Print Ads on Super Bowl Sunday

Advertising is more than TV commercials and social media. Advertisers even use legacy media like print -- newspapers and magazines -- to reach audiences. Today, for example, is a day when football fans read the sports section in a local or national newspaper for more detail about the teams playing in the Super Bowl.

The entire back page of today's New York Times sports section has the lighthearted ad from Bud Light, shown at top. It sings the praises of "the official holiday of Friendship"--meaning the Super Bowl, but not named as such. A clever ode to sports being an opportunity for friendship and fun, positive brand associations that Bud (an official Super Bowl sponsor) wants to encourage.

The Bud Light website requires visitors to submit their birthdate to enter, as shown here. If you want to see the new Bud Light commercial and other A-B commercials being aired tonight, they're already online.

Inside the same New York Times sports section is a full-age ad from Gatorade, titled "An Open Letter to Athletes..." and singing the praises of serious athletes "pursuing your dreams, setting your goals and giving it all you've got...We are too."

Fans are speculating about which color Gatorade will be poured over the winning coach's head tonight in Houston. Or for interactive brand engagement, just go all Snapchat and dunk your selfie in the Gatorade color of your choice. Gatorade says last year's Snapchat dunk opportunity resulted in 165 million impressions.

Sure, Super Bowl commercials reach a huge audience, but print and other promotions also reach targeted audiences with specific messages that support brand image and personality.

Mobile Advertising Skyrockets

DIGITAL AD REVENUE TOPS $32 BILLION 

in first half of 2016

New research from the Internet Advertising Bureau and PriceWaterhouseCoopers shows digital ad revenue way up from this time last year. In the lead: mobile, which reportedly accounts for nearly half of all Internet ad revenue.

Mobile video and mobile search have seen dramatic increases. In another report, Zenith says mobile will be 75% of US Internet use by end of 2017. Not surprisingly, media buying firm Zenith projects that mobile advertising will capture 60% of Internet ad dollars worldwide by the end of 2018. To put that into hard numbers: In 2018, mobile advertising spend alone will reach $134 billion worldwide, "more than will be spent on newspaper, magazine, cinema and outdoor advertising put together," says Zenith.

Facebook captures a lot of that digital ad revenue, even as it plans to cut back on some ads on news feeds. In fact, Facebook figured out a way around AdBlocker Plus software, reasoning that ads allow FB content to remain free and therefore users should have to see ads (as long as the ads aren't terribly intrusive). Google and YouTube are also strong in digital ad revenue as parent company Alphabet continues moving deeper into mobile marketing.

What are the implications for traditional media? For newspapers in particular, the trend is not good. Stay tuned.

Black, white, and green all over: newspaper merchandise

If you've opened the New York Times lately, you know that the "grey lady" has its own merchandise for sale. You can't miss the full-page ads on Sunday, marketing everything from its own photographs to front page reprints to logo-emblazoned T-shirts, caps, and keychains. Other merchandise includes vintage typewriters, baseball memorabilia, and personalized gifts for all ages and special occasions (see wedding gift, above). The Times also markets "journeys" such as small group tours of historic places or areas with special political significance.

With print advertising revenues down and fewer US consumers getting their news primarily from newspapers, merchandise marketing has two benefits for papers: it boosts revenues and it appeals to loyal media brand fans who want to be identified with that paper. NY baseball fans might wear a Yankees or Mets cap, while NY news fans might wear a NY Times cap.

Reader profiles differ from paper to paper, so the merchandise being marketed differs, as well. Here are a few other examples of newspapers marketing merchandise, a trend not limited to US markets:

• The Denver Post sells photos from its newspaper.
• The Los Angeles Times markets T-shirts, photos, back issues, and LA-related merchandise like mugs.
• The Chicago Tribune shop features back issues, photos, T-shirts, and made-in-Chicago merchandise.
• The UK Guardian newspaper has an online store featuring T-shirts, wallets, and more--including satirical figurines based on political figures.
• The Sydney Morning Herald offers Australian products like books, art prints, wristwatches, and more.

Are Newspaper Paywalls Paying Off?

During the first decade of this millennium, digital content (mainly free) was proliferating while printed content was struggling to find a large enough paying audience. Newspapers merged, cut days from their print schedule, and looked for other ways to cut costs while assessing the digital pricing landscape.

