DMGT Poised For Desmond Offensive
The Daily Mail and General Trust Group is preparing itself for an all-out battle as Northern and Shell, parent company of the Express titles, plans to launch a free London paper (see Desmond Plans To Launch New Evening Paper For London) to rival the Metro and Evening Standard.
Peter Williams, the finance director of the DMGT, told the Guardian: “It [the new free sheet] will stimulate the London market and that is not necessarily a bad thing. But we would prefer no competition at all and we will respond with vigour. We will certainly not let him come in and go for our market.”
The posturing follows news that the Evening Standard has overhauled its advertising and sales team, with six redundancies. It has also brought in ex-Marks & Spencer marketing chief, Matthew Chambers, as brand controller to re-invigorate the title (see Evening Standard Overhauls Ad & Sales Team).
Leading media commentators have criticised the Evening Standard for having a weak editorial identity and being little more than the Daily Mail’s “mini-me”. It has also been hit by mounting speculation over the future of editor, Veronica Wadley, and a number of high-profile newspaper figures have been linked to her job.
The title has experienced a sizeable decline in circulation, with ABC figures for the six months ending August 2002, revealing a 2.3% year on year drop.
Richard Desmond’s Express Newspaper’s is also launching an offensive against Evening Standard stablemate and middle-market sector leader, the Daily Mail, with a £50 million ad campaign (see Desmond Plans £50m Ad Campaign To See Off Rivals).
However, it is understood that Daily Mail strategists believe the Express is more likely to infringe on the readership of the Mirror. They suggest that the Express is moving more into the tabloid market and is unlikely to cause any friction in the Daily Mail dominated middle-market. Desmond is certainly causing a stir at Associated, but whether his new launch or ad campaign actually erode Associated’s market share remains to be seen.
Northern & Shell: 020 7308 5090 Associated Newspapers : 020 7938 6000 www.associatednewspapers.com
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