Insert Revolution Prompts Evolution
by Robert M. Brown
A digital revolution is rapidly reshaping the future of newspaper inserts. From computerized design to targeted-distribution software programs, technology is turning the newspaper insert into a formidable marketing tool that reclaims advertising dollars from magazines, television and radio. Even national-product marketers are recognizing the value of newspaper inserts and have started incorporating them into their marketing mix.Let’s take a look at how this revolution is causing an evolution of the insert business.
Lightning-fast turnaround. The days of film are quickly dwindling. At Treasure Chest Advertising, more and more of our clients are handling pre-press in-house and are sending Portable Document Format files directly to us. At our New York division, fully 75 percent of our business is digital. With the click of a mouse, these digital files can be transmitted to 20 different plants where they go to press in a matter of hours.
Cost savings. When time is cut, costs follow. Digital files are much easier to handle than film, and the result is concrete cost savings to advertisers.
Content flexibility. Since lead time is reduced, it’s easier to incorporate timely information such as last-minute special offers and deals. Digital files have also allowed far more accurate listings by our television-book partners.
Creative options. As advertisers take the creative reins and use computerized design programs to create inserts, they can easily experiment with different sizes, colors, layouts and special features. Pop-ups, pop-downs, pop-outs, dropouts, single or double gatefolds, full or partial wraps, coupon books—the possibilities become virtually endless.
Zoning customization. Multiple versions of the same insert customized for different distribution zones are a breeze using digital design. The result is messages that speak more directly to the recipient.
Targeted distribution. One of the most exciting developments at TC Advertising is a computerized system combining the intelligence of direct marketing with the tremendous reach and cost efficiency of newspaper delivery. The software allows national manufacturers to use precise demographic and lifestyle profiles to identify the consumers most likely to purchase their products—and then configures a buy of only those newspaper distribution zones where the likely customers live.
The path to the future is not always smooth, however. Sometimes digital files are corrupt or flawed, and with shortened lead times, the margin for error is reduced and deadlines can be missed. Unusual new formats can present difficulties for printing, skidding, shipping or inserting.
Newspapers can help us in a few ways:
Let us know what special formats and/or physical characteristics present insertion problems. Then we can advise our customers to avoid or revise those formats.
Contact retailers directly to ensure that they’re complying with insertion deadlines and the lead-time you need. Then we will be able to deliver products on time.
Establish common specifications for bundle size, skidding and shipping. It’s impossible for us to change equipment setups and the skidding for every newspaper, so common specs will help make everyone happy.
On our end, we’re doing all we can to help our clients understand digital workflow better, and with each passing month, we see accuracy improve.
Eventually, as the digital revolution fully evolves, we will all see the benefits in increased business and profitability for product manufacturers, retailers, news-papers and printers alike.
Brown is vice president/division manager for Treasure Chest Advertising’s New York division. Phone, (914) 246-9552; fax, (914) 246-1751.
People and Packaging
by L. Carol Christopher
Tom Stamper is blunt.“It’s a hard job. It’s not glamorous. It’s repetitive and really routine. People didn’t care about the equipment. They were just passing through. The odds of them showing up for the Christmas shift were about a million-to-one.”
You guessed it—he’s talking about the packaging department, where preprints and zoning have made it more difficult than ever to be successful. But Stamper, distribution manager of The Dallas Morning News, and his counterparts at other papers have found new ways of tackling the old problem.
In January 1997, the distribution department at the Morning News converted approximately 90 percent of its part-time employees to full-time status—with benefits. Now 15 crews, most with 11 people each, cover 12 shifts per week. They are assisted as needed by workers from a temporary agency.
Both productivity and morale are up, while error rates and the overall number of hours worked are down. As Stamper points out, “a trained person can do a lot more.” Volume increased 3 percent in 1997 from the year before, while hours worked fell 7 percent. So far this year, volume is up 12 percent, with only a 1.5 percent gain in hours.
“If you want to be successful, have high productivity and meet deadlines,” Stamper says, “you have to invest in your employees.”
In Sacramento, front-line workers complained frequently about the poor work ethic among new hires. Scott Neilsen, The Sacramento Bee’s post-press operations manager, challenged them to do better.
They have.
After working with human resources to develop hiring questions (and ensuring they conform to legal requirements), several interview panels of three workers each conduct interviews as well as new-hire orientations—all without manager or supervisor participation. “They have different filters for accepting or rejecting a new hire,” Neilsen says.
The labor pool in rural Pennsylvania isn’t very big, so once The Daily Item in Sunbury finds part-time employees to work in its post-press area, managers have plenty of incentive to keep them coming back.
The solution? An incentive program. Part-time employees can gain or lose points, redeemable quarterly for cash, based on such measurable criteria as on-time arrival, completing work on deadline, regular attendance, anniversaries and driving records.
The brainchild of Brett Neidig, the Item’s distribution-department manager, the program “hasn’t solved the problems, but they are mitigated,” says Ed Thomas, the paper’s former production director.