Remember a year or so ago when they when the Globe tried using ad stickers placed on the front page? Unfortunately they didn't peel off as well as they wanted and would rip my paper when I tried to remove them.
Maybe boston.com can do the reverse and display something other than ads on its homepage?
If the ad revenues are plummeting as reported, isn't this just putting a few patches on a sinking ship, per some of the earlier discussions on this blog about the city's dailies? Or does front page advertising somehow command such a premium rate that it makes a huge difference?
It just seems to me that this is delaying an inevitable Day of Reckoning about how to restructure the daily paper to be economically viable.
According to this Boston Globe advertising page, they command a 25% premium for page two or three. Imagine how much they can tack on to an for an ad position that is harder to miss. Some people may go directly to the sports page, etc. but its hard for someone to miss the front page. Even some people who don't even read the paper may see the ad as the pass by a newsstand, newspaper hawker, or newspaper box. (and its that category of people, the group that don't read the paper that is the growth market that they want to tap.)
That's a huge premium, but I wonder if there's a tradeoff == too many front page ads and there's less front page news to attract a reader's interest. Plus, the ads would have to be above the fold to catch someone's eye from a standard stack or box.
If it's a holding action that helps until they figure out a sustainable strategy, it's better than nothing...
Quick show of hands here: How many of you regular NY Times readers DON'T know the Times has been running page-1 ads for years to tell Jewish women and girls when to light Shabbat candles?
Rather than putting ads on the front page, and cutting down on stories that might attract readers, perhaps The Globe can just do as sports teams are wont and sell naming rights. All it takes is someone with a huge ego and deep pockets.
"The Ernie Boch Jr. Globe" has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
Channel 5 reported this story, just before they did the weather & displayed the weather map, with an advertisement for Jordan's furniture on it. That was a new one for me.
Comments
Better option than the workaround they had before
Remember a year or so ago when they when the Globe tried using ad stickers placed on the front page? Unfortunately they didn't peel off as well as they wanted and would rip my paper when I tried to remove them.
Maybe boston.com can do the reverse and display something other than ads on its homepage?
But...
If the ad revenues are plummeting as reported, isn't this just putting a few patches on a sinking ship, per some of the earlier discussions on this blog about the city's dailies? Or does front page advertising somehow command such a premium rate that it makes a huge difference?
It just seems to me that this is delaying an inevitable Day of Reckoning about how to restructure the daily paper to be economically viable.
It is premium placement
According to this Boston Globe advertising page, they command a 25% premium for page two or three. Imagine how much they can tack on to an for an ad position that is harder to miss. Some people may go directly to the sports page, etc. but its hard for someone to miss the front page. Even some people who don't even read the paper may see the ad as the pass by a newsstand, newspaper hawker, or newspaper box. (and its that category of people, the group that don't read the paper that is the growth market that they want to tap.)
big premium but...
That's a huge premium, but I wonder if there's a tradeoff == too many front page ads and there's less front page news to attract a reader's interest. Plus, the ads would have to be above the fold to catch someone's eye from a standard stack or box.
If it's a holding action that helps until they figure out a sustainable strategy, it's better than nothing...
Doesn't necessarily have to be atop the fold
Quick show of hands here: How many of you regular NY Times readers DON'T know the Times has been running page-1 ads for years to tell Jewish women and girls when to light Shabbat candles?
Thought so. :-).
oy...
...how could I have missed that?
Sell Sponsorships?
Rather than putting ads on the front page, and cutting down on stories that might attract readers, perhaps The Globe can just do as sports teams are wont and sell naming rights. All it takes is someone with a huge ego and deep pockets.
"The Ernie Boch Jr. Globe" has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Main flaw
The Globe already gets enough grief from people whenever it writes something positive about the Red Sox ...
New ad placement on tv news too
Channel 5 reported this story, just before they did the weather & displayed the weather map, with an advertisement for Jordan's furniture on it. That was a new one for me.