The Perspectives

6 | UPM Brite 80 C, 60g/m²

THE PERSPECTIVES | UPM COMMUNICATION PAPERS

UPM COMMUNICATION PAPERS | THE PERSPECTIVES

UPM Brite 80 C, 60g/m² | 7

EXPLORING NEW WAYS TO KEEP NEWSPAPER PUBLISHING PROFITABLE The future of newspapers is often seen as grim, but guided by young talents, news publications are Reaching the next generation in print While innovation has the ability to generate impressive results, it also requires hard work and fresh perspectives to achieve. This means that attracting young talents to the news in­ dustry is crucial for continued success. “Some want the freedom to write or design, others are interested in a career path – everyone is different, but letting people know that there are possibilities to grow a career or try new areas within a company is important,” Mann says. For her, being able to explore new avenues and seeing her ideas, such as Destination Isle of Man, get support from her superiors has been essential. She is also part of a working party of four members that constantly reviews and challenges the company’s executive team. “They appreciate our work and are changing our prod­ ucts as a result of our suggestions. We push the door and they welcome our knowledge and un­ derstanding of digital and social media – its way ahead of theirs!” For other young talents aiming to push through with innovation, the Young Achiever of the Year would recommend a professional yet persistent approach to promote their ideas: “Try new things, listen to feedback, evolve on that feedback, and show willingness. If you have an idea, display it in a professional man­ ner and describe the benefits that your ideas could have for the company.“ Overall, she would give the news industry a warm recom­ mendation for any young talent looking for a career. “Yes, yes, join your local media, print, digital and social. We are so much stronger when we are joined up.”

PERSPECTIVES FROM FELLOW PUBLISHERS

DISCOVERY PRINT: FROM SCENTED INKS TO PERSONALISED CONTENT – THE FUTURE OF PRINT BELONGS TO THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO INNOVATE The City of Dundee, located on the North Sea Coast of Scotland offers a mixture of fascinating history with a fresh, modern look. Known as the ‘City of Discovery’, Dundee is also the home of Discovery Print, the news- paper contract printing arm of the DC Thomson Group. It too has a combination of rich history and a modern, innovative outlook towards the future.

evolving to reach new audiences. One inspiring example of a young innovator making a positive contribu- tion to the future of her media business is Emma Mann from Isle of Man Newspapers in the UK. Together with her team, the recent winner of the Young Achiever of the Year award at Newsawards 2018 has been able to bring in up to £ 80,000 in additional revenue by embracing printed innovation. T  he 26year old Media Sales Consultant  was awarded the UPM Premier award in Combining visuality and quality; a recipe for success Mari Hirvi

The novel advertising approach has helped the newspaper engage with new advertisers and readers as well as generating impressive results for both the newspaper and its clients. “We have been able to reach a younger audience due to the engagement and the visual aspect of innova­ tion,” Mann says. “For example, when we pro­ duced a translucent wrap for an egaming com­ pany, a number of 20–30 year olds said that they had seen the wrap and read the rest of the pub­ lication. The gaming company also saw a 60% increase in traffic to their website.” In addition to boosting the visual appeal of their printed advertising, Mann’s team have been able to leverage the newspaper’s strong po­ sition in the local community in their innovation efforts. Destination Isle of Man is a newspaper supplement produced by Mann that promotes the island as a great place to live, work, and play. The highly visual, magazinestyle piece is a prime example of the power of printed innovation – it started out as a panoramic pullout that designed in an editorial format and has since gained popu­ larity and evolved into a 16page broadsheet on higher stock with a unique theme for each issue. “Not only does Destination Isle of Man bring in additional advertising revenue, but it’s also starting to help newspaper sales,”Mann explains. “The last issue, which was inserted into the Isle of Man Examiner, was our highest selling paper in a year and a half.” The supplement has also gained recognitionwith the local government, who have used it as a tool to showcase the island as a great place to have a career and raise a family.

