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Media agencies invited to bid for print advertising in new online marketplace

Media agencies will be able to bid for print advertising in a new online auction site unveiled today by The Newspaper Works in collaboration with media representation firm Publisher’s Internationalé.

The initiative called bidonprint.com.au is designed to help publisher’s sell less valuable inventory and free up sales teams to focus on premium stock

The Newspaper Works said more than $350,000 worth of ads have been transacted during trials, with 140 newspaper titles signing up for the online auction site.

The system enables publishers to select inventory to sell, apply a minimum price and set a timeframe in which the ad must be bought. Buyers then bid, with the highest offer winning, or by clicking a buy now button.

Only publisher-accredited agencies can buy inventory and publishers can request that an agency be given membership.

“We are creating commercial efficiencies for both media agencies and publishers. Media agencies can bid and book a print advertisement with a click of the mouse,” Newspaper Works chief executive Mark Hollands said. “We have made the system as simple as possible to appeal to buyers and planners, and make the transaction quick and simple.

“Bid on Print gives sales teams the opportunity to focus on higher-value, strategic commercial engagements. Commercial relationships between publishers and their advertising partners are becoming increasingly complex with the integration of print and digital campaigns, combined with new services such as events, data and content marketing.”

Publisher’s Internationalé chief executive Charlton D’Silva added: “Feedback from media agencies suggests we have reduced to just a few minutes what took them hours to do previously, especially for campaign-scale purchases. Newspaper publishers see the benefit of helping to create efficiencies for agencies and have keenly supported the initiative.”

Screen Shot 2014-11-24 at 9.59.31 AMTMS, the pilot agency on Bid On Print, claimed it brings “‘old school’ buying nous together with a ‘new world’ open market mentality”.

“If this is embraced by the industry as a whole, we will see a new era in efficient and transparent transactions in print and potentially in other channels,” retail engagement director David Lodge said.

Hollands stressed publishers are able to only see their own inventory and have no access to their competitors’ offering.

“We are simply providing another commercial option for publishers and media agencies to work together,” he said. “There is no obligation on any member publisher to participate in Bid on Print. That’s a commercial decision that is made by each publisher individually.”

Each publisher has an individual commercial relationship with Publisher’s Internationalé and there will be no cost for media agencies.

Hollands added: “The fact that publishers can state and enforce a minimum price means there is no question of pricing being forced below a level the publishers are prepared to accept. That can happen with programmatic trading but not on this exchange.”

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