Campaigns of the millennium: Who invested and who acquired profit out of the big media promotions in Romania?

By their promotions, the media companies are trying to gain loyal target and broaden it. Similar to other industries, such strategy entails the public, but it also encumbers a range of disadvantages. Among such weak points it’s worth mentioning the costs, as well as the fact that the targeted public could be guided to a false direction by the value added by a promotion, depending on its object, prizes in cash or other benefits. Such benefits run the risk on putting into a secondary position the very thing the media is selling, the very content of the newspaper or television.
When conceiving a strategy, selecting marketing professionals is a difficult task. We are talking about an investment into prizes or objects for an additional value, as the CDs, books or cosmetics, with an uncertain result. Certainly, the circulation increases during promotion, and decreases later on. There are a lot of factors to be taken into consideration, but two of them are critical. First of all, if the investment into promotion is compensated by the circulation increase or, at least, in case the loss is acceptable and undertaken. Secondly, when the promotion ends, the circulation is above the one prior to the campaign, meaning that the publication gained a larger number of readers.

Superloteria Libertatea: from 74.000 to 266.000 copies

Launched in 2000, Superloteria Libertatea (Libertatea Super-Lottery) has been since helping the newspaper to become by far the market leader in terms of circulation, outrunning quality newspapers that used to overtake the Ringier’s daily newspaper, as “Evenimentul zilei” or “România liberã”. The promotion proved to be one of the most everlasting ones: it ended in December 2005. It brought “Libertatea” from 74.000 copies (August 2000) to 266.000 (December 2005). This, of course, not without the help of the editorial intrinsec improvement of the newspaper.
The mechanism applied to Superloteria was adapted by many other publications. For instance, the coupons attached in a way or another to the newspaper. One could find out the winner of the lottery by scrapping the coupon, similar to the lottery tickets in “envelopes”.
After Ringier taking over “Pro Sport” from Media Pro Group and Ioanitoaia-Tolontan team left “Gazeta Sporturilor/Intact”, the Swiss group started to apply a recipe similar tp Superloteria Libertatea. They called it Sport Expert and it was carried on during 2003-2005. The two promotions merged at the end of 2005 thus becoming a common game called “7 magic” as a result of joining the two newspaper under the same Ringier division “Bulevard”. The results of such action were also good, but it is even more interesting the fact that subsequent to the promotion during March-April 2006, “Libertatea” fell from 294.000 sold copies (April) to 258.000 (May), and, similarly, “Pro Sport” (91.000 to 70.000, during the same period of time).
Such drawback in terms of circulation by the end of the promotion is normal, especially when newspapers keep part of their readers gained due to competitions. “7 magic” is still going on in 2007.
The team having carried on such campaigns was run by Razvan Corneteanu-Adrian Halpert, currently working for “Adevarul”, and Dorin Chiotea - still at “Pro Sport”.

Jurnalul and its Logan’s

After a re-launch, in 2003, and a less resounding campaign called “Ia-þi un numãr de la Jurnalul”, “Jurnalul naþional” started a general talk, but also lots of disputes in marketing world about their campaign “Ia-þi Logan de Jurnalul”. The re-launch of the newspaper, based on a graphical concept inspired by the “San Francisco Examiner”, designed by the famous Mario Garcia, but also its virulent promoting actions led the daily newspaper, edited by Intact Trust to the second place in terms of sales and audience in Romania, taking over “Evenimentul zilei”. The disputes related to the campaigns with Logans referred mainly to the fact that the slogans and the other remarks misled the target giving the impression of a larger number of cars offered compared to the real one, and also the investment in the new Dacia cars that weighed real time for the newspaper’s budget. Nevertheless, in 2006, “Jurnalul naþional” and “Gazeta Sporturilor” chose a join solution embraced by Ringier, “Ia-þi un Logan Diesel - Acum cu Jurnalul ºi Gazeta (take hold of a Logan Diesel - Now with Jurnalul and Gazeta)”.The evolution of the circulation was ascending during the campaign and afterwards. For “Jurnalul” this meant an increase from 87,000 copies in January up to 117,000 copies in March, and 83,000 copies in April. For “Gazeta”, this meant an increase from 98,000 copies in March to 70,000 in April. It is worth mentioning that the common promotion was run by different management, Mihai Craiu-Marius Tuca for “Jurnalul”, while “Gazeta” was run by Gusti Roman - Catalin Tolontan, and not after merging into one division, as in Ringier.
The gaming common system saves money for the ticket industry at promotion costs and prizes, as well as for the logistics. The two Intact brands have not chosen though for a join system after spring 2006. “Jurnalul” made “Milionar peste noapte” (Millionaire in one night) in September-October, and then returned to the Logans, break ones this time, in the second half of the year. “Gazeta” chose a new game system called “Eurogool”, provided by a Britannic company that exceeded the sales made in March with the common Logans, by 99,000 copies in November.
The contest continued in 2007. On the other hand, its sister-publication “Jurnalul national” put an end to its Logans and focused on distribution of the publication with CDs and and DVDs - Greatest Fiddlers, plus they followed the example of “Cotidianul” and included books.

Unica Music: added value

In the second half of 1999, Dan Muraru from Roton Music came to Razvan Corneteanu, Ringier Magazine Director at that time, with an interesting idea: a Laura Stoica CD, the singer who died so young, to be inserted in “Unica”. This CD was enclosed to an issue with the cover story about the singer. Part of the number of Unica copies were sold with a CD at a sensibly higher price, and the result was so and so: several thousand sold copies. The following issues started to include of dance and r’n'b hits compilations of some in fashion music bands as 3rei Sud Est, Andre or Genius. The success was instantaneous: approximate half of the 50,000 sold copies those years were attached to CDs at an approximate price of 50-100 percent higher: 1,5-2 Euros compared to 1 euro.
The CDs were connected to calendar events, as Christmas (Christmas songs) and St. Valentine’s Day (love songs). The series of CDs continues at present, though during the last years some other products as earrings and cosmetics were also inserted.
such system is a feature of the mature markets seeking for extra income by offering added value. In contrast with the lotteries or prizes as the Logans, the price of the publication with an insert is higher. The idea was applied not only to “Jurnalul national”, but also to “Descopera”, the science magazine of Publi Media, with a DVD inserted.

An idea intrinsically connected to the content: TV mania Prizes

An intelligent marketing proved to be the one conceived for “TV mania” during the period of time Claudiu Serban was running Ringier’s Magazine Division (promoted to a higher position by the Swiss company), and Lucian Ioniþã, now working for Sanoma-Hearst. Annually, for the last several years, the best sold TV guide in Romania, has been organizing annual prizes broadcasted on TV based on the votes of the magazine’s readers. We are not talking about a real and exhaustive poll and it cannot be called representative beside the very readers of TV mania, but the distinctions were the only ones relevant at permanent competition level with the data provided by the Professional Association of the Romanian Television, were the selection mechanism does not operate very well. The idea enabled organizing several campaigns offering prizes to readers, as devices, audio-video devices and, as indicated by one of their slogans “a house, a car and money”. Moreover, the festivity was virally broadcasted by the Romanian televisions, as a piece of news without calling for advertising related expenses. That is, having in view that each of them announced its winner during news transmission, forgetting, of course, to mention the winners of the rest of the televisions. The campaign lasted each time for several months during summer time when circulation of the TV guide use to drastically decrease compared to other publications. The strongest point of the idea consists of the intrinsic connection with the content. Compared to other marketing solutions, TV mania prizes did not aim at people looking for bargains or readers without a TV set who would be wasted after the campaign. The TV mania prizes are still going on in spite of the slight impression of weariness because of the fact that the same categories are adjudicated by the same TV stars.

