20 Under 40 - 1996 Profile: Bartley C. Green

PRESSTIME

By Presstime Magazine

First Published: December 1996

Customer, customer, customer. That's Bartley C. Green's daily mantra as he leads advertising efforts for the San Francisco Newspaper Agency, business agent for the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner.

Steven B. Falk, the agency's president and chief executive officer, credits Green, vice president for advertising, with giving the sales force a "mission and clear focus."

Green, who delivered the Chronicle as a boy, insists that mission is far from impossible: "Newspapers turn readers into customers for advertisers; it's that simple."

Despite a tough first half of 1996—the agency lost its No. 1 advertiser when the Emporium, a major retailer, went out of business—a strong summer and fall recovery puts Green's department about $9 million ahead of 1995 year-to-date revenue.

"Our challenge was to refocus on the mid-size retailer, whom we neglected in the past," he says.

Green increased the use of custom research to target shoppers' needs and buying patterns, and to help advertisers devise marketing strategies. The department also purchased a database that identified 44,000 nonadvertiser Bay-area businesses each with sales of a half-million dollars or more.

To "redirect our energy from internal barriers to external opportunities," Green redesigned the ad-flow process to meet customer needs by shortening deadlines, turning proofs around more quickly, cutting errors and offering free ad-design help. "We've learned to work smarter," he says.

Internally, Green reorganized the department into selling teams and instituted an awards program for top producers. "People perform to higher expectations if they know they're going to get recognition," he says.