Usa Today free essay sample

USA Today Summary USA Today is the largest newspaper currently in the U. S. The paper is known for its color and simple layout. The paper’s creator Gannett Co. was looking to reach a new untapped market of readers, the young professionals and travelers. He sent out 3 different versions with surveys asking what readers liked, didn’t like, suggestions, and asked would they buy it. After very positive responses from test subjects, the paper was published. Gannett’s ideas were very controversial among its prestigious peers. Serious journalist said the paper was like the fast food of journalism and the paper was nicknamed the â€Å"McPaper. USA Today wrote the news in a new style including shorter, simpler articles, with sections in finance, sport, and entertainment. The paper design and layout was also radical compared to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The paper had lots of color and used descriptive charts and graphs to provide information at-a-glance for the Today’s modern professional who has less attention span due to television. The paper was very well received by advertisers and readers because it accepted entries much later than others, giving it an edge in the most up-to-date information.Gannett has run into some issues relating to the internet. The company has found it difficult to keep up paper sales as the world turned digital. More and more people look to the internet as their source for information and news. This has been led to lower sales in physical paper sales but led to a significant jump in website advertisement on www. usatoday. com. Today the paper is concerned of how to keep people buying the paper in a physical form and hopes to continue its growth as it has over the past 2 decades. Question 1 What opportunities in the marketing environment did Gannett seize in launching USA Today?How did the company learn about and respond to these opportunities? Answer these same questions for USAToday. com When Gannett wanted to launch USA Today, he wanted to fill in the gap that other national papers were not filling. He wrote up 3 different sample papers and sent them out to 5000 professionals with response cards for reader feedback and suggestions. He wanted to attract a new market found in young professional and travelers. To do this, the paper was written with â€Å"shorter pieces than a traditional paper and sprinkled with eye-catching, color photos, graphs and charts. It was designed for the new generation of people with less attention span who are more accustomed to TVs and computers. The paper also wanted to feed more information in a simpler, shorter manner so readers could see more in less time. The Paper was â€Å"laid out for easy access and quick comprehension by time-pressed readers. † The paper included briefs, columns, secondary headlines, subheads, breakouts, at-a-glance boxes, and informational graphics. Gannett found out through consumer surveys that the readers wanted to read more about sports, entertainment, and financials. With all this additional information the paper used the motto,† An economy of words. A wealth of information. † In 1986, USA Today began focusing on more â€Å"hard news. † Along with more serious journalism, the paper added new features like hotlines for readers to call upon for assistance in financial planning, taxes, etc. Gannett added the â€Å"Academic All Star† column and began allowing local advertisements to more localize the paper. USA Today also changed the size from 54† to 50† for easier reading and to be cleaner in design.To get more acknowledgement and awareness of the paper, Neuharth began touring the U. S. and later to thirty countries. He visited soldiers and other business people in hopes of finding the desire for those overseas wanting to read the news back home. To get companies to purchase advertisement on the paper, Gannett came up with a partnership plan in which he gave 6 months free advertisement to those who paid for 6 months of ad space. Also He allowed advertisers to send in the ads as late as 6:00 p. m. the day before to provide as much flexibility as possible. USA Today also began giving bulk discounts for hotels, airlines, etc. ; so that the paper could be passed out free to patrons on a mass scale. The biggest rule Gannett broke came when he began letting advertisements on the front page. He could charge $1-$1. 2 million per front page ad. USA Today had opened up many print sites around the world allowing major flexibility for entries. This allowed even later deadlines enabling the paper to print the most recent news and latest information pertaining to sports and finance that other papers were not able to do. When computers hit the market, USA Today began using digital technology, allowing even later deadlines and providing even more up-to-date information. Question 2 How has a continuous strategy of marketing innovation proved successful for USA Today and USAToday. com? Do you believe that USA Today is well positioned for the future? Explain The continuous strategy of marketing innovation has proved successful for USA today and USA. com because they have continuously been involving and reinventing their selves over the years.When USA today first started they were a newspaper that was unlike any other around. It filled a niche in the market that was not there. It provided valuable information in easy reading terms for the busy individual on the go. Over the years it has gone through many changes to evolve to the changing society. It trimmed the paper done to make it smaller so it would be easier to read in small places such as the train or on a plane. USA has also provided its newspapers at the lobbies of hotels so the guests can enjoy the newspaper at breakfast or grab one on their way out.With so many media sources out there for people to