(Mary Nesbitt)

Eight or nine years ago I began paying attention to the Rockford Register Star, a daily (57,000 circulation Monday to Saturday, 69,000 Sunday) in northern Illinois and one of the papers we were examining in the Impact study. What really caught my eye was its bold and innovative approach to the front page - a digest model which continues today. It seemed to me then that this news enterprise knew a lot about its audience and was starting to live the idea of "customer-centricity" while at the same time doing fine local journalism.

Nine years and many developments later, it seems to me now that this newspaper also has that rare thing - an audience strategy. Such a strategy, I think, is evidenced in two places: the products and services that a news enterprise produces; and the internal processes that make all of that happen - something the Readership Institute calls audience orientation. (Our latest tracking measurement will be released here soon.)

Editor Linda Grist Cunningham told me that five major, Web/print integrated products that reach specific audiences have been launched since April 2005, with a sixth (HealthyRockford.com) slated for late April and a seventh targeted to young parents, planned for later this year. The current staff of 85 FTEs will rise to 88 with the advent of HealthyRockford.com.

In the Rockford newsroom, everyone works in some way for all elements in the portfolio. The preponderance of staff time and energy still goes to the core daily and Sunday newspapers, but relative emphasis is changing. Total effort put forth by the newsroom breaks down this way:

Core daily and Sunday newspapers: 61%
Magazines: 15%
Online: 21%
Television partnership: 2%

Cunningham says it should not be concluded that fewer resources are going to the core. "In fact, I believe the newspaper itself is stronger. We have added staff across the board, but most importantly, we "re-purpose" most everything we do. For instance, a story done for the BusinessRockford.com Web site will be used in the daily newspaper and in the magazine. I'm not 'starving' the daily in order to support the non-dailies. It's all about the allocation of total resources, picking the platform that works best first and then re-purposing content across other platforms."

Behind the products is an organization that has been listening and responding to its audiences for the better part of two decades. It's just routine to continually look for and act on opportunities. Cross-department collaboration is a way of life. Audience orientation has the place it should, as an ingrained part of the culture.

I asked Cunningham to share more details; here's what she told me.

Q: When and why did the Register Star begin moving away from a "one-size-fits-all" approach to serving customers?

A: We began integrating the "portfolio" approach in October 1994, when we introduced a quarterly magazine called "Real Life." Designed to connect advertisers with what was then the leading edge of Generation X, "Real Life" was written and edited by and for these Xers who were doing everything "adult" for the first time. The magazine was popular with its audience but advertisers couldn't wrap their heads around a "target audience" concept that didn't involve the "real newspaper." We abandoned the magazine approach after half a dozen issues, but it remains a good concept and we learned a lot from it.

We amped up between 1997 and1999 with "cyber-fiber integration," our shorthand approach to the newsroom's integration of print and online content as we launched www.rrstar.com. Simply put, we said "if it's news, it's news" and a section editor was responsible for content in print and online at rrstar.com. We never had separate online and print staffs for two reasons: We couldn't afford them, and we believed that content, regardless of "platform," belonged in the newsroom.

Over the next decade, we built out those concepts with a television partnership and the launches of a series of audience-driven, standalone magazines. Between 2005 and today, we have added more than a dozen print and Web products to our portfolio. These are all distributed separately from the core newspaper. Distribution models include direct mail, free-on-the-rack, ZIP code specific to newspaper subscribers, subscriptions. (See examples of major initiatives below.)

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The Rockford Register Star Portfolio



In addition to the daily and Sunday newspapers and www.rrstar.com:

