Business & Advertising Workshop

College Media Conference 2008

• Ad managers / director / team (hourly and compensation)
• Compensation directly from sales and advertising

• Recruit members through classes (Communication, Journalism, Marketing)
• Underwriting
• Make newspaper a class to take (compensation = credit hours)
• Online Sales!
• Rate card for other newspapers à ad designers

Know Your Product

• Features & benefits
• Media Kits
• Readership vs. circulation
• Be aware of local competition
• Features & benefits of other papers (SLU, Canton, Clarkson)
• Feature = fact

• Soduku, crossword puzzles, games (put advertisements underneath)
• Advertise free distribution
• Call in forum (put message in paper)
• READERSHIP SHOULD BE DOUBLE CIRCULATION
• Work with MediaMate for national ads
• Alloy survey – benefits of local news
• Have departments assign work out of the Racquette
• Readership surveys – CMA list serve
• CNBAM.org
• Mustangdaily.net
• Charge for online advertisements
• Written ad policy (ex. no alcohol, drugs, adult entertainment)
• Keep client information on file – ask about budgeting
• Banner ads ($120 per month, “3’2 for $30)
• Special issues (open house, sex issue, welcome back from semester)
• WOW (week of welcome)
• Broad sheet vs. tabloid à sell color
• Do we charge to design ads?
• SPEC advertisements (make ad before trying to sell it)
• Best of Potsdam issue...
• Commission for designers
• Marketing slogan (free and reliable) à tee shirts
• PDF file – email
• Cody Wilson à LSU media kit

Sales Presentations

• Client research
• Go into the business and potential customer
• Use the internet
• Browse competing media
• Research the competition
• Network – friends, classmates… etc
• Get the right contact information

• Find out who is the business manager at a potential ad site and only ask to contact them so that the sale is not lost
• Chamber of commerce members
• Business expo à make table
• Table hours (list all the possible jobs and benefits)

• Customer analysis (important times of day, week, month, year)
• Budget time
• Fiscal year
• New product introductions (something the business wants to push)
• National promotions à co op advertising
• Strengths / weaknesses
• How do companies measure success?

Making the Sales Call

• What to take with you & when:
• Newspaper
• Potential advertisements (spec ads or prior advertisements from company)
• Advertisements from competition
• Go when that business is least busy (mid-afternoon or early morning)
• Appearance (dress code)
• E-mail for guidebook & face-to-face flyer
• Be confident
• Make list of things to do face-to-face
• Calculator
• Bring gifts!

• Newspaper Christmas cards (staff photo) à print online
• Thank you cards for new customers
• Rate cards / media kit
• Tee shirts for business strategies (work with Great Northern)

Presentation Exercise

• Sales plan & business strategies
• Restaurant/bar located near campus (Firestone Grill)
• Happy Hour (Mon – Fri, 5-7pm à no discounts on drinks, but all appetizers are half price)
• Biggest competition (Downtown Brew)
• Walking distance from campus (mile from campus)
• Wednesday, Friday, Saturday nights (live entertainment)
• Increase wanted for Monday nights
• Large student population (high percentage)
• Slow business due to economy
• Alternative Rock Wednesday, Techno Saturday
• Discount available for students (will look into)
• Running advertisement on the radio (four different stations), New Times (1/4 page weekly, lists upcoming events)
• Improvement for ads: not positive about ad success
• Most popular item: Tri-tip sandwiches
• Budget: 5,000 per year
• Budgets every December for next calendar year
• Top & bottom shelf alcohol
• Would like to improve food business because they sell alcohol
• Thirteen TV screens (projection screens: sporting events, college football)
• Backroom can hold special parties
• Sandwiches, salads, seafood, tacos, vegetarian options (veggie burger)
• Food price ranges from $6-$8 (under $10)
• Really wants to increase Monday night traffic and food offerings
• Make campus departments pay but make it at a discount

• Paychecks through campus? Business account?

• Advertise to read the news and for meetings

Monday Night:

• Mustang Daily business managers
• Paper is published five days a week and these are our ad rates ($9.50 per column inch for local businesses, but if you continue to advertise, a discount is offered)
• 15,000 daily readership at a 6,000 a day circulation (83% of students read the paper and their average age is 21)
• Average student spending is $172 million
• Sports section placing (5x8 is suggested at a price of $47.50 per day, at a weeks cost of $237.50)
• We need ad information by 11am on Thursday if you want the ad placed by Monday

v Proposal:

• Football on the big screen
• Bring a friend, one person eats free (each pays half of meal)
• Waiters can keep a tally by student ids (will measure success of advertisement)
• Discount does not apply to appetizers on Monday nights because it is during happy hour
• Within walking distance of campus
• “Come to the Firestone Grill to heat up your taste buds!”

Other group’s ideas:

• Wear your jersey and get a discount
• Graduation issue à party space
• Repeat customer card with paper’s name on it (have to go to news office to get the card)
• Buy 10 entrees, get one free (stamp/punch card)
• Total investment instead of total cost
• Monday night “tailgating” with an earlier happy hour
• Friday preview
• Banner ad
• March madness
• Turn advertisement into a coupon (if I didn’t work in the newspaper, would I cut this ad out)
• Show student id/mention paper for a discount
• Calendar of events as an ad (Casbah)
• Advertise menu and prices
• “I’m a new advertising manager and I am looking for ways to help you increase your business."

• Objections (why people say no)
• Have empathy
• Get to the heart of the objection
• Answer it
• Move on
• Practice makes perfect

• Business card à “I’ll think about it.”
• You have to ask for the sale in order to get one.
• Sales calls (make an appointment) vs. calling them
• It is too easy to say no over the phone.
• Drop in and leave papers a couple days after if they say no over the phone, or say they don’t know when a good time to meet is.
• Don’t disagree with the customer, just give them more information.
• “I do not have the money to advertise.”
• Have empathy about this!

• University of Pennsylvania
• Hand out objections on cards
• Answer the objection
• Group will answer what is the best way to handle it

• “We already set our budget for this year.”
• When do they advertise
• Where do they advertise
• How much is their budget
• Discuss success of current advertising
• Bring a proposal à reallocate part of budget

• “Students don’t read newspapers anymore; we are going for online advertising.”
• Campus readership is higher than ever
• Show media kit
• They don’t know this for a fact, they have only been told.

• “I don’t like dealing with student reps; they do not know what they are talking about and once they do they usually quit.”
• Newspaper will always be here even if they student reps are.
• Dynamic in student reps
• Keep one person on a business for as long as possible.

• “Your newspaper is more expensive than other sources.”
• Ask if they are advertising with a weekly, bi-weekly or daily paper.
• Direct market dealing with students and if you put it in a daily newspaper with twice the circulation, it does not mean that twice as many people will read it.
• “Skinny market” à (mattress store example)

• “Word of mouth is the best form of advertising.”
• It is beneficial if customer base is constant and staying the same, but we are switching students on a semester basis.
• “Why McDonald does have so many ads and how many people don’t know about this customer; they want to keep a market share.”

• Research how many students use webpage vs. print.
• Pre-payment discounts
• Don’t run restaurant reviews, it can be harmful for advertising (those people writing it are not food critics.)