In the last two weeks, we've interacted with dozens of people at both the NAA Marketing Conference and at the Pacific Area Newspaper Publisher's Association Ad Forum (PANPA).

Guess what?

There's reason for cautious optimism and even when that's not completely the case, we can certainly rejoice in the Chinese proverb about living in interesting times.

However, before sharing observations from these distinct forums, it's recurring theme time:

The Key is not simply thinking or acting differently (both these conferences and their delegates were awash in good ideas!!) but to make the commitment to NOT do something you are currently doing in order to allow the time and resources to focus on the NEW. Or, heaven forbid, focus on more than ONE thing new? What are you going to stop doing today???

How about some good...

...in a conversation with a major advertiser there were several useful, interesting and tasty nuggets:

• As you might expect, what advertising clients seek in presentations are the audiences delivered, what are the key segments, how are those changing, relevant readership and circ measures, but here's a twist - tell them about advertising "cause and effect." (By that he meant 'what triggers will be pulled by the advertising' or 'what story is being told' or if an 'ad runs what action will follow?' All appropriate questions, but we've done little to be responsive along these lines.)
• Here's one we hadn't contemplated - Newspapers are in a position to deliver much of the advertising we see in magazines far more efficiently IF we segment, package and coordinate better.
• Take that one step farther (yet, still having to overcome many of the same hurdles like coordination and sub-zip distribution) and we should actually be able to distribute CATALOGS much better than the U.S.P.S. Talk about a huge revenue opportunity.
• This is where I noticed a furrowed brow and heard some skepticism - can we overcome those hurdles to realize any of this possibility?

One key comparison of note: Care to guess what other media are spending on researching and developing their audiences and how to best deliver them? (This comes from the same conversation...) Research, as a percentage of revenues equals:

Forget this is a newsletter from a research company - think about how much more we should know about our audiences and let's figure out ways to BETTER understand both readers and advertisers. Is there any other way we can expect to achieve all this potential being hinted at?

Other interesting takeaways from the same discussion... ...newspapers are not leveraging the fact many can deliver by zip (and sub-zip) code enough. Other targeting media (including the embryonic efforts in the TV and cable world) are mostly at the county level. ...when circulation is down, wouldn't it make sense to show advertisers IF circ is growing in areas of interest to them? Around specific stores, for example? Of course it does, but only one paper has actually presented this approach.

...As good as the telecommunications world has been to us, the financial services world can be even better. Are we positioning ourselves as experts in their world and how we best reach the multiple segments they'll be targeting?

...ask the same question about the health care world?

At this NAA Marketing Conference, we noticed there were more attendees than ever who did not come from a newspaper background. Agency, packaged goods, even financial services backgrounds were not uncommon. This "new blood" is good for the industry. Internally, we've always thought the new hire brings the best set of eyeballs to Belden - for at least a while - and, the same can be said for newspapering. Those new points of view are important in forcing us to think from an increasingly customer-centric perspective.

While there was an air of optimism unlike anything sensed in at least 5 years, there remain several issues clouding our horizons. The consolidation of very important clients and the likelihood of more, really getting a handle on how the internet is impacting readers and behaviors, single copy sales, and the omnipresent challenge of connecting with younger readers all loom.

When we've suggested more research to provide insights in to each of those challenges, everyone seems to agree! Just know this - we can help and will be ready when the time is right and such 'agreement' translates in to action.

But, even without that required investment, the disintermediation we're grappling with pales by comparison to how it will impact other media. DO NOT REST on that laurel, but ask, "How can we better take advantage of it?"

A couple of quick comments from the Pacific Area Newspaper Publisher's Association Ad Forum, then we'll save more for our next installment: