.”
Beyond entertainment, the Times is also working to solidify its position as a provider of local information. John O’Laughlin, senior vice president for marketing, planning and development at the Times, said the newspaper faces a “brutal” competitive environment in a metropolitan area of more than 17 million people, with an ethnically, culturally and demographically diverse population. With that in mind, he said, the company has begun focusing on “lifestage” segmentation, attempting to appeal through all of its products to consumers at all levels of lifestyle.
“There is no ‘one’ Los Angeles,” O’Laughlin said. “We are a patchwork of neighborhoods and communities. So we want to target at the neighborhood level, and relate to people in their own areas.”
Or, as Barrett succinctly put it: “Our product approach is to own L.A.”
Examples include:
* Developing products that will appeal to underserved markets. Forty percent of Southern California residents are Hispanic, O’Laughlin said, and they represent a huge potential consumer source.
* There are also “green” product initiatives, as well a new publication currently in prototype that will appeal to young families who don’t have time for a full-service product.
* Locally focused web content that not only encourages contributions from users but also gives local information in such areas as travel, and product and service search. Barrett said that social networking will also be a major component.
* An emphasis on events and sponsorships, as well as custom publishing.
* Technical innovations such as interactive media kits, designed to let potential advertisers see an emphasis on sight, touch, and scent; and new advertising styles and configurations as unique alternatives to traditional methods.
Research that tests advertising recall among consumers, and which also tests section designs and new product concepts. “These are all numbers that are going to keep us viable and creative,” O’Laughlin said.
Posted 7 May 2008
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