Tuesday 26 October 2010

The i-deal

From the paper which was the first to steer away from political ties and which ended the era of the broadsheet only 'quality', comes the first new UK-wide national newspaper in decades.

i from the Independent is a brave attempt from a loss making newspaper to try and attract a new readership.

So I rushed out to buy my copy for 20p today (just in case it sold out).

The bad news (for the owners) is that it wasn't sold out. The good news is that it's a great idea.

Starting with the front page - i's lead is clever. House price crisis. Designed not only to appeal to core Guardian / Independent readers, but also steal from those paying full price for a 'mid market' Express / Mail.

The tribute to Andy Holmes and the provocative 'is kids TV gay' debate will also appeal to the more 'mid market' audience.

So, assuming i doesn't retreat into the Independent's enviro-concept front pages and continues to set a similar populist course, the content is there (enough to satisfy the commuter, but not overwhelm) and the price feels right.

And the strategy is potentially interesting.  It has three main selling points:
- It's a lightweight quality paper for those who have deserted newspapers for the Internet
- It's a replacement Metro in commuter areas - which will do more than reprint the previous evening's Standard
- Finally, and most interestingly, it's a real rival to the lucrative mid market audience.

And good luck to it.

Friday 15 October 2010

Spammed

While the focus of my blogging is still my cuts challenge, an email arrived which has almost forced me to do another Rambling.

The below was sent to one of our 'team email addresses' - i.e. the ones on the bottom of press releases which go to the whole team to make sure journalist and client enquiries are dealt with quickly.


Normally spam just irritates me, but I add to the junk mail settings and forget about it.  But this is different:
1) It's from a communications firm. And one specialising in social media. They should know better.
2) It's from the USA, I mean it's obvious that the client in question is UK only as indeed is my company which is clear from the domain name.
3) It makes it sound as if I may know this person.  I've never heard of them.
4) It doesn't make sense. "Our unique process streamlines the marketing and PR process, which eliminates unnecessary costs and allows you to focus your marketing budget on achieving results." How?
5) They want to 'connect'. Dread word.

At least they didn't call themselves social media gurus.

Anyway, I know I shouldn't, but I've responded. After all if they want to fly the team to New York to meet, then why not!