For many newspaper publishers contemplating new business strategies in 2011, I am sure they would readily agree with Will’s contention. For them, the forecasted digitalised-dominant future and all the good and bad that comes with it arrived yesterday – in a flash. Most of us have been playing catch-up since.

Yet some were prepared and are embracing this continuous change environment where we now reside. And they are not just surviving, they are thriving. The results of the survey in the recently published World News Future & Change Study bear out this simple conclusion: overwhelmingly, newspaper publishers say they are setting a top priority on developing new products (mostly digital, but some on print) to offset the diminishing returns of traditional revenues. And naturally, streamlining workflows and processes, i.e. saving costs, are high on the list.

Two of the study’s charts are featured in the introduction to our annual Decision-Makers’ Guide Focus package, in which we highlight some of the main priorities publishers will be focusing on in 2011. As you will see on the chart regarding “potential areas for improvement and growth through investment,” second behind developing new media products comes “marketing and branding for the newspaper.” Forty-nine percent of nearly 500 respondents marked this as a priority.

This stood out for me – for a number of reasons.

Newspaper publishers are often slapped on their wrists for failing to promote and market their brands on a consistent and effective basis, particularly at a local level, their bread and butter. Some do it amazingly well, but they tend to be the exception. So I find this quite encouraging that newspaper executives are making this an investment priority, especially when you consider today’s not-so ideal business environment in which marketing budgets tend to be under the microscope.

Valérie Arnould, our Business Editor, reports about that fragile business climate in our
annual Business Report. She reports that while there is indeed a recovery, some portions of the business have practically disappeared, and that on top of the digital media competition, traditional media are slugging it out for what is left. There are bright spots and regions, however, particularly in Asia and Australia.

Back to being slapped on the wrists and the future arriving unannounced... Yes, our magazine is now printed on newsprint. And yes, we definitely could have done a better job of promoting and marketing this change. So I stand before you with wrists out... slap away. Guilty as charged.

So why the change? Inevitably at IFRA Expo, a reader of the daily Gazette newspaper (which we produce at the show on newsprint) asks us, “You cover the newspaper industry, so why not publish a newsprint-based product for the magazine?” In 2010, we took that advice to heart and launched our three EXTRA targeted editions on newsprint, and the constant requests for additional copies of those editions and the positive feedback from readers and advertisers are a clear indication that we indeed hit the target with that concept.

For those reasons primarily, we have decided to convert our bi-monthly magazine product (in A4) to newsprint, while keeping the same priorities in mind: To continue to innovate and publish the most relevant, highest-quality industry trade publication to our growing print/digital readership, and then some.

You can be sure the topics we cover in 2011 and beyond will continue to be the most critical issues facing publishers to help them prepare for that arriving unannounced future.