Daily Circulation: 50,015
Sunday Circulation: 56,612


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: News
Added a regular Update feature.

Added an Informed Sources box to highlight local experts.

Added Go & Do box.

Added a Steamed column that allows readers to vent.

Added a weekly Street Smarts column to alert readers to road work.

Added a Parade of Potholes feature during the winter months.

Added Healthy Living Section

Revamped Triangle Live, our entertainment magazine.

Revamped comics to add new ones.

Improved newspaper design with conversion to 50-inch web.

Refers to stories inside and next day.

Content: Circulation
Made regular use of rack cards and corner cards to promote special coverage, series, events, etc.

Recently surveyed product strengths (local news, local shopping info, pre-prints, etc) and used info to create subscription flyer: "Love Chapel Hill?". Also created "Love Sports?" single copy flyer and distributed at peak of basketball season.

Printed and distributed special editions for 9/11 and Duke Men's NCAA Championship.

Continue to generate, promote and distribute quality NIE features/series for schools

Ongoing bonus delivery day program targeting weekend-only customers with special sections and new coverage

Created major sampling program with AllTel Pavilion, delivered to non-subscribers in Southern Durham and Chapel Hill, showcasing Triangle Live entertainment guide in Friday paper

Distributed Sunday papers to schools at end of year, promoting Classifieds as a tool for finding summer employment

Sold sponsored newspapers featuring graduation section to Orange and Chatham high schools

Set up delivery to local radio stations to promote special and day-to-day coverage on air.

Content: Advertising & Marketing
Implemented ongoing structured cross-training with all artists to enhance one another's skills.

Network with creative teams in other markets to share ideas, i.e. Greensboro.

Utilize more resources, i.e., The Spec Department, Liquid Library and Metro to pull stronger graphics, better color photographs, groupings etc. – for ads, specs, and publication design.

Utilize resources from NAA and NCPA "Best Ad Honors" and "Best Ideas" to modify effective campaigns for use in our market.

Increase use of color on specs and throughout publications to improve readership and effectiveness.

Critique sections from prior year before launching current year's sales effort to improve grouping layouts, individual ad designs, section cover, graphics, etc.

Ad Services department conducts weekly meetings to share successes and challenges pertaining to ad design.

Started a spec-of-the-month recognition award and "Wall of Fame" to showcase winning designs.

Critique other market's newspapers and various magazines regularly for design ideas, e.g., Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh.

Began tracking closing ratios for sold spec ads measuring creative effectiveness.

Brand: News (goal is to be more useful, "on your side," smart)
Updates (see above).

Informed Sources (see above).

Steamed/Potholes/Street Smarts (see above).

Go & Do (see above).

Brand: Circulation
Professionally decaled trucks with company colors and logos.

Parked truck at strategic location for Stanley Cup Finals.

Drove truck convoy around town to attract attention.

Added red and black doors to otherwise white newsrack design, better framing newspaper display.

Ordered and placed 3-tier retail displays in newsstands.

Partnered with NYT at area Starbuck's.

Created design for Chapel Hill Herald racks, co-promoting WCHL radio.

Created rain bag and refrigerator magnet design promoting same.

Brand: Advertising &Marketing
Continued to support the corporate brand, Trusted & Essential (honest, and helpful), through internal and external promotion and ad campaigns.

Focus on sponsorships and events that support the brands of community leader, neighborly, intelligent/successful, "Trusted & Essential." Examples:

High School Scholarships – Front Page Awards.

Local Golf Tournament – Herald-Sun Golf Classic.

Community Festivals and Cultural Events – Centerfest, Festival for the Eno, Full Frame Documentary Festival, Rodin Exhibition, Bull Durham Blues Festival, American Dance Festival, Bimbé Festival; Hog Day and others.

Self-Improvement Opportunities – Train Your Brain Series, The Learning Consortium.

Political Forums (News).

Community Cultural and Service Organizations – Durham Public Education Network, Mallarmé Chamber Players, Triangle United Way, Volunteer Center of Greater Durham, Emily K Family Life Center, RSVVP, Resources for Senior and others.

Family-friendly sporting events – Durham Bulls baseball, Duke University Athletics, UNC Athletics, NC State Athletics, NC Central Athletics, USA Baseball, and others.

Service: News ("on your side")
Street Smarts/Steamed/Potholes.

Service: Circulation
Added capability for customers to pay/renew at our Web site.

Added interactive voice response phone system to expand customer service capability to 24/7.

Set-up 3 major distribution centers, containerized bundle handling and improved zoning capability.

Compiled email address for 5% of subscriber base in ongoing project.

Showcased carrier force in house ads for Newspaper Carrier Day and in aftermath of winter storms.

Ran series of ads featuring home delivery manager Debra Morris.

Expanded single copy footprint in Triangle and NC coast by adding delivery of national publications.

Implemented Monday through Friday room-toroom delivery to UNC hospital patients.

Delivered to freshman dormitories at Duke University as part of University Readership program.

Created newspaper carrier incentive program recognizing perfect service.

Improved integrity of subscriber and non-subscriber database through frequent updating.

Successfully defended challenges to our street sales programs from local authorities, ensuring that our newspaper is conveniently available to motorists.

Improved telephone answer rate to more than 95%.

Service: Advertising & Marketing
Involve artists in advertiser consultations, field calls and partner meetings to specifically discuss creative.

Implemented spec volume and self-initiated spec performance standards that the artists and department must meet each month. All are factored into performance evaluations.

Culture: News (how we approach coverage)
Mix, presentation of stories on A-1.

Refocused approach to writing, seeking more human element.

Better use of refer devices with stories, on A-1 and on section fronts.

Cross-functional teamwork to improve deadline performance.

Culture: Circulation
Created distribution centers, measurably improving working conditions for staff and carriers.

Consistently leveraged low cost training opportunities from NCPA and MACMA, hosted two seminars and facilitated Covey's Seven Habits seminars with staff.

Improved balance of female to male supervisors.

Changed weekend operation, hiring permanent dispatcher and converting full-time supervisor to on-call status.

Changed truck drivers from contractors to certified employee operation.

Continued to work in cross-functional teams to improve processes.



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?
News: "On your side" efforts such as Steamed, Street Smarts and potholes.

Circulation: Implemented process controls in counting, handling and distributing newspapers to improve the quality of our Sunday insert package



What is the most persuasive indication you have that your readership efforts are producing results?
News: Contract with readers via calls, e-mails, letters to Steamed.

Circulation: ABC audit gains in 2 of last 4 years



What is the most important lesson you have learned as you have worked on readership in the last few years?
News: It takes a while when making changes to "retrain" readers to see and understand them, and to change the newsroom culture. The need always exists to continue the push to improve.

Circulation: Don't tighten credit policy without first improving means of acquisition.



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?
News: Push R.I. culture deeper into the newsroom, below managers into staff.

Grab newcomers faster, make them aware of changes in, advantages to our paper.

Circulation: Invoke ABC 25% rule to create combination subscription package with other publications. Had logistics and pricing issues.

Getting Traction on Readership

Survey Responses by Topic & Newspaper