At MediaTel’s The Future of National Newspapers event, the industry was warned that newspapers – or to be more precise, newsbrands – have to do a better job to sell their story and proposition to agencies.
After witnessing a scene-setter in which current data and future opportunities were highlighted, Andrew Mullins group managing director, Evening Standard & Independent Print even proclaimed that the newspaper industry has “crap PR”.
“We’re still in a testing phase and we need to be clear on our strategy,” he said. “We’re too protective or under-confident to tell people what we want to do – but the agencies should get behind us and give feedback on what they think will work.”
Yet there is light at the end of the tunnel, with Newsworks recently launching a multi-platform campaign aimed at media buyers and agencies recognising and responding to the issues.
Here, listen to some of the key players – including Nick Hewat, the commercial director for Guardian News and Media, Mindhare’s head of press, Charlotte Tice and Vanessa Clifford, Newswork’s client services & strategy director – explain some of the challenges facing the sector – and what needs to be done to overcome them.
Event report: ‘Metrics and PR: the commercial future of newspapers‘
Event report: ‘Chris Blackhurst: “We’ll all go behind paywalls in the end‘
Dominic Mills: ‘Local TV feels like a licence to lose money‘
Raymond Snoddy: ‘It’s time News UK came clean on its numbers‘
To find out about future events from MediaTel, please visit our events website.