Advertisers want: Interview with Earl Wilkinson, executive director of INMA

nt: Do you dare to make a kind of prediction of where the advertising expectations are going for newspapers in the near future?

Earl Wilkinson: This is an extremely complex question on a global scale. There are meta-trends in advertising worldwide – from advertising in mass media to advertising targeted media. Aside from that, advertising expenditures are a reflection of a country’s economic growth and the degree to which newspapers market themselves to advertisers, advertising agencies, and media buyers. In mature economies, advertising growth in general is expected to be slightly above inflation in the coming year and slightly below inflation for newspapers. That means newspapers will grow advertising yet lose market share. In recent years, this has been a shift toward electronic media. Today, the shift is more toward direct marketing ventures – ranging from telemarketing to direct mail to e-mail marketing – and non-advertising categories such as public relations. In emerging economies such as India and China, newspaper advertising growth is in the low double-digits, and newspapers are gaining market share.

nt: What can newspapers offer to convince advertisers that the money spent on them is worth it? How can they demonstrate that they are efficient?

Wilkinson: The question shouldn’t be why newspapers have to convince advertisers about their efficiency, but why newspapers are asked questions that no other medium is held accountable for. In a fragmenting attention-starved consumer marketplace, newspapers are the only remaining local mass medium. Technologies are not being created to avoid print advertising, and in fact editorial environments today are being structured to make advertising an integral part of the print reading experience. A significant percentage of readers buy the print newspaper specifically to seek out relevant advertising (Readership Institute, United States). Studies in the United Kingdom (Newspaper Marketing Agency) and Canada (Canadian Newspaper Association), among many others, show that newspapers are particularly adept at generating high-impact awareness among a highly engaged audience. As agencies and buyers are increasingly aware of the attention-starved consumer, they are finding newspapers as the “surprising” medium to augment efforts via television, radio, and online – with print being the glue to hold together the fragments.

nt: Many analysts say that demonstrating return of the investment will be vital for newspapers? Do you agree?

Wilkinson: Demonstrating return on investment is always important for all media. Nothing has changed in 2005 that has required a higher or lower standard for expecting this. What is changing is that technological tools allow for more and more precise measurement of media. The internet has click-throughs. Direct mail has direct response mechanisms. That is very precise. On the other hand, television and radio have ratings and newspapers have circulation and readership. As technology allows for ways to more precisely measure awareness and response of these mass media audiences, mass media will be expected to walk through that door. That’s all that is happening.

nt: What are the major complaints advertisers have regarding the newspapers?

Wilkinson: ROI issues. Lack of creativity. Not easy to place advertising nationally or regionally across titles. Perceived as expensive. General brand perceptions. I would say that the biggest impediment is perceptual, not real. That the 20-something media buyer or agency creative doesn’t read newspapers is far more damaging to long-term prospects than “real” issues that newspapers continue to address. I would respectfully suggest that newspapers are too busy worrying about the “steak” and not enough about the “sizzle” in terms of their relationship with the advertising community.

nt: The ad spending in new media is increasing every year? What can the newspapers offer in this aspect, mainly in the area of classifieds? Are they fighting back correctly to the big Internet players?

Wilkinson: Newspapers are fighting back, but they can’t do it newspaper by newspaper. They’re going to have to look at alternative collaborative models. They’re going to have to be willing to take 20 percent of €1 million versus 100 percent of €0. Those are the tough choices moving forward. Do we have CEOs today who think like that? That’s the question.