Montreal: Prompted by impending competition, The Gazette has moved to a newsier format, with a new headline and nameplate font and a major increase in local coverage.
Advertising Vice-President Robert Attala says the April 14 redesign is a pre-emptive strike in anticipation of this fall’s expanded broadcast news coverage by CanWest Global station ckmi-tv.
And while CanWest is prohibited from selling local advertising, Attala says its entry into the anglo Quebec tv market is likely to push competitor cfcf-tv, the local ctv affiliate, deeper into the newspaper’s traditional client base.
‘Editorially speaking, all of our research indicates we have an opportunity to increase basic local coverage in the marketplace,’ says Attala.
The paper has added two full pages of local news, events, issues, as well as columns starting on page three, an up-front position favored by advertisers, he says.
With more local news up front, the paper has opted for a reduction in display advertising space, limited to 20% overall from pages one to five (the general ratio is 55%), making advertiser messages more prominent, says Attala.
Page one ads have been restricted to either a 30-line by 10-column banner, or a ‘toelug’ on the lower left side.
Additional leaders and pointers are being used to bridge in-depth stories.
Attala says The Gazette also intends to take advantage of readers’ desire for a more substantial edition on Sunday. The paper has introduced a Sunday Magazine, an entirely new broadsheet section with an op-ed bent. A regular Sunday column from author Mordecai Richler is one of the attractions.
Based on readership surveys, Attala says health and fitness, computers and parenting are hot topics. Regular copy on these subjects will be published throughout the week while a full page has been added to the Wednesday business section.
Attala says the repositioning reflects the preferences of the paper’s growing core readership base, namely ‘boomers, middle-aged and above.’
The redesign launch is supported by radio, TV and billboards with creative from Creative Planet in Calgary and Listen! Audio in Montreal.
