An ASTECH InterMedia Reference Article

Lessons Learned

by Tom Ratkovich

As each year draws to a close – and by the time you read this we will likely be well into 2001 – I find myself reflecting not only on the accomplishments that have taken place over the past twelve months, but on the great moments of the past nine years that have shaped my thinking, and that of my company and its clients.

I will apologize in advance if these statements seem simplistic or outdated. In reality, each of these quotations offers underlying wisdom that belies the simplicity of the words.

"Newspapers must identify, develop, package and deliver the
specific audiences advertisers want to reach."
— Paul Cohen, 1991

When Mr. Cohen, at that time the director of marketing for the Florida Times-Union, made this proclamation at a meeting of the Newspaper Research Council in Santa Barbara, I was inspired. For the first time, someone had actually articulated a concept with which I had struggled. Simple, logical, accurate…and addressed to colleagues totally unprepared to hear it. The industry wasn't ready to be told about targeting and integration of distribution options. The answer to the threat of direct mail was Total Market Coverage. Nonetheless, ASTECH was founded some four months later with a mission statement that incorporated Mr. Cohen's words verbatim.

"Without access to the right information, you can easily end up doing
all the right things for all the wrong people."
— Randall Richardson, 1993

Spoiled by huge profit margins, newspapers long ignored the concept of database marketing despite the fact it was broadly and successfully applied in other consumer industries. When Mr. Richardson, a founding partner of Customer Insight Company, made this statement, those margins were beginning to erode - a byproduct of market share lost to competitive media perceived as more targeted. Mr. Richardson's comments reinforced the simple concept that better use of our data could make us better, more efficient marketers.

"I know that half my advertising dollars are wasted…I just don't know which half."
— Anonymous

I first heard this provocative comment in 1995. Interestingly, I heard it initially from a circulation marketer concerned that her traditional subscriber development initiatives were becoming less and less productive. The need to leverage customer knowledge to improve marketing productivity was sinking in.

The fact that these same sentiments were being articulated by newspaper advertisers – and that market share was continuing to drop – reinforced the need for newspapers to look at ways to leverage their data and distribution efficiencies to provide more targeted access to high potential consumers. In other words, they were finally beginning to realize the simple truth that:

"My customer is my customer's customer."

Although the concept of a marketing partnership between a newspaper and its advertisers had existed for years, that's all it really was…a concept. Newspapers maintained a product focus, rather than a customer focus. The need to sell ink on paper overwhelmed the notion of creating solutions for advertisers. The competitive media environment had evolved, but newspapers had not.

That was changing — out of necessity. Advertisers were becoming less interested in cost per thousand and more focused on metrics like cost per acquisition and return on investment. Many newspapers recognized that to compete, they had to focus not on their product but on the need of their advertisers to spend their money more efficiently.

"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."

These words from management guru Peter Drucker underscore the need to invest in the resources that enable marketing analysis, program execution and measurement. By so doing, newspapers will not only be able to leverage their data and distribution capabilities to create marketing solutions for advertisers, but to measure the ROI of those solutions. Accountability is a good thing.

Reproduced here from IDEAS Magazine, the publication of the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA), January 2001. Tom Ratkovich is the president and founder of ASTECH InterMedia. He can be reached at 303.296.9966 x111.

© 2005 ASTECH InterMedia, Inc.