The Marmite Olympics in Fleet Street
Rufus Olins, CEO, Newsworks, on why 30 million readers will pick up a newspaper during the 17 days of the Olympics…
The Olympics may divide opinion more sharply than the Greek elections but one place that’s getting really excited about the games is the national press.
Why? Because big national events are what newspapers thrive on. Wars, weddings, disasters and major sporting occasions see the nation turning in greater numbers to their newspapers to get the ‘real story’, the inside scoop, the analysis and, of course the pictures. As time goes on, these are moving pictures too, as newspapers have become newsbrands operating on digital platforms.
Wayne Rooney’s performance against Ukraine last night has sparked off pages of analysis about England’s dramatic victory and ‘the goal that wasn’t’. And Nike took advantage of his re-appearance in the England team to run some topical impactful advertising.
I spoke at a conference last week called The Power of Sport. Specifically I was asked to explain why newspapers were “better” than other media. Better is not quite the point, maybe, as all media play different roles. But our role is fundamental. We drive the agenda for discussions across dinner tables and water coolers across the country, as well on Twitter and Facebook and in the broadcast media as well.
So what is it about newsbrands that give them this agenda-setting role? One element is certainly authority. When it comes to sport, they were the first and are still the most expert. It is part of the DNA of the newsbrand. They were reporting on the Olympics in 1908 before even Lord Reith had set about creating the BBC.
Today newspapers continue to invest in unparalleled platoons of journalists and pundits, analysing, debating and explaining what really matters. When people want to know what is really going on, they turn to newsbrands whether it is Fabrice Muamba’s condition following his heart attack or the consequences for David Nalbandian after his violent outburst at Queen’s club.
If you really want to know what is happening you go to an expert. That’s why, for example, Rio Ferdinand is one of the 325,000 people who follow the Telegraph’s Football correspondent, Henry Winter.
Newsbrands are also agenda-setters because they aren’t limited to the events on the track and field. The words and pictures enable people to anticipate the activities and, critically, to analyse and reflect on them at their own speed afterwards. The discussion leading up to an event and the memories it leaves behind can be just as important as the event itself. Anyone who has been to a wedding will know that.
This desire to engage with the “inside story” explains why we will be turning to our newsbrands for the Olympics. It is forecast that readership will grow to 30 million during the 17 days of the Olympics as the nation pores over the results from the velodrome, the stadium or Greenwich Park, and relives the tragedies, mishaps, triumphs and victories, learning every detail about the athletes, their backgrounds, their diets, their training regime and their coaches.
The point is, people do not read newspapers to pass the time while they are driving, ironing or keeping their child company. They immerse themselves to keep informed and to establish facts and opinions they can use in discussions with their friends and colleagues. Now those discussions take place on Twitter and Facebook as well as face to face.
Of course if you are one of the people who hates the Olympics and everything to do with it, you can be sure to find some suitable sports-free content in your national daily newsbrand – the editorial staff have spent years understanding the different needs of their readers. It’s what they’re good at.