When Joe McGuire joined the Journal Star as new-media director in October 1997, one of his first goals was to build a strong bond with members of the advertising department.

McGuire, a self-professed "old guy" with TV and radio-sales experience plus 12 years as advertising director of a sporting-goods chain, already knew many of the Peoria, Ill., paper’s ad-sales reps.

"I had bought their products and sold against them," McGuire says. "Right away, I looked for ways to work with them–not to have the [Internet] be a threat to their business, but to help them."

Teamwork has become the mantra as the online arena blossoms as a viable marketing alternative–or partner–to traditional media. And Internet-advertising spending is forecast to grow the fastest among media in the next few years, according to NAA’s recent Horizon Watching Strategic Intelligence Report (see Newspapers 2000 Review, p. S2).

"As Internet usage expands, so too will Internet advertising, which is expected to grow at a 34 percent compound annual rate to 2003," compared with 7 percent for print-newspaper advertising, the authors write.

Thus, synergy between print and online sales becomes critical. Publishers continue to experiment with several organizational models in search of the one that works best in their markets. Options include an independent online salesforce; an integrated approach that puts responsibility for selling all of a paper’s advertising products in the hands of all sales reps; and a team effort that pairs interactive media specialists with print-media reps.

Who does what "is spotty," admits Peter M. Zollman, founding principal of Advanced Interactive Media Group L.L.C. in Altamonte Springs, Fla., whose clients include media companies, software developers and retailers. "In some places, print-sales reps absolutely grab hold of the Internet and interactive services and really get into the whole sales process. In other places, ad reps would prefer not to be bothered with this new thing."

He’s quick to add that publishers still must protect their core business, the print newspaper. "Distractions can be devastating," Zollman says. "It makes sense not to distract the [ad-sales] people who are supporting a multimillion-dollar business with trying to build a multithousand-dollar business.

"Using interactive media specialists, who are responsible for building sales, in conjunction with print-ad reps makes sense," Zollman says. "That way, there are people who are knowledgeable about each business and can offer support and training to their colleagues."

Zollman says it’s critical for publishers to create an environment where print reps are encouraged to learn, sell and provide advertising solutions in whatever medium works best for advertisers. Advertisers and ad-agency account executives don’t want to deal with too many sales reps from the same company, Zollman points out. Pairing interactive reps with print reps makes for more efficient sales from teams that can quickly identify products that make the most sense for advertisers. The goal: "Give them what’s best for them."

TEAMWORK IN HOUSTON

Executives at the Houston Chronicle follow Zollman’s preferred model, pairing online specialists with different teams of sales reps responsible for classified, retail and national advertising.

"We want our reps to sell multiple products," notes Dwight M. Brown, vice president of advertising, so the Chronicle initiated the integrated approach about one year ago.

"We don’t want [ad reps] selling just the print product," he says. "Sure, we want advertisers’ print business, and we want [to distribute their inserts]. But we also want their direct-mail advertising, commercial printing, database work, and we want to do their Web design and build e-commerce sites. Admittedly, it’s hard for one rep to cover all of that. That’s why we have specialists to back them up."

An electronic-sales manager for display advertising oversees five specialists who sell e-commerce services to advertisers, along with Internet-site development and various online products including advertising banners, World Wide Web pages, sponsorship of special features or sections such as the Video Guide, and creation of online contests and promotions. They also work with print-ad reps as consultants. Another group of electronic-sales specialists works with classified-ad reps in a similar manner, Brown says.

"Most of the [electronic-sales specialists] came up through the newspaper ranks, and some were brought in from outside," he says. "This is their specialty now, and they work hard to develop the expertise needed to sell a new medium."

The Chronicle’s print-sales reps see the advantage of offering advertisers an array of services. "Our sales reps are solution-oriented. They’re asking for Internet products and solutions because they know they can grow their revenue," Brown says.

Compensation for electronic-sales specialists requires a different model from the traditional print approach. Rather than figuring compensation based on a percentage of sales, Brown takes a more goal-oriented approach, factoring in such things as numbers of new customers. When it comes to time and effort, "a $3,000 or $4,000 sale on the Internet is like a $100,000 sale in the newspaper," he explains.

Brown says that electronic-sales specialists are compensated under the same formula that’s used for ad reps–40 percent of their salary comes from a base or set amount, and 60 percent from a goal-based incentive plan. "A lot of small sales are really big sales when it comes to online," Brown notes.

SALES SOLUTIONS

Separate staffs to sell print and online products may make more sense in some markets. Among the considerations: size of ad reps’ territories and the number of products they’re asked to sell.

James O. Boberg, advertising director of The Forum in Fargo, N.D. (morning, circulation 51,312), thought long and hard about whether his print-ad reps should sell Internet advertising when the paper launched in-forum.com during 1997.

"When I sat and looked at this community and the size of this newspaper, I realized that there were training issues," he says. "Our reps were hired to sell newspaper advertising. It’s our bread and butter."

As a result, Boberg employs an interactive-media manager and one salesperson responsible for online products. "If they get leads that need to go to the newspaper, they hand them over to us," Boberg says. Conversely, the 13 print newspaper ad reps turn over online leads to the interactive sales staff.

"It works well for us," says Boberg, who remains open to refining the newspaper’s approach as online opportunities develop.

While local businesspeople continue to rely on the printed newspaper to deliver their advertising messages, Boberg says, some also struggle to find their places online. "How can I tap into this? Should I tap into this?" These are questions advertisers pose daily, he adds.

While some have rushed to establish Web presences, with uncertain results, others eye e-commerce. Boberg points to Larson’s Super Valu’s successful getyourgroceries.com. The West Fargo grocer delivers groceries at a minimal charge. After advertising the service on in-forum.com for several months, the advertiser had to pull back because demand exceeded ability to deliver.