• Espejo: weekly Spanish-language newspaper that reaches 15,000, predominately Mexican households
• Foundation: six-times-per-year local news and people magazine for African-American communities, distributed free on newsstands
• Rockford Woman: six-times-per-year, high-end, glossy magazine that reaches almost 20,000 households and targets women, 25-54, educated, working outside the home, with families and money to spend. Plans to go monthly in 2009.
• GO Now: weekly young reader publication that reaches the "20-something" crowd in bars, entertainment and work place venues.
• Boone County Weekly: weekly, zoned, hyper-local newspaper that reaches the growing Boone County market to Rockford's east.
• BusinessRockford.com: dubbed "the triplets," this brand includes the daily/Sunday BusinessRockford.com newspaper sections; a full-service, Web-first, local business site called www.BusinessRockford.com; and BusinessRockford.com Magazine, a weekly, business-to-business magazine.
• Launching in April: HealthyRockford.com, another set of triplets that will include a full-service, local Web site devoted to health, medicine, healthy living and the health services industry. The Web site's companions include a weekly HealthyRockford.com page in the Sunday features section, and a series of "bonus" editions in Rockford Woman Magazine and an online and print physicians directory.

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We installed a new press in May 2006 that helped us drive quality reproduction and a variety of magazine sizes that give us options on print presentation.

Even though the newspaper reaches almost 80 percent of the adults in the market, we know few people read the newspaper every day. We know they want news, information and advertising when, where and how they want it - not on our terms, but on theirs. So, if we are to succeed as the leading information source, we must provide that information across multiple platforms.

And, to maintain the credibility, we keep content in the newsroom. We also know that connecting advertisers with audience drives revenue, and driving incremental revenue opens new audiences and supports new resources.

Q: How did the Register Star learn more about the potential audiences in the community and evaluate them? Were there surprises as you looked for under-served or unserved groups?

A: Audience identification comes in three parts: formal market research; roundtables and advisory boards of potential audience and advertisers; and, frankly, the seats of our pants.

We listen - a lot - to readers and advertisers. We dissect the market demographics and we add flesh to the numbers with countless connections to the potential audience. We often joke that we are the kings and queens of roundtables, access groups and advisory boards. We have used these methods for two decades to add substance and understanding to the statistics.

We don't discount our instincts either. Many of our executives and our newsroom and advertising staffs have lived and worked in the Rock River Valley for years. We know the market and because we and our families are connected, we can trust what we know.

Perhaps the recurring pleasant surprise is this: When we combine all three to identify an audience and the advertisers who want to connect with it, the resulting new product is welcomed and supported broadly. The brand builds quickly.

And, one more thing: Credibility and quality do matter. No one, not advertisers, not audience, said they wanted "fluff and stuff." The stronger and more credible the content (and that includes news and advertising), the greater the financial and audience success. In short, quality drives revenue. (Sure, we all say we know that, but sometimes we do forget...)

Q: How do you judge success?

A: Two simple questions: Are we meeting or exceeding the business plan's revenue goals, and are we meeting or exceeding the business plan's audience goals? Those questions are asked at least quarterly of every major publication. If either answer is no, we go back to the development table to assess and adjust. No new product launches without those two pieces in place - drive audience; make money. And, no product stays in the field without adjustments if it isn't meeting its audience and revenue goals.

With one exception, all products are meeting or exceeding their goals. The one that isn't profitable at this time, Espejo, is meeting its audience goals, and is steadily moving toward its profitability goals. We accepted early on that it would take Espejo longer to reach its revenue goals than products like Rockford Woman Magazine, which exceeded its goals before the third issue.

Q: Who is/has been involved in developing audience strategies? How do you keep the organization on the lookout for opportunities?

A: We use a loosely-structured and constantly evolving group called "Touchstone" which includes representatives from all newspaper departments, and the members shift depending on the project we're tackling. It's not just about the "big" departments or the execs. We believe it's critical that those whose feet are on the streets, so to speak, are integral to product development.

We start with the newspaper's executives and their number twos and threes. That group defines the big picture stuff. From there, we create newspaper-wide task forces made up primarily of the folks closest to a particular project. Because Touchstone brings together as many as 30 people from around the building and from all levels of the organization, new ideas flow constantly into and through the group. We actively solicit ideas from the newspaper staff through a process we call Star DIG (Design and Innovation Group). Similar processes are encouraged in individual departments, and among all of these, there is no shortage of strong ideas.