access for information, the USAToday. com website has also had to constantly be changing to stay current in the market and stay innovative against its competitors. They have come up with a technology that can sort information by area code. They also invented software called PointRoll, which was a service that provided local advertisers with a means to direct consumers to local merchants. As a web user rolled the cursor over an ad, the ad expanded, revealing information about the closest retailer.USA Today also wanted to become a one-stop shop for people so they provided readers with the power to search for their unique interests and hook up with other individuals that had similar interests. They also wanted to live up to their mission statement about getting news into the hands of consumers faster than ever. So they jumped at the new emerging trend of portable technology and they teamed up with Apple. They provided apps in the iTunes store of Apple. Their iTunes application provides access to the latest news stories, weather, photos, and interactive polls, Money, Sports, Life, Tech, and Travel. Question 3What are the SWOT implications for USA Today as it looks toward its future? What strengths and opportunities can USA Today leverage as it looks for a competitive advantage in the distribution of news and information? USA Today is known as one of the widest circulati ng newspapers in the nation. They are strong in meeting the needs of their readers and bringing noteworthy news to their readers. The Gannett Company differentiated itself by using certain tactics like publishing easy to read and easy to understand stories. They make it simple to find certain sections by color coding, for instance, USA Today Money is green.All of these tactics allow them to leverage USA Today as a non-commoditized paper. That is, its something different. As it looks toward the future, some obstacles will need to be overcome to ensure the success of the firm. New technologies have arisen within the last few years that have become more trusted than ever today. The World Wide Web is a primary example. Newspaper sales have plummeted all across the world because of the way people consume information. As an American newspaper company, USA Today will need to continue to develop wining strategies that position the internet as either an opportunity rather than a threat.Selling ad space to companies helped USA Today keep visuals on print and online. However, there is severe competition in the advertising sector. The online search engine mogul, Google, has already been leveraging advertisement space to pay its bills and Yahoo! has also moved into the advertising. This leaves a challenge for USA Today to differentiate itself again. The great cultural shifts in this industry are difficult but not impossible for USA Today because of their strong brand image.A large percentage of young professionals and recent college graduates are moving into the workforce. As the baby boomers and other mature groups get older, they will be replaced with this younger division and it is critical that USA Today innovate new ways to get them to read. Readership and circulation of newspapers in general is not what it used to be ten years ago. The art of convenience is in demand. They want to be able to get up, get out and receive information while on the go and certain devices are always within reach like cell phones, iPods, tablets or notebooks.There is great opportunity to take advantage of rising technology and USA Today attacking the competition with strengths will ensure a great victory. Their use of innovative strategies and mastering the new ways to get and keep a reader’s attention have so far, helped them stay as one of the top magazines. The brand extensions allowed them to look beyond news media which allowed them to gain more share of the customer. Question 4 Based on USA Today’s experiences with print and online news, evaluate the long-term potential of printed news and the newspaper publishing industry.Do you believe printed newspapers will continue to survive despite digital competition? The newspaper industry’s struggles began a long time ago with the invention of radio and television two new mediums for people to receive news through. Present day, and all its digital wonders, has left the printed newspaper industry with an even gloomier outlook than before. Many previous newspaper consumers have switched to the internet, leaving daily print circulation at all-time lows. Along with the drastic impact of the internet, another force is currently at work against printed news: the recession. Printed advertisements have gone done in demand causing prices to decrease, resulting in a number of newspapers to disappear from the shelves. Almost all major publishers have followed their consumers to the online arena, varying in their success. The good news for publishing companies, such as Gannett (which owns USA Today as well as numerous other papers in circulation), is that they can use their brands as leverage to attract audiences to their websites. Such efforts have been relatively successful, as Nielsen reported back in 2009 â€Å"leading U. S. newspaper websites are getting more visitors, and those visitors are coming more often†.As long as leaders in the newspaper publishing companies continue to utilize the internet market successfully I believe they will continue to offer their printed papers for years to come. Another area of printed news that has continued to thrive over the years is local community papers. These papers offer locals news about their communities unavailable on the internet, and should continue to be a part of our society for the undefined future. It is clear the need for physical papers is diminishing, and it is tough to say what the floor will look like the further we look into the future.