NAA/ABC Circulation Subcommittee’s Guide to Branded Editions
Branded editions are a result of the industry embracing new audiences and transforming newspaper products. Readers crave targeted information and advertisers want to reach these targeted consumers. By featuring branded editions in Audit Bureau of Circulations reports, publishers can include niche and community-specific products as part of their total media brand.
Newspapers of all shapes and sizes are reporting both branded and digital editions to help articulate the strength of our audiences in verified, quantifiable terms.
The ABC rules for reporting and qualifying branded editions were adopted to provide newspapers more marketing flexibility than ever before. “The NAA/ABC Circulation Subcommittee’s Guide to Branded Editions” was developed to help newspapers take full advantage of the flexibility offered by the new rules.
The guide includes case studies that demonstrate how newspapers are putting their best creative foot forward and leveraging new ABC rules to their advantage. These case studies show how newspapers are completely and effectively conveying to advertising customers the impressive marketing power of their products. Branded editions are another arrow these newspapers are pulling from their “audience and reach” quiver.
Branded editions come with unique rules and qualifications for ABC-member newspapers. The guide helps explain those differences, provides examples and brings perspectives to answer the most common questions.
The first section details rules to qualify branded editions and includes a video with ABC’s Ken Shultz, who shares tips for a smooth verified branded-edition audit. The second section contains real-world examples of how newspapers of all sizes are using branded editions. Details are shared on how the Chicago Sun-Times, Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, Kingsport (Tenn.) Times-News, the Press-Register of Mobile, Ala., and The E.W. Scripps Co.’s Treasure Coast Newspapers in Florida designed and reported branded-edition programs.
The guide concludes with additional resources, including do’s and don’ts of branded editions and an interview with NSA Media’s Karin Kasper, who provides the agency perspective on the concept of branded editions.
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First Published: February 21, 2012