We use roundtables and advisory boards constantly. It's a rare week that doesn't have at least one. From small groups of six or so, to huge ones of 75-100, we consistently pick the brains of diverse groups of audience and advertisers, listening for ideas, solutions and possibilities. Then, we bring them back for content and prototype reviews, and again after launches for regular assess and adjust reviews.

We have been in this "develop, launch, assess and adjust" culture for so many years now that we tend to take for granted the inter- and intra-departmental collaborations that result in strong products and a steady stream of ideas.

Q: Given your experience with and learning from all of this, how would you advise editors who are just starting to develop audience strategies to proceed?

A: Gaad, that Nike ad is such a cliché, but it says it best: Just do it.

My experience says journalists spend far too much time navel gazing and worrying over every nuance and "what if." We can argue for weeks about whether we're going to use a one-point rule or a hairline. The audience does not care. Just put the darn rule on it and pay attention to the quality of the content.

Here's how I explain the Register Star's approach to "portfolio": Back in cave people days, cave journalists gathered news and information, sorted it, set priorities, and painted or scratched their news stories on cave walls. (Pictures were first, by the way; words came much later. Proving the point that visual journalists were here before the text folks...)

Today, our job remains the same: Tell the story. The only differences are the platforms on which we tell those stories.

So, if we stop dithering about the platforms - cave walls or holograms - we can get down to the business of telling stories, sharing information and being journalists.

But, OK, here's a check list:

1. Know the market:

• Study the market research. And, if you don't have research, study the Census data. Learn the stats on who lives in your market.


• Listen to the market. Get out of the office. Lurk and listen to groups talking about what they're doing and thinking. Create those roundtables and advisory boards. Learn to use SurveyMonkey. Add flesh to the statistics.


• Be an expert on the competition in and coming into the market. Know more about them than they know about themselves.

2. Analyze what you already have - and be brutal about it.

• What are you currently producing? Which departments are in charge? Are they the best ones to do that work?


• What's working and what isn't? Assess and adjust those that aren't working - or kill them.


• Figure out what the gaps are. The ad staff should know what dollars are being "left on the table," so to speak. The news staff should know what content needs aren't being met by the newspaper, the competitors, the specialty publications.

3. Stop adding stuff - except local news - to the daily and Sunday newspaper.

• Adding specialty sections or themed pages to the newspaper is a waste of time. Make 'em a magazine or free distribution product instead.

4. Use three strategies: (1) High-end, high quality; (2) good enough; and (3) money grabs. One size does not fit all. Pick the right strategy for the right product.

5. Don't start with print: Start with online and add a print companion. For sure, do not launch anything in print that does not have an online partner.

6. Get the feet-on-the-street staff involved: The more staffers - from all departments -- involved in the creation, the better and more sustainable the results.

7. For everything you add, kill an equivalent - unless you are adding new staff to support the new product.

8. Celebrate success. Celebrate failures. Learn from them. Move on.

9. Don't make it so hard. Just do it.

Q. It's often been suggested that the segmenting of audiences and the niching of products may destroy the common experience and knowledge that are needed for healthy civic life and, as Cass Sunstein puts it in Republic.com2.0, diminishes the likelihood of "chance encounters with diverse others." Is this a danger with multiple audience strategies?

A. Yep, it may be. I add this worry to the list right next to "if as an industry we reallocate all our resources to local news, who is left to cover the world?"

Both are legitimate concerns, and we need to constantly seek ways to diminish those possibilities. BUT, and the big but is this: If I let those worries stop me from developing and launching new products to diversify my news portfolio, there won't be any medium left to share any news.

I do believe, however, that the worry about "niching" people out of a vibrant civic life is way overstated. Witness today's booming political awareness and fascination with the civics of the presidential political process. There's a level of political connectedness among "real people" that I have not seen or felt before in my 35 years in newspapers. And, that connectedness is not coming from traditional newspaper coverage. It's a combination of newspapers, online (from video to blogs), television, magazines and backyard fences.

What more can we ask as journalists? We tell stories. The audience listens, hears, reads, reacts - and participates. That's a healthy civic life.


By Mary Nesbitt (m-nesbitt@northwestern.edu)
Mary Nesbitt is managing director of the Readership Institute.