Wake Up – You’re Already Dead
Oct 28, 2009
The Audit Bureau of Circulations announced recently that average daily circulation of newspapers dropped almost 11% in the April to September period from the same period the previous year. This drop is greater than the 7% decline during the previous six-month period and the 4% decline prior to that. According to Ad Age, out of the 25 biggest newspapers in the country, 15 reported double-digit drops and only one gained circulation over the past year.
Numbers don’t lie…usually. Circulation data is dismal, and I think even these numbers underestimate how quickly newspapers are becoming obsolete. Need more proof? I travel around the country lecturing to students. I often ask how many of them read a newspaper, and I’m lucky if two out of 100 people raise their hands! And the two that raise their hands usually read it online. Rarely a day goes by that we don’t read a new story about another newspaper closing its doors or laying off employees. Newspapers are nearly extinct dinosaurs that serve no purpose in today’s world and are quickly being replaced by the digital age.
The data is irrefutable. The signs are everywhere. Everyone in the retail and advertising world knows that newspapers are dying quickly. They talk a big game about reallocating advertising dollars from circulars and inserts to online and social. But they have a dirty little secret: They are addicted. Addicted to newspapers. Addicted to circulars. Addicted to a medium whose returns are diminishing as quickly as newspapers themselves. It’s like heroine – it’s hard to stop once you start, even if it’s killing you. How do I know? Because I see advertising budgets every day, and the truth is that most retailers out there are just as committed as ever to newspaper advertising, insisting on pouring money down the drain because they are terrified to let go. So they continue to fuel their addiction in private, eventually leading to their own demise.
The brands that are going to be successful in the future are the brands that are already hard at work building their databases through social media and perfecting their mix of traditional and non-traditional media. Take one of our premier clients, Pep Boys, for example. CEO Mike Odell reported during a recent interview that Pep Boys’ print dollars are now being shifted to TV, radio and interactive, and that results of the new mix have been positive so far. They’ve already kicked the addiction. If the rest of the retail world doesn’t wake up and do the same, things are going to go from bad to worse very quickly. Sound harsh? Too bad – it’s time we faced the facts: Newspapers are already dead – wake up and move on.
It is time for newspapers to sleep!
Even with the reduction in circulation newspaper is still one of the broadest reaching mediums out there today. There is a reason that retailers such as Target, Kohl’s, IKEA and Walmart invest heavily in this media — it works.
Our research shows that yes consumers are migrating away from the “major dailies” but readership is still strong and in some instances growing for community based or niche type publications.
Comparative average reach of U.S. households:
17% watch “CSI”
17% watch “American Idol”
23% watched the Academy Award
43.3% watched Super Bowl
60% read the Sunday Newspaper
*Source: Nielsen
Scarborough Research Top 50 Market Report – Age 18 and over
Scott:
Thank you for your comment. Of course, I have to say I disagree. Anybody can manipulate numbers and data to say what they want to say. But the fact is that our clients are no longer getting the results from print and circulars. Target, Kohl’s, IKEA and Walmart have their heads up their ass if they think the newspaper business is going to turn around. If they continue dumping astronomical amounts of money into newspaper, they are going to die a slow miserable death because they’re addicted to the heroine of a dying business. Every single client we have has reallocated their media dollars from print to a mix of traditional and nontraditional/interactive/social, and has started to gain market share and profitability as a result.
admin:
well said.
Once again its the way of the world to prop up zombie business with OPM and do the bonus dance.
The kids will put them to pasture in about 10.
Has anyone else had their kid say “What’s a book?”
The times are changing and companies need to realize that or they will get left behind. Numbers don’t lie and unless these companies are doing the research to know the numbers, failure is inevitable. With social media opening new channels for companies to build relationships with their consumers, I think it is ignorant to not take advantage of CHANGE!