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Advertising Director's Report
Meeting With Public
Works Spawns New Initiatives
You will likely recall from previous reports that I met with
with Louise de Jourdan, Director of Advertising and Denis Tessier, Media
Supervisor back in early May to discuss the ongoing decreased use of community
media. I prepared and distributed to the
AdWest board, a meeting brief that detailed the discussion that included a
number of recommendations for next steps.
Subsequent to that meeting, we spent about 6 weeks acquiring
and modeling data from various suppliers including Industry Canada, Statistics
Canada, member newspapers and the EAP-funded Broadband Canada Project. As per the clients direction, we had our GIS
supplier deconstruct the raw data and re-assemble on a market by market
basis. The result was the ability to
illustrate where, title-by-title, the holes were in PWGSC’s strategy for
promoting the Economic Action Plan. We in
turn, built a comprehensive package of information that included data tables,
maps and other elements that we believe, effectively made our case.
As we went through the process, we discovered a number of
extremely interesting facts that frankly, have implications for advertisers far
beyond the federal government. In
particular, ones that relate specifically to the inconsistencies in which
population on the prairies have access to high-speed internet service. This information is the genesis for two new
initiatives currently underway:
1. New Research Data to
be Incorporated into our Site
The material prepared by our
data supplier that ties online accessibility to specific geographies was done
on a title-by-title basis and is unique from any other data currently in the
marketplace. It exists for every single
member of the AdWest network, which makes is extremely marketable. We now own this data and it includes amongst
approximately a dozen datasets, breakdowns on population/households with access
to various forms of high-speed internet service, the number of actual subscribers
to each form of service AND reasons for and for not subscribing i.e. cost,
need, access etc. We’ve also been able
to aggregate the data for groups of publications (geographic region, size,
household type) that will allow us to make some fairly bold statements about
our communities. The data has been
integrated into the Media Research section of our website. It relates via a series of tables how
households and population living within our coverage areas access (or more
importantly, don’t/can’t access) the internet.
To view these tables and the
specific data for your publication please visit: http://www.adwest.ca/online-accessibility
2. AdWest Community
Newspaper Research Project
My meeting with the Director of
Public Works and the subsequent development of a Case Study underscored the
importance of taking measurable steps to differentiate our region from the rest
of the country. To that end, I, along
with the Executive Committee and staff developed a proposal to undertake a
prairie-specific research study. The
research would attempt to uncover meaningful (and usable) data that would
support claims about ‘why things are different here’ that to date, have been
purely anecdotal.
I am happy to report that the
AdWest Board of Directors has approved the development the project. The study, How Geography Impacts Shopping
Habits, Media Usage and Lifestyle is currently planned to go into field
in October will results to be released early in the New Year. It will be modeled on three existing studies
including the Pew Research, How People
Get Local News and Information in Different Communities, an American study
that analyzes media consumption in four specific community types: urban,
suburban, small town and rural.
For a glimpse into the types of
data that the AdWest study will ultimately give us, please visit:
http://www.adwest.ca/pew-research-study
http://www.adwest.ca/urban-vs-rural-shopping-habits
AdWest Opportunity Survey
The process of gathering and marketing a more
complete picture of the opportunities offered to agricultural
advertisers by community newspapers on the prairies is now well
underway.
As ad planners are challenged to find innovative ways of presenting their client’s message and are simultaneously deluged by the growing list of farm specialty publications claiming their dedicated content reaches farmers more effectively, providing this new level of detail is essential.
Surveys asking about the types of farm
supplements, features and specialty products you might produce
have gone out. Response
is not yet near 50% of membership but already AdWest is promoting
the availability of this data to ad planners across the country
and in the US. Additionally,
once the complete list is in, this data will make an irresistible
door opener for clients not yet leaning our way.
We are packaging your special opportunities
with the Ipsos Agricultural Communications Review which showed
print -not surprisingly- strongest of the media among the farming
audience and local news by far the most sought after content. With this 1-2 combination we
are poised to make a positive impact on agricultural placements in
your paper.
For many members it appears to be a challenge
to think about various agricultural opportunities for 2014. And to some, it is quite a
new concept that a farm column is an opportunity for AdWest to
market to attract advertising or even a sponsorship. Can you target your FSAs to
farming residents only? Bonus.
Do you have agriculture pages on your website? Gold star. All of these help us draw
extra attention and excitement to the use of community newspapers
for these planners.
Some publishers have taken the time to point
out for us that their community is largely agricultural and
therefore special agriculture sections are not necessary for
reaching farming readers. Rest
assured we are very aware of the makeup of your audience and have
the tools to help ad planners reach that audience every week of
the year. However,
“opportunities” by their nature offer the client a little more. It is the extra focus you
will be putting on your farming readers in each and every one of
these supplements, features and specialty products. And AdWest
will make sure planners know that is extra mileage for their
clients.
Client Activity
AdWest delivered a number of quotes and geo-targeted solutions for
agency clients in sectors ranging from agriculture, retail,
telecommunications, financial and more:
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UFA_ShellEcoBox - Quotes
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Second Cup – Quotes & Maps Regina
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Canadian Western Bank – Quote
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Sears – AB Quote
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Sears Travel – All Provinces – Maps & Quotes
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CAA Saskatchewan – Geo-targeted maps
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RBC – Alberta – Quotes
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Xplornet – New Campaigns – Additional Quoting
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Valor Fireplaces – Alberta – Quote
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Insurance Bureau of Canada – Alberta - Quote
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UFA ChevronDeloTruck – Quote
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RBC – Saskatchewan – Quote
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The Source – Alberta/Saskatchewan – Quote
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CNRail – Alberta – Career Quote
AdWest.ca August Traffic Report
Visits: 1,417
Unique Visits: 997
Pageviews: 2,773
New Visitors: 891
Returning Visitors: 526
Top 10 visited areas:
1. Homepage - 1,176 pageviews
2. Advertising Rates - 134 pageviews
3. AdWest Members - 116 pageviews
4. Advertising Rates Search - 109 pageviews
5. Market Coverage Maps - 91 pageviews
6. Market Coverage Maps Search - 89 pageviews
7. Interactive Mapper - 75 pageviews
8. AdWest Opportunity Survey - 68 pageviews
9. Market Analyzer Tool - 68 pageviews
10. Contact AdWest - 53 pageviews
Let Us Help You
With many of our tools and resources being marketed as
‘Advertising Opportunities' OnDemand and updated in RealTime it is
critically important that you help us keep our Special Supplements, Regular
Features and Special Products information current for your publication. Please
review the information that is appearing on our site under Planning Essentials and
make changes as required. This can be done either by accessing the DB Update Portal directly or emailing your updates to: updates@adwest.ca. For
instructions on how to use the Update Portal, click here.
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