Daily Circulation: 547,506
Sunday Circulation: 738,709


List the major steps you have taken in the last four years to increase readership. Please organize your response under four headings: content, brand, service, culture.

Content
Many improvements have been made to the products, including: more business and personal finance coverage in both newspapers, new sports features to capitalize on the popularity of the Detroit Red Wings, the launch of community editions across the metro market, a revised TV Book on Sunday, and the addition of a second major coupon package on Sunday.

Marketing efforts to promote content improvements, include:

Improved subscriber targeting through census-based market analyses.

Telemarketing and sales crew scripts that appeal to lifestyle and consumer behavior.

Increased use of direct mail and alternate sales efforts.

Increased exposure through expanded kiosk sales.

Strategic sampling of all products through sampling to select zip codes.

Improved single copy promotions and enhanced relationships with 8000 retail outlets, especially large chains.

Award-winning Newspaper-In-Education programs.

Utilizing primary research to better understand our market and readers.

Brand
We launched a company-wide branding initiative for both daily products, resulting in consistent messages and brand promotion in all home delivery sales efforts, single copy promotion, in-paper marketing, etc. A similar effort for Sunday is pending.

We have utilized daily radio spots to focus not only on specific stories and features, but also on the overall brand of the daily products.

Service and Culture
The service culture has been a major priority in Circulation - with an ongoing focus, called "First Class Delivery," that consistently recognizes and rewards employees and independent contractors for excellence in Customer Service. The standard measure of circulation service - reader complaints per 1000 deliveries - has shown improvement both daily and Sunday each of the past few years, as follows:

	2000	2001	2002
The Detroit News	1.9	1.2	0.9
Detroit Free Press	2.1	1.6	1.2
Sunday	5.1	3.9	2.7

What is the most innovative, successful or noteworthy thing you have done on readership that you think other papers might learn from or want to emulate?
Over the past few years we have established a comprehensive third party sales program. Before undertaking any such programs, they must meet these three criteria: Getting our newspapers into the hands of more readers to build permanent readership for the future. Providing additional and valuable exposure for advertisers. Promoting the newspapers via point of purchase materials, PA announcements, and other means.

Programs have included: Distribution of newspapers with meals at large restaurant chains. Development of an effective waiting room program, with an emphasis on auto dealers. Distribution of newspapers at targeted sports venues and other newspaper-sponsored events. Sponsored sampling to non-subscribing households in targeted areas.

Each piece distributed includes a specific circulation offer.



What is the most persuasive indication you have that your readership efforts are producing results?
According to research by Scarborough and company, daily readership in the Detroit DMA has increased as follows:
Spring 1999: 1,158,400; Spring 2003: 1,263,700
(An increase of 105,300 - or 9%)

Sunday readership has also increased during the same time:
Spring 1999: 1,743,300; Spring 2003: 1,769,300
(An increase of 26,000 - or 1.5%)

These increases have come at a time when other markets have seen declines.



What is the most important lesson you have learned as you have worked on readership in the last few years?
In terms of building overall circulation and growing readership, we have discovered as expected, that more strategic targeting - up to the household level, and based on lifestyle, income and other data - produces the most favorable result, which to us is longer retention of subscriptions. This goes hand-in-hand with first class service and targeting - two of Circulation's top priorities.



What would you like to do on readership that you have not been able to do and why haven't you been able to do it?
While Sunday readership is a concern for all newspapers, we are particularly challenged due to our combined Sunday edition. A strong Sunday product is essential to draw new readers - to be converted later to 7-day delivery - and also to provide readers with the best and biggest features and stories. Up to this point, most of our major efforts - product enhancements, branding, etc. - have been devoted to the two daily products.

Getting Traction on Readership

Survey Responses by Topic & Newspaper