Trinity Mirror launched compact newspaper The New Day last week – but will people pay to read it?
It is billed as ‘the first standalone national daily newspaper for 30 years’; this sounds like a bit of a stretch and that’s because it is. Most people wouldn’t care about the ‘standalone’ aspect and instead wonder why the i doesn’t count. The relatively recent i launched six years ago this year so a new national paper is still big news. Maybe not as exciting as the launch of Channel 5 in 1999 or the 1995 debut of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in Goldeneye but, big.
Aimed at a mid-market 35-55 female audience, at a brisk 40 pages The New Day is more of a cross between a newspaper and a magazine printed on superior quality paper, than other news titles.
An unusual layout helps differentiate from traditional papers; sport is in the middle without news or match reports and there is not a classified section. Editorial content is similar to The Metro and Daily Mail Online, but whereas both are free and rely on advertising revenues, The New Day is a paid for offering putting it in direct competition with i. The i was originally sold at 20p and has since increased on several occasions to the current price of 40p. The New Day will be pricier at 50p – currently discounted at 25p for the first two weeks of circulation.
Against the backdrop of declining press spend, titles such as The Metro, Evening Standard and CityAM have shown growth is possible – but whether this can be achieved when asking readers to pay will be interesting to see.
Surprisingly, there will not be any online content to support The New Day, a seemingly unusual decision given the apparent direction of the industry. The Independent announced last month its decision to cease print editions and operate solely online. There is an undoubted shift towards online as people increasingly prefer to consume news in a more concise manner, from social media or bite-size online articles. Trinity Mirror estimates there are about one million people who have stopped buying print newspapers over the past two years.
Perhaps Trinity Mirror has spotted a gap in the market to access a segment that no other title is currently able to reach. For advertisers this would offer a new opportunity to reach these consumers via the medium of press. Whether the title can successfully obtain the 35-55 female target audience it is aiming for remains to be seen. The i inadvertently ended up with a much older readership than it had hoped.
With a limit of only eight ads in each daily edition, initially the focus of The New Day is apparently away from maximising advertising revenue. Good news from an advertisers perspective as this less congested space could lead to stronger cut-through, in turn generating a higher level of response and so improving cost efficiency. Pricing for this space is competitive provided circulation is maintained. Though you would expect in time this layout may change if demand for advertising space exceeds supply and/or circulation proves to be too low to turn a profit through its cover price alone.
All Response Media Viewpoint
When planning campaigns we’re always keen to test new opportunities in the never ending quest for maximising responsiveness and cost efficiency. The New Day is certainly different with its modern design, unique layout and upbeat tone. If it proves successful in drawing in readers away from their smartphones, Facebook and Twitter, with a fresh approach this could be the start a trend for other newspapers to follow.
Die Another Day was to be the final Bond film to star Brosnan and signalled the end of an era. The New Day could be a sign that another era, the era of printed news is not over just yet.
We would recommend testing this new title. Based on the individual advertiser, either do so now in the early stages where potential new deals are available, or instead let us monitor this for the time being and wait and see how the title develops. In the coming weeks we will have a better idea on how this title will perform once the layout has had a chance to settle and the paper begins to build its readership.
