A National Ad Report Card

by Ted Fournier

How committed is your paper to getting its fair share of the $58 billion national-advertising market? Are you aware that national advertisers actually want to increase their newspaper buying due to our market reach and targeting capabilities, but are holding back because of our inability to send in quality tearsheets on a timely basis?

An annual report card issued by the Newspaper National Network, with technical support from NAA’s Quality Reproduction Task Force, aims to solve the tearsheet problem. It identifies 12 exemplary papers–but also gives mixed grades to the industry as a whole.

NNN used registration, color-matching and mechanical-defect criteria to grade 2,500 national-ad tearsheets in 1999. Only nine percent earned A’s. Some 37 percent earned B’s, indicating minor problems with one of the three ranking criteria, such as registration being off by a dot. A whopping 52 percent were given C’s for ads considered marginal in all criteria or even a borderline failure in one area. Some 2 percent earned F’s, meaning reproduction was unacceptable.

More troubling, the percentage of tearsheets earning C’s rose from 40 percent in 1998 to 52 percent last year, while the number of B’s fell from 46 percent to 37 percent. And many of the tearsheets NNN graded were second tries after initial submissions were rejected.

But speaking with staffers at the 12 newspapers earning the highest grades (see table) revealed some common approaches. First and foremost, each is firmly committed to national advertising.

The top-ranked papers stated that they constantly refine work flows for all printing. While most also flag critical national ads, all agreed that without intensive communication and control procedures in place, they would never achieve consistent quality. All also apply tight controls to tearsheet procedures. Most involve key production staffers in pulling "good copy" tearsheets and demanding accountability.

Respondents said their quality issues involve people more often than technology. Accordingly, training remains critical–particularly cross-training, providing an understanding of each department’s capabilities and responsibilities.

Communicating with advertisers also works wonders, the top-ranked papers said. Many national advertisers do not run gray bars–but if asked, they often will add one. Some papers literally go the extra mile by visiting a local store to purchase advertised items in an effort to match colors more effectively.

Also repeatedly mentioned was the need to constantly educate "upstream" through advertising departments and agencies to minimize unrealistic specifications and expectations. For example, agencies must be reminded to adjust their default settings to newsprint when running the same ad on coated stock.

Finally, respondents suggested demanding that agencies differentiate among the major newspaper-printing processes, as well as 65, 85 and 100 line-per-inch screens.

The first step, however, is to become more aware of the revenue available from national advertising and to prioritize it in day-to-day production.

Fournier is a member of NAA’s Quality Reproduction Task Force. E-mail, tfour@prodigy.net; phone, (888) 222-4888; fax, (508) 675-8869.

Pressmakers’ Digital Drive

As befits the first major technology exhibition of the new century, at least three press manufacturers plan to show prototypes of working digital presses at Drupa 2000, SuperConference speakers said. They are German pressmakers Heidelberg, KBA and MAN Roland.

Pressmakers also addressed more here-and-now issues. Attendees cited vendor support during press installations as a common concern. Mike Shafer, national sales manager for TKS (USA) Inc., noted that no pressmaker "has enough A-team" people now.

Parts supplies also were on the minds of attendees. "It’s impossible to keep every part in stock, as you can imagine," said Scott R. Smith, president and chief executive of KBA North America of York, Pa. He described a critical parts pool and a process by which other parts could be created and shipped within 12-to-24 hours.

The state of the press-making industry also drew attention. Richard J. Sutis, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Goss Graphic Systems Inc., discussed his company’s emergence late last year from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He stressed that Goss is repaying its debt ahead of schedule and had inked $200 million in new orders in the 10 weeks prior to the late-January conference.

Though once thought inevitable, further vendor consolidation now seems less likely. Heidelberg Web Systems Inc., a new entrant to the newspaper-press market, recently acquired several ancillary suppliers, said President Robert A. Brown. At the same time, it has no plans to acquire another heavy-metal manufacturer.

TechNews Volume 6, Number 2: March/April 2000

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