The publishing nirvana of old was about locking down the premium high spending AB audience, but this week has forced a few stereotype changes that will likely alter where advertisers seek to connect with their audiences.
The $30 million purchase by News of Australian Independent Business Media (AIBM), publisher of the Eureka Report and Business Spectator, is a case in point. It marks an invasion by News into AFR territory, and a bulking up of a likely bundled sell by News into the high-end market. However, some media buyers say News is unlikely to carve up greater AB market share right away.
“You are not going to change the brands overnight,” said Nick Keenan, head of implementation, planning and investment at MediaCom in Melbourne. “The Financial Review reader has an image about it so Fairfax has time to get it right. News Limited is not going to be able to just waltz into that AB audience. There is definitely an opportