Saks CEO Gives Recipe for Retail Success

Stephen Sadove gives an interview to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, in which he reveals the steps to advertising/marketing success for the prestigious Saks department stores:

Part of it is about the product, but part of it is also about having a bigger presence in the community and doing more outreach...
I think we have to do a lot better job and do more in local marketing...
Each of our stores is so different that is not about national advertising but about local advertising, marketing, outreach, initiatives, presence in the community and being involved in local events.

This is thinking that all local businesses should incorporate. And local newspapers, online local media and others should also take note about how they can help retailers accomplish it.

Online Newspapers - Lots of Good News

Local newspapers, and local online newspapers, have plenty to tout according to two reports published this July.

The Bivings Group released their 2007 study of the top 100 newspaper Web sites, and their conclusion is, "Overall, use of online features by newspapers improved across nearly all the categories when compared to last year's research..." Their study is chock full of interesting tidbits, including:

• The use of RSS increased in 2007 by 21 percent since 2006. Now 96 of the papers we researched are using this technology. Within this group, 93 papers offer partial text feeds, while three offer full text RSS feeds. No papers have begun embedding advertisements in their RSS feeds.
• Ninety-two percent of America’s top 100 papers now offer video on their websites. This represents a significant jump from 2006, where just 61 percent offered video. In this group, there is a mixture of local, Associated Press, and original content available on newspaper websites. Thirty-nine papers offer original content, 26 use AP video streams, 13 offer video content from local news outlets, four papers use all three technologies, and 10 papers use a mixture of two different types of video.
• The number and quality of reporter blogs also improved in 2007. Now, 95 percent of papers offer at least one reporter blog. Ninety-three percent (88 papers) of these blogs allow comments. In 2006, 80 percent of the papers offered blogs, with 83 percent (67 papers) allowing comments.
• The use of RSS increased in 2007 by 21 percent since 2006. Now 96 of the papers we researched are using this technology. Within this group, 93 papers offer partial text feeds, while three offer full text RSS feeds. No papers have begun embedding advertisements in their RSS feeds.
• Ninety-two percent of America’s top 100 papers now offer video on their websites. This represents a significant jump from 2006, where just 61 percent offered video. In this group, there is a mixture of local, Associated Press, and original content available on newspaper websites. Thirty-nine papers offer original content, 26 use AP video streams, 13 offer video content from local news outlets, four papers use all three technologies, and 10 papers use a mixture of two different types of video.

This is just a sample - check it out.

Aaannd, on another note, the Newspaper Association of America has some new research out, and their conclusion is:

More than 59 million people (37.3 percent of all active Internet users) visited newspaper Web sites on average during the second quarter of 2007, a record number that represents a 7.7 percent increase over the same period a year ago, according to custom analysis provided by Nielsen//NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America. In addition, newspaper Web site visitors generated nearly 2.7 billion page views per month throughout the quarter, compared to slightly more than 2.5 billion during the same period last year. The second quarter figures are the highest for any quarter since NAA began tracking these numbers in 2004.

So when those online sales reps from the local newspaper show up at your business, pay attention.

Local Media Changes - How do Local Marketers Keep Up?

Lots going on in local media.

For local marketers, this means that our communications vehicles are changing, changing, changing. We have to find ways to get the PR message out, to work with and be involved with, the changing media. (If it were up the the media folks, we'd just happily pay the bills via banner ads and keyword buying, as they go about their struggles to find an audience.)

The Chicago Tribune launched a site redesign. Faster, more video, increased interaction with Trib staffers, better search, and a new marketing campaign, "ChicagoTribune.com revolves around you."

The NY Times ups its single-copy pricing. Sunday moves from $5 single copy to $6 and daily moves from $1 to $1.25, Some subscriber prices are up as well. With the subscriber pricing, the Times promotes All Access, meaning you can get Times Select, extra email alerts and extra crosswords, Times Reader, Times Digest, and the electronic edition.

The Washington Post started their hyperlocal edition in Loundoun County, Virginia, LoudounExtra.com.

Seattle-based Fisher Communications, with 19 television stations and eight radio stations, purchased Dallas-based Pegasus News, a hyperlocal web site, with the intent to take the model to other markets. Earlier this year Pegasus introduced The Daily You, that creates personalized news based on user behavior.