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July 2000
Why Research?
From our perspective it seems terribly obvious that research ought to be the lifeblood of many day-to-day
and strategic decisions at newspapers. Doesn't every publisher, advertising vice president, circulation
director, executive editor and marketing VP see that?
In many ways we ask ourselves questions similar to those on your mind: what DO our customers want?
Are we providing it on the right platform and in the right time frame? Is our follow up timely and accurate?
Are we priced fairly, with appropriate volume and frequency adjustments and earning a decent margin so that
we can continue to deliver value? Are we promoting in a way that not only serves us, but also serves our
customers? What content, where?
Don't those sound familiar?
While we continually ask these and similar questions, the answers we've come up with will strike a chord too...
Belden is doing well, but it CAN - and, it will - do better.
To prepare for this position, I commissioned a study that "researched" companies conducting research in the
newspaper industry - the results were eye-popping! On any question - customer service, percent familiar with,
reputation, service importance, done research with in the past year, news/editorial ratings - Belden had no peer.
Yet, those encouraging findings also suggested interesting challenges related to improvement, what can we do
to make sure we don't ever take a customer for granted, how to preserve this culture within the new organization,
where do we go from here, how can we build upon this rock solid foundation?
One thing is certain - to succeed and improve, we'll look to our customers (and our pleasantly persistent prodding)
to guide us properly...to answer those questions.
That leads us to the reason we conduct research and why it seems so necessary newspapers increase their growing
research commitment.
Research for guidance...for better understanding...to be more responsive...
to improve...to increase margin...to promote better...to facilitate ecommerce...to determine how online
content differs from in paper...to minimize the required number of mistakes as we master interactive
media...to confirm instincts and back up experience...to let your customer - READER and ADVERTISER
(internal and external) - know you care!!
It also means more than adverting or just asking content questions - when in doubt, ASK, "Can research help?"
- Improve customer satisfaction?
- Identify actionable strategic initiatives?
- Solve the teen reading puzzle?
- Augment secondary or syndicated products?
- Improve relationships with specific advertisers?
- Evaluate new products or cycle changes?
- Fine tune promotion and marketing campaigns?
- Quantify, and thereby build brand?
- Analyze the weekend combination and packages?
- Benchmark, measure and grow audience?
- Track competition over all media platforms?
- Provide periodic critique and assessments?
In one phrase, "YOU BET!"
In the past few months, Belden projects have been critical to these successes!
- Several publishers make the conversion to a morning publishing cycle, but done in context and with
ideas about how to promote such a change so that circulation grows along with the perceived value of the paper.
- One publisher to avoid making a change to the weekend package that would jeopardize revenue.
- One communications company develop a multimedia sales platform to better present all media in a
strategic fashion to senior advertising decision makers.
- An Advertising Vice President confirm instincts and alleviate positioning challenges with department
stores by moving some of the main section demands to the Sunday magazine.
- A major metro customize sales presentations with key retailers so that the paper could effectively
advise on ad content and "what motivated" their shoppers!
Why Research?
Because with a genuine commitment to all that research can be, newspapers have a
compass that will guide them to and through the delightful and enormously profitable opportunities t
his exciting new century presents!
There are answers...
Are you asking the questions?
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