One way a newspaper can collect savvy marketing ideas --- without going to a high-fee consulting firm --- is to invite staffers to share their thoughts. That’s what the Star-Ledger, Newark, is doing, notes Grumpy Editor.
The Star-Ledger, owned by Advance Publications, Inc., is New Jersey’s largest daily newspaper.
Columnist Kathleen O’Brien is spearheading the internal effort, via an e-mail to staffers, “to come up with ways we can signal our continued journalistic vitality and importance,” reports Joe Strupp, a former senior editor at Editor & Publisher, in a Media Matters posting.
O’Brien tells staffers she is seeking “thoughts on what we should be saying and how we should say it. Big ideas, little ideas, bring 'em on. I'd especially love to hear from our newer employees, who may have different insights as to how the paper is viewed.”
Tapping brains of newsroom personnel, and others on the payroll, is a nifty way to gather suggestions for improving or expanding the product, especially in a competitive area.
Often, unexpected gems blossom from internal ideas.
That’s why some alert businesses have maintained suggestion boxes for years.
Meanwhile, another, yet mostly overlooked, low-cost method in refining an editorial product is going a step further by encouraging suggestions from the other side: readers.
Comments