April for her energetic cando attitude and the hard work she has put into developing the UK newspaper’s print advertising approach. Working in close collaboration with her two colleagues as well as print business partner Newsprinters, EmmaMann has helped Isle ofManNewspapers transition from traditional print advertising with standard sized adverts and fixed shapes to bespoke advertising with custom shapes and techniques. She was nominated for the award by her manager, who was impressed by the positive response the quality print initiatives have received. “The whole team has enjoyed the success as we work together,” Mann adds. Mann’s career at Isle of Man Newspapers be­ gan eight years ago, when she found a job in Newspaper Sales through one of the company’s newspapers, the Isle of Man Courier. However, she was inspired to make a move to Media Sales after realizing what kind of impact printed ad­ vertising could have on readers: “When The Sunday Times produced a translucent wrap for the Chanel No 5 perfume a couple of Christ­ mases ago, three of my friends bought that paper due to the novelty of the wrap. It was the first time in their adult life that they had pur­ chased a newspaper,” she recalls. “For some­ one with a background in newspaper sales, that was exciting to see. I wanted to be able to en­ gage like that with our Isle of Man Newspapers publications.” A successful career move resulted in innovation

Peter Smith

DC  Thomson has remained a family  owned publishing business since 1886. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries the publishing business, known as DC Thomson Media, had to face many challenges and evolve to become one of the UK’s leading publishers. Its wellknown newspaper and magazine brands have remained at the heart of everyday life for generations. The difficulties faced by publishers in today’s market environment are certainly amongst the toughest in the past century. Discovery Print which produces over 3 million newspapers and supplements per week, is embracing the chal­ lenge by differentiating itself with innovative solutions for its customers. At the forefront of its offering is a Kodak Prosper S30 digital print head which allows individual copies to be personalised or contain a unique printing. This can be text, graphics, barcodes or QE codes, all of which make each individual copy unique. The inkjetprinted ele­ ments are of the same high quality as the offset print on the same page; you cannot tell the difference. The print head is installed on the title unit of the Goss Colorliner CPS press where it can print a 106mm wide strip of variable print on up to 16

weekly in two of DC Thomson Media’s titles which readers keep and fill in with numbers printed in daily copies. Personalised Christmas copies with festive greetings and readers’ names on mastheads and many other campaigns all of which have resulted in increased copy sales. Apart from the powerful opportunities avail­ able from the digital print head, Discovery Print can combine this with other innovative solutions for its advertisers and contract print clients ranging from scented inks where read­ ers can smell the advertised products such as coffee, flowers, sea breeze; transparent news­ print printed as a wraparound title page allowing the paper layer to show through with a creative design or message; ribbon strips – 100mm printed strips which overlay the top or bottom of pages for highimpact advertising, promotions or redeemable vouchers. All of the opportunities are showcased in an audiovisual Innovations Room at the printing plant where current and prospective adver­ tisers and contract print clients get an holistic overview of everything available to them. This has proven to be a great success and has helped Discovery Print gain 75 new contract print titles in the past two years. An enviable achievement in today’s challenging world.

pages per publication at the full press running speed of an impressive 90,000 copies per hour. “This allows us to provide unique content that attracts both readers and advertisers” says Guy Forester , Head of Newspaper Operations for DC Thomson Media. “Not only are we innovating with our own copies with a view to increasing sales per title but we offer it to our advertisers and contract print clients. This allows us to set Discovery Print apart from competitors, offering additional ser­ vices to current and prospective print clients that are relatively rare within the UKmarketplace” The company has won a number of awards in­ cluding the UPM Printed Innovation of the Year at the 2016 Newsawards. Discovery Print’s small production and mar­ keting team have come up with many creative ideas and campaigns to utilise the technology and increase sales. They produced a wallchart for the 2018 Foot­ ball World Cup with the faces of a unique teamof five players printed on each copy along with a unique reference code which the reader could register on line for the chance to win £ 500. Oth­ er examples have been Bingo Cards printed