i launch dividing agency opinion
We have taken the temperature on next Tuesday’s nationwide launch of the Independent’s new 20p quality newspaper, i – and found it has the capacity to reach both ends of the thermometer.
At the hot end of the scale sits Catherine Pronzato, Head of Press Strategy at Mediacom, who believes it’s a “great innovation, very brave. I applaud their investment, especially in a paid model.”
She pointed out that The Independent claims to have robust research to support the paid model, but ventured that it could yet be a product that becomes free further down the road.
Pronzato likes the editorial concept – described by the Independent as combining “intelligence with brevity, and depth with speed of reading, providing an essential daily briefing ” – which she compares most closely with The Week and The Economist, two titles that are growing despite the current climate. “This feeds the appetite for the upmarket commuter who has outgrown Metro and wants more quality comment,” says Pronzato.
“This is a launch welcomed by the industry. Plenty of advertisers will be interested because it’s a unique proposition.”
Rather cooler is Alan Brydon, Head of Trading at MPG, whose main concerns are more deep-rooted.
“How can an editor (Simon Kelner) that produces the ‘Viewspaper’ section, with more words every day than War and Peace, also be the editor of a concise digest? I’m simply not sure that the same skill set can be applied at a journalist level either – not sure if they are asking journos to write twice, or whether they really will just edit, but I suspect – I am no expert though – that writing 100 words needs a different skill set than writing 1000.”
And Brydon would rather see the Independent – which has announced a “distinctive new look and feel” – focus more commercial attention on the parent title:
“The main paper will lose credibility completely soon if the next ‘revamp’ isn’t a proper one. The whole press industry was represented at a very senior level a few months ago when Messrs Kelner and (Trevor) Beattie managed to set a new world record for underwhelming a group of people with their plans for that revamp. They really do have to produce a paper that sells more copies, rather than champion Yugoslavian trawlermen – or some other very worthy cause – on its front page every day. Maybe covering the main news story of the day?”
“In summary, nothing Kelner or The Indy (or Beattie in his advertising for the Indy) has done gives any real reason to believe this (new launch) will work. We will remain open minded about i, but it would lack any sense to be more than that.”
i will be available Mondays to Fridays and run to 56 pages. It is the first quality daily newspaper to launch in almost 25 years. There will be an iPad version and an app too.