Chicago Tribune Files for Bankruptcy - Why Are Newspapers in Trouble?

I may be "old school" but I have to have my morning newspaper.  Wherever I've lived, I've subscribed to the local paper, The New York Times and The Wall St. Journal.  When I travel, I love to pick up USA Today.  But I'm apparently unusual.  Newspapers are quickly losing readers and advertisers.  The current recession is making matters worse as most advertisers are cutting back.  Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune made news by filing for bankruptcy.  

There are many younger Americans who now find newspapers irrelevant and hopelessly old fashioned.  They consume their news digitally.  They can get the news they want (and only what they want) on their PDAs immediately when the news is happening.   Why should they buy a printed newspaper that is out of the date and behind on breaking news events the minute it's printed?  Besides, that old printed thing has all sorts of stuff in it that they're not interested in reading, including most of the ads.  And, on top of everything else, newspapers create waste and they aren't as environmentally friendly as other ways to get the news.

With both technological and environmental trends solidly against them, are newspapers doomed?  Maybe.  What should marketing sanity look like to today's struggling newspapers?  What should they be doing?  If you were in charge of one, what would you be doing?

Job 1:  Hold on to your current subscribers.  Are newspapers reaching out to their readers with special offers, services and new product features that will preserve their loyalty?  Or are they milking their customer base?  Is sending that monthly or quarterly bill the only time they communicate?

Job 2:  Product development.  What can newspapers do to become relevant to the digital generation?  Are they developing and testing new ideas with a sense of urgency?  Are they trying to find ways to become Purple Cows (see my earlier blog on this topic).  Or are they resigned to having lost this audience forever?

Job 3:  Diversification and alliances.  The engine of every newspaper is news gathering and reporting.  These are assets that are valuable and unique.  How can these assets be fully leveraged with other businesses that need and value the content and information that is being created?  Similarly, how can newspapers do a better job of bundling the advertising impressions they deliver by partnering with other media?  What unique advertiser synergies can be created?

I think that the newspaper business has been too insular for too long.  Insular industries only hire from within.  The old ways are accepted as gospel.  "Experience" is more valuable than innovation.  New people with fresh ideas aren't recruited.  New ideas aren't developed and those that are have difficulty taking root and gaining advocacy.  These industries become inbred which is one short step away from becoming extinct.  The auto industry has certainly been guilty of this and I suspect the newspaper business is similarly guilty. 

Learn a lesson from these industries that are now struggling so mightily to survive.  Routinely recruit new people from outside the company and outside your industry.  They will come with fresh new ideas that are needed in every company.  Listen.  Test.  Implement.  Change.  Don't ever become satisfied with the status quo.  

Two Books All Marketing People Need to Read

Here are two books that I think every marketer should not only read but have on their desks as every day references.

The first is "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin.  

The premise of Seth's great little book is that in today's world, you're either remarkable or you're invisible.  It's not enough to take some product or service, slap some marketing lipstick on it and consider the job done.  Marketing people must be engaged deeply in the product, packaging and service development process to insure that something about the product, packaging or service is TRULY and REALLY remarkable.  If marketing is brought in after these things are already finalized, your product development process is broken and needs to be fixed. 

We all know that most new products fail.  The reason is not usually poor marketing.  The real reason is that the new product is simply not remarkable enough to make it.  How high is the new product bar at your company?  Are you shooting for "remarkable'?  Are your new products buzzworthy?  REALLY buzzworthy?  If not, you've got a real uphill battle on your hands to achieve new product success.  

Are you also developing remarkable marketing programs for these hopefully remarkable products and services?  Or are you doing the same old tired things and hoping for the best? Unless you have a track record of remarkable new products launched with remarkable marketing, you need to get way outside your usual comfort zone and challenge everyone involved to adopt "Purple Cow" thinking as an integral part of your product development and marketing process.  

The second book is "Jeffrey Gitomer's Sales Bible."

Marketing people work with sales people for their entire career.  In many companies, there's a friction between the two functions.  Typically, this is because the leaders of the functions aren't working well as teammates and, as a result, the people in each area don't fully understand the mutual dependency that exists.  Each group blames the other for any lack of success and each group thinks they are more important or superior to the other.

Jeffrey Gitomer's fun book is a must read for all marketing people.  You will come away from his book with not only a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the sales function but also a much improved understanding about how to improve your own personal selling skills.  You'll also learn a tremendous amount about what makes great sales people great.  You'll learn how to recognize the great ones that work with you and, hopefully, you'll also learn how to help the not-so-great ones get better.

Google Seth Godin and Jeffrey Gitomer.  Sign up for their newsletters.  Read their books.   You'll be delighted by the fresh insight each provides.   And...you'll become a better marketer in the process.