“Cotidianul” books, books and again books

In June 2006, during the football World Cup, “Romania libera”, daily newspaper held by Dan Adamescu and WAZ tried a promotion called “Football and money”, with an increase of the number of copies by 2,000 thus reaching the initial number of buyers. “Gândul”, assigned by Cristian Tudor Popescu to Publimedia team, the last autumn decided to make a change to the newspaper format to an experiment suggesting a collective journalism, “Show us your school, and take the prize!”, carried on exclusively on the Internet. But the initiative of “Cotidanul” consisting of offering books on Wednesdays was much more visible. They chose to offer bestsellers, branded by the image of the journalist and writer Ioan T. Morar, also known as a TV moderator, sold together with the newspaper; at an initial price of 3 RON. This action was the first on the market. Beside “Jurnalul naþional”, which launched “Collection Books” (Peter Pan) three weeks ago, “România liberã” also has started negotiating with a publishing house on this kind of inserts, according to off the record information.
The results of this kind of actions are known by “Cotidianul”, having started to deal the cards warranted by Ioan T. Morar, with 7,000 copies in July last year and double at the end of the year, as always, at the same time with transferring the ownership, management and editorial improvement.

Wealth top and other ideas

Business publications are promoted mainly using tops after “Capital” started such tradition in Romania. “Top 300″, launched by Ringier’s weekly economic publication, tends to become a reference tool of dictionaries and annuals categories in case Romanian business men decide to make their business in a transparent manner, and the team that was lately rather swept off, has the necessary resources and means to accomplish such laborious top. Recently, “Sãptãmâna financiarã” came up with a different idea, the free supplement “How to make a wealthy life”, and Publi Media and some other companies already conceive their on tops as in “100 top young managers”.
Most initiatives of a lower amplitude consisted of offering prizes leading to the advantages and disadvantages of the similar mechanism of lotteries. FM radio stations made up solutions including the more and more used SMS. The prizes are usually valuable, with cute exceptions - even not particularly motivating the public - as the frog offered by Radio Guerilla.

Iulian Comanescu: One can’t write Coca-Cola messages on a French wine bottle cork

“Overall, the fundamental of any press promotion - and not only - consists of giving to the readers something extra, while hoping to get some more readers, and that some of them will remain our readers. That “extra” can have a high intrinsic value, as the Unica CDs inserts or Cotidianul books, or it is able to stir up the buyer, moreover based on keeping the readers guessing - as in the lottery mechanism or not. The famous “Te uiti si castigi” (Watch and win) presented by Florin Calinescu, 90s’ second half, it has been probably the best and successful Romanian promotion ever, intelligently and legitimately hidden in the televisions contents.
It is hard to set a particular target for the promotions offering money, cars, DVD players, holidays, trips, houses and so on, as being similar to the target-reader of the publication. That’s the reason they are rather fit for the publications aiming at a vaguer target reader, meaning the mass market ones. The Logans offered by “Jurnalul” aimed at no clear finality having in view that the newspaper defines itself in terms as “quality”, “reference”, meaning that it focuses on a very distinct segment of readers. How many of them should drive a Dacia, at least in the opinion of the public?
The promotion elaborated by “Evenimentul zilei” managed to even focus against the targeted-public last winter by paying the heat facility bills of the winners though its target readers were supposed to be select. Given all these failed or disputed experiments, we can peremptory conclude that the niche products or the up-market ones (quality means the same thing for the daily newspaper as well) cannot be marketed with promotions aiming at random. The case of TV mania is the perfect counter-example having in view that Ringier guide is the best on the market. If the organizing people have a little bit of courage and implement new vote categories, less popular, the event would last as long as television exists in Romania.
The conclusion is manifest: for the up-market titles, communication should be done targeted to a particular public, not on TV, using lotteries or social insurances for paying the bills during winter. It is a matter of course that French wine cannot be sold with a Coca-cola cork marked on the inside, while “Libertatea” is not to be sold together with Plato.”

Romanian version published in the “Adevărul” newspaper, on May 5, 2007

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