Boberg looks at the online-sales reps as "a portal" to the new medium. "We’ve developed relationships with our print advertisers, but we’re willing to hand off [the online business] to those who have more knowledge and more time to develop new opportunities."

Happily, online revenue has increased year over year at The Forum, Boberg reports. "It was a slow start, but we’re building momentum."

Some with separate staffs nudge the relationship one step closer to the team model. At the Naples (Fla.) Daily News (morning, 62,427), managers employ cross-training to bring the paper’s four-person online-ad staff for naplesnews.com closer to the paper’s 23 display-ad sales reps, says Advertising Director J. Patrick Berling.

"We’ve cross-trained the print staff to sell online ads, and the online staff has learned the basics of selling print ads," Berling says. "We’re trying to sell one package."

To reinforce the goal, display-ad reps need to sell a certain number of online products each month to earn their management-by-objective yearly bonuses.

Cross-training starts with a review of the basics: What’s a banner ad, what’s a page view, what’s a hotlink or button? "Once reps get comfortable with the terms, it takes some fear away."

Training started about a year ago with monthly sessions attended by display and online-sales reps. Now the meetings are held quarterly, Berling says. The training includes role-playing exercises such as asking a print-ad rep to sell a basic online banner ad and asking online reps to sell a basic small-space newspaper ad. Reps also practiced selling a "client" an ad schedule that incorporates print and online advertising.

Online-advertising spending has increased 30 percent since last year, thanks to increased interest by core advertisers and new accounts from businesses that haven’t advertised in the newspaper but want a presence online, Berling says.

In 1999, Berling responded to an informal industry survey that asked about his millennium goals. His reply: "To have the entire advertising staff absolutely comfortable cross-selling online and print."

While he concedes that there’s still work to do, "it’s a heck of a lot better compared to a year ago."

PACKAGING PLAYS IN PEORIA

Back in Peoria, New Media Director McGuire had to find a way to sell the Journal Star’s ad reps on the "power of the package." It didn’t take him long to come up with a winner.

McGuire designed a feature for pjstar.com called "Homes of the Week." He proposed to the classified-ad department that a real-estate company be the title sponsor and showcase its homes on pjstar.com, but only if the company also bought a three-quarter-page Sunday open-house ad and a full-page ad in the newspaper’s weekly real-estate tabloid (see images, pp. 30-31).

"We worked closely to bundle this as one price, carefully making sure the power of the package included appropriate revenue for print and online. The result was new annual business exceeding $100,000 a year," McGuire reports.

After that, he adds, it wasn’t difficult to interest print-sales reps in similar ideas. "They saw that advertisers were interested in having a Web component to their promotion campaigns."

"The Web extended the print exposure in a way that made the newspaper very competitive with electronic media," he says. "With the real-estate product, we run small ads in the newspaper directing readers to the ‘Homes of the Week’ featured online. These listings are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. This is a persuasive selling point for our print-account executives."

Another hook: contests where readers register online as well as in the newspaper or at the retail store. "Vendors love this exposure and traffic for their Web sites," McGuire says.

Online advertising at the Journal Star is up 75 percent over last year, and McGuire notes that "great synergy can be gained if you take advantage of the strengths of each medium."

He advises easing print reps into the online realm and showing them how they can build their business. "We’ve told them, ‘This is your future. You can learn about it and you can help us.’ It’s like wading in before swimming."

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

In Integration vs. Separation: A Strategic Perspective, a white paper recently published by NAA and written by Zollman and Neil Skene, AIM’s managing principal, the authors outline some strategies for publishers trying to "synergize the sales channel." An overview is available online at www.digitaledge.org; New Media Federation members can get full access. The report includes these observations:

• The existing local advertising base gives newspapers a huge advantage, but make sure the print-sales staff understands the Internet and can explain the advantages to advertisers who might not "get" the Internet.

• Enlist top managers in promoting online advertising. Charlene Li, a senior analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass., and former publisher for interactive media at Community Newspaper Co. in Needham, Mass., describes how the enthusiasm of top managers drove the success of CNC’s award-winning, community-oriented Web site. "Ad managers [from the newspaper] got out and sold for the Internet," she writes, "and that inspired the troops. On the news side, an editor kept pushing for updates and other expansion of content because he saw the positive reaction his boss and the president and chairman gave him."

• Give the salesforce financial incentives to sell all your products. "The fact that an Internet sale means more work for fewer dollars often means commission rates have to be higher (often with lower guarantees or base salaries). Bonuses for bringing in targeted advertisers are a help, too," according to the report’s authors.

• Target businesses that haven’t advertised in the newspaper. "Many Web sites compete better with Yellow Pages, for example, than the newspaper does, so the Internet rep could focus on Yellow Pages [advertisers]," the authors note.

• The days of the Internet advertising giveaway are ending. "A giveaway implies that the ad has no value and fails to sell the distinct advantage of the Web as a marketing platform," the researchers say.

• Package online and print advertising. "The rise of the separate interactive unit forces the print and Internet units to work out advertising packages that put a real value on the Internet advertising," the authors say. "As with more traditional advertising packages, the sales staff can design packages especially for particular businesses or industry groups that are viewed as high-potential new advertisers."

Zollman cautions publishers not to ignore print newspapers’ traditional strengths as they strive to find a way to synergize the sales channel for print and interactive products in their markets.

"The smart approach is a partially integrated one," he says. "There are so many strengths that a [print] newspaper has that it’s criminal to throw them away. A newspaper has the longest, and typically most valued, most focused advertising relationship with major advertisers in its market. It can provide a great reach along with targeting and segmenting. Publishers must take advantage of those strengths as they look to build their interactive business."

[ Presstime Magazine ]

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