In the second decade, paywalls are beginning to pay off for top newspaper sites. The Wall Street Journal famously pioneered a paywall in 1996 that continues to be quite profitable. The Financial Times has more digital than print subscribers.

According to a study by the Online Publishers Association, papers have learned that digital subscriptions don't cannibalize print subscriptions. And the growth of digital subscriptions is actually helping the growth of advertising revenues, because publishers have more and better data about readers to help advertisers better target their audiences.

At the New York Times, digital subscription revenues are now higher than advertising revenues--demonstrating how much the content is valued by its online readers. In the next couple of months, the Times will be further segmenting its market to offer niche products for readers. No specifics yet, but hints suggest content about food and restaurants and content about "what you have to know about the world" to start your day. Meanwhile, digital subscriptions are available for smartphone and tablet apps, online access, and for educators.

Print-dominant papers are having a difficult time. Gannett just released its fourth-quarter 2013 results, and the news isn't good. According to Columbia Journalism Review, Gannett continues to increase prices on print content, and doesn't appear to be achieving its goals for digital subscriptions.

Other newspapers have cut content pricing experiments short. The San Francisco Chronicle tried a paywall, for instance, but eliminated it after a few months. On the other hand, for consumers who want digital everything, the Chicago Sun Times is testing the acceptance of Bitcoin for its content.

Newspapers Cope with Lower Print Ad Revenue

You're reading this on a screen, so you won't be surprised to learn that newspaper ad revenues (from classified ads and display ads) are going down, down, down.

According to the Newspaper Association of America, total newspaper ad revenues now stand at half of the 2005 level. In other words, where the industry used to take in $49.4 billion in ad revenues, it now takes in $23.9 billion.

Forecasts are notoriously tricky, but the American Journalism Review published a piece in 2008 that discussed the possibility of industrywide print ad revenues falling to $25.9 billion by 2012 and plummeting further to $11.9 billion by 2020, by which time online newspaper ad revenues would hit $11 billion. If the dramatic drop in print ad revenues continues as it has in recent years, the actual number will be far, far below $10 billion by 2020.

Exactly how much U.S. newspapers currently earn from online ad revenues is unclear, but one study found U.S. newspapers to be losing $10 in print ad revenue for every $1 in online ad revenue they gained. This isn't just a U.S. phenomenon: U.K. newspapers are also losing print revenue and testing different ways to attract ad revenue online.

In Canada, Postmedia Network is dropping Sunday editions for three of its newspapers. The explanation: “Well, we’re really not making any money at all in those markets [on those days],” said chief executive officer Paul Godfrey. “So we’ve decided to keep everything online there and do away with print copies to reduce legacy costs.”

A few U.S. newspapers, including the Times-Picayune of New Orleans, are also cutting expenses by reducing their print schedule. Effective this fall, the Times-Picayune will publish on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, the days when it has the highest demand for ad space. The paper will continue to post news and features even on days when it doesn't print a paper. (New Orleans readers are unhappy about losing their daily printed paper, and protests include a Facebook page with lots of negative comments.)

Will newspaper readers accept only three-day subscriptions? Will they adopt the habit of reading online when no printed paper is delivered? What will these changes mean for the efficacy of newspaper ads? And will online ad revenues grow fast enough to keep newspapers alive in some form?

Can Newspapers Prove Their Advertising Worth?

According to the Newspaper National Network, which is majority-owned by the top US papers, advertisers spent $28 billion in newspaper advertising last year (about 10% of that was advertising with online news outlets).

Looking at trends in newspaper/online news advertising expenditures compiled by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), ad spending was down 27% in 2009 compared with 2008, down 16.6% in 2008 compared with 2007, and down 7.9% in 2007 compared with 2006. According to the NAA, the last time print/online newspaper ad spending was up was in 2005.

Now the Newspaper National Network wants to show that print/online news ads can boost sales by 10% or more (as measured by IRI's InfoScan). In fact, it will guarantee this kind of sales gain and, if the results don't measure up, the advertisers will receive a rebate on some of their ad expenses (in the form of free ads, for instance).

There's a lot of small print attached to this offer, but it's a good start on the path to demonstrating efficacy. In many cases, advertising results are measured in terms of brand awareness and recognition. However, this program is geared toward sales results, a bottom-line measure that's vital in today's challenging economy.