Sometimes it's easy to view a small, local publication like the girl next door - always there, but not that important in the larger scheme of things.
But the proliferation of community newspapers and regional magazines represents a ripe opportunity when planning a broad-based media campaign. While their very numbers
increase the workload, the odds in favor of a PR payoff are usually higher than pursuing national media.
Just as the networks' hold on television viewers has been diluted by the encroachment of cable channels, major metropolitan newspapers and national magazines have lost ground
to smaller, geographically specialized publications.
Membership in Suburban Newspapers of America, for instance, a national association of newspapers serving communities outside core metropolitan areas, has grown from roughly
1,100 in the late 1980s to 2,000 today, according to Larry Fleischman, the association's executive editor. Circulation has more than doubled, from 8- 9 million to 18- 20 million
in the same time frame.
At the same time, tech and business publications also are getting sliced into smaller geographic regions. American City Business Journals, for example, is an umbrella for 41
different regional business titles across the U.S., each running unique local content. Kent Bernhard, VP/editorial, says the company had only about two dozen regional magazines in
the late 1980s. Each publication makes its own editorial decisions, he says.
"Ninety-five percent of [our material] is done locally," agrees Dan Cook, editor of the weekly Portland (Ore.) Business Journal, one of ACBJ's satellites. The Portland
publication also operates a Web site that provides daily news and features in areas such as healthcare, technology, finance and real estate - from a Portland perspective.
Maximizing Resources
Guy Fletcher, communications specialist for Allegheny Energy, a multi-state power company, views weekly papers in much the same light as dailies, as in sites for basic news
delivery rather than market positioning. "When I have the time I try to set up appointments [with local journalists]," he says.
On the other hand, he likens regional business magazines to major newspapers - they want the business highlights, financial information, M&A news.
Jeff Geibel of Geibel Marketing + PR in Massachusetts regularly taps regional tech pubs as a main ingredient in the media mix. "[They] have a much more specific readership in
terms of titles and the knowledge base of the individuals. It's a much smaller crowd, a narrower set of interests, so you don't have to appeal to the regional proletariat," Geibel
explains.
He notes that the Boston Globe has a circulation of 472,000 in an area with a population of about 3.5 million. The Boston Business Journal reaches 22,000 and
covers a fairly wide range of topics. The next-level publication, Mass High Tech, has a circ of only 10,000, but its interest is more focused, with technology as the
centerpiece.
Geibel says the same central pitch materials (i.e. backgrounders and releases) can usually apply to all three pubs, with a few strategic modifications. The main variable is
the cover letter. "It's where you can connect the dots, tie it back to what they have featured...or a hot topic in an industry."
Jeff Martinez, PR manager for Denver-based Solis Advertising and PR, says smaller pubs often are easier to crack - especially if you demonstrate a compelling angle for them to
pursue. "It's often more of a collaborative process. [They] tend to be interested in [alternative approaches], while general market publications just want 'the black and white,'
the hardcore data," he explains. At the same time, it can be a little more demanding to work with the regional outlets, he adds, because they are closer to their audiences and
know their interests better.
Humor, persistence, and knowing when to take "no" for an answer are essential, says Robyn Hood, PR account manager with Gard, Strang, Edwards & Aldridge in Portland. "I am
persistent, perhaps stubborn. But when I get no, that's it." (PR NEWS wishes more pitchmasters would take a cue from Hood.
In any case, Hood must be doing something right on the neighborhood front, since Cook identifies her as an example of someone who knows his paper well and how to work with it.
When was the last time you heard an editor say something like that?
(Fleischman, 312/644-6610; Bernhard, 704/973-1000; Cook, 503/274-8733; Fletcher, 301/790-6174; Martinez, 303/629-9090; Geibel, 617/484-8285; Hood, 503/226-
2721)
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Crossover readership between American
City Business Journals and national publications |
|
| Wall Street Journal |
29%
|
| Business Week |
16%
|
| Forbes |
14%
|
| Fortune |
12%
|
| Inc. |
9%
|
| Nation's Business |
6%
|
| Fast Company |
5%
|
| Entrepreneur |
3%
|
| Success |
2%
|
| Source: The Network of City Business Journals, 1999 |
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