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Honolulu Star-Advertiser Invigorates Its CMR With Bold Graphics and Hard Data

Situation

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser published its first edition on June 7, 2010, after the merger of the 128-year old Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the 154-year old Honolulu Advertiser.

The Star-Advertiser is the flagship publication of Oahu Publications, Inc., with a portfolio that includes MidWeek, the Hawaii Army Weekly, Hawaii Marine, Navigator Ho’okele, HILuxury, and a growing roster of community periodicals and in-room resort magazines.

Issue

The Star-Advertiser has a unique product mix that wasn’t being conveyed to its advertisers with ABC’s traditional Publisher’s Statements and Audit Reports.


Solution

“When we saw the new Consolidated Media Report, we were very excited to get on board,” said Dennis Francis, president and publisher of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “This is what we had been waiting for. For the first time, we had a 'showpiece’ to tell our story with the support of ABC—the standard for integrity in our industry.”

Results

The staff at the Star-Advertiser is enthusiastic about their new sales tool. The ad sales team has been trained on the report and is excited to sell with it. And Francis is pleased too, “We will have a new CMR at every opportunity and we will be looking for ways to provide advertisers even more information,” he said.

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Francis’ strategy for using ABC’s Consolidated Media Report was to present lots of data in a powerful presentation.

“This was our opportunity to not just focus on producing a page full of numbers, but to utilize graphs and visual images of our products,” enthused Francis. “We took the old black and white approach of ABC audits and brought it to full color in an appealing and easy-to-read format. We wanted to be different and stand out.”

Francis is also quick to point out another draw of the CMR—the ABC stamp of approval, “There is not another media that is as accountable as newspapers in their circulation and readership. We know advertisers will see the ABC brand and that brand, coupled with the new format, will make them stop and take a closer look.”

To differentiate itself from many other CMRs in the market, the Star-Advertiser highlighted the circulation of its products and focused the rest of the report on demographics.

Francis explained, “Newspaper demographics are very strong. We deliver to a higher demographic profile—higher income, better educated, families. We should be getting this to our customers because this is how we should be selling. We deliver a very strong audience for our advertisers with our readership and we appreciate the opportunity to share that with the ABC brand.”

Francis has a few words parting words for other newspapers considering a CMR, “Take advantage of it, it’s a great tool. Communicate your strengths with hard data in a graphically appealing format.”

For More Information
To discuss reporting options and formats for a CMR, including a customized quote, please contact your U.S. or Canadian Link to Canada site marketing manager.