The Newspaper Association of America shows a 10% jump for the first quarter of this year over last year for the category. However, a West Coast agency that specializes in local auto dealer clients
says new developments may require new tactics from newspapers to keep one of their key categories intact.
“We see ad rates going up at a time when readership is going down,” says Steve DePalma,
partner of Oakland-based West Advertising. “We’re seeing reduced use of newspapers because dealers are reallocating their money to multi-channel campaigns, in part because newspapers cost too much.
Newspapers are a still a critical element, but they’re not the blind commitment that they were in the past.”
National supplier advertising is still important to dealers, says DePalma, but he also
notes that financial incentives have become more important than ad support. But as he says, newspapers still have an important function for the category. A new deal between Tribune Media Net, and
Ford’s Lincoln division shows how newspapers and auto suppliers can work across platforms.
Ford Motor division’s Lincoln brand recently launched a multimedia marketing campaign for the Lincoln LS
and Lincoln Navigator. The agreement includes radio, television, print and online advertisements across all of Tribune's Chicago properties -- WGN Radio, WGN-TV, CLTV, Chicago Tribune,
chicagotribune.com and metromix.com.
Advertising components include two 30-second TV spots on WGN-TV and CLTV; live-read commercials on WGN Radio; print advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and
online tile and banner ads on chicagotribune.com and metromix.com. Collectively, Tribune Media says the ads will help Lincoln reach more than 5 million Chicago consumers.
The three-month campaign,
called "Chart Your Own Course," kicked-off April 11 and runs through July 3. It includes an online contest that will award three grand-prize winners a two-night stay at a downtown hotel, theater
tickets and a $1000 Magnificent Mile shopping spree. Winners will be chauffeured in their choice of a Lincoln LS or 2003 Lincoln Navigator.