Suddenly Fairfax loves the word Weekly
Call Dr Mumbo a cynic, but he can’t help wonder about the timing of an announcement from Fairfax Community Network that it’s rebranding its Victorian titles under the common brand of Weekly.
The move coincides with the launch of a serious rival to Fairfax’s real estate advertising in the shape of Antony Catalano’s Weekly Review.
So that shouldn’t be confusing for the market.
Fairfax’s announcement:
So does this mean the end for the Melbourne Times, an inner northern suburban masthead with a long history dating back to well before Fairfax owned the paper?
Would be pretty sad and also represent the destruction of brand value.
side note – anyone else noticed the reasonably alarming erosion of FXJ’s share price over the last 3 months?
This is more in line with how advertisers respond to the lack of brand representation across all the titles, rather then trying to change a 100+ year old papers identity.
News ltd have the Leader buy, which is simple for the Gen y’s in agency land to buy without thought, where as with Fairfax you have to remember 33 different bloody names. So readers will have to accept the new names just because its easier for agencies to recognize.
Apparently its been a problem for them for years.
Agencies have never fully understood and appreciated the clout that weekly newspapers deliver in their rregions. Now that Gen Y is having sway in agencies, weeklies will never, ever be fully appreciated, regardless how good is Fairfax’s re-branding..
Are agency people really that thick? Amazing.
It’s hard to argue with the numbers of Leader’s penetration in Melbourne. Are agencies so poorly organised that the young up and comers aren’t trained in what media works? They’re just allowed to buy what they know? Hardly strategic client service.