Microzoning Done Right

by James P. Quinn

After reviewing the microzoning operation at The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa., here's my call: It is the most ambitious I have ever seen. In the last five years, insert volume increased about 60 percent. The increase in the number of products distributed has been geometric. Single-copy preprint sales are also up.

The Morning Call is owned by the Times Mirror Co. Daily circulation is 135,601 (press run 144,000) and Sunday circulation is 188,521 (press run 198,000). A weekly TMC product called Celebrity Insider is distributed to about 50,000 non-subscribers in its prime retail market.

The newspaper is located in northeastern Pennsylvania, about 30 miles west of New Jersey's state line. Its market consists of Lehigh County, a large part of Northampton County, plus parts of Monroe, Carbon, Schuykill, Bucks, Berks and Montgomery counties. Six to seven years ago, the decision was made to create 42 ZIP zones. Since that time, zoning has been even further refined, with the number of ZIP zones rising to 59 (including single-copy zones), the advent of a TMC product, a single-sheet preprint program and the recent redesign of single-copy zones. In October 1994, six GMA SLS-1000 inserters (five nine-head machines and one 28-head machine) took over inserting. Four of the five nine-head machines are used for daily inserting, with the fifth as a spare. The 28-head machine is used for the Sunday inserting operation.

Papers are taken by gripper-conveyor from the presses to two bi-directional stackers. Each stacker sends bundles to at least two of the four operating SLS-1000s. Bundles are stacked down on skids by part-time packaging department employees. Newspapers are drawn from these skids and placed into a hopper-loader feeding the inserter's head pocket.

Daily newspapers containing inserts are routed to seven IDAB model 2000 or 2100 counter-stackers. Bundles are carried to trucks by a distribution belt system with diverters that feed to ten truck-loading positions. Multiple truck back-ins are used to decrease loading delays.

There are four important reasons for their success with microzoning:

First, The Call knows its market and is cognizant of the need to provide microzoning. Managers recognized that more revenue would come from adding smaller advertisers than would be lost when large advertisers distributed less than full-run quantities.
Second, The Call has high penetrations in its primary retail zone. A product of modest size can be used to provide total market coverage. The Call was already a very efficient buy, and the TMC product only made it better.
Third, because of the equipment's capacity, marginal costs appear very low, allowing a high proportion of preprint revenue to accrue to profit. An example of low marginal labor cost is that one part-time employee can load two or three insert-feeder heads at a time.
Fourth, The Call has a very stable work force. This means that training costs are low, as are mistakes and customer dissatisfaction.

On balance The Morning Call has leveraged its strengths of market knowledge, market dominance, organizational commitment and an excellent work force to implement a shrewdly developed business plan.

James P. Quinn is a newspaper-industry consultant. This article was adapted from a much longer site report recently commissioned by the Association.

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Photo: The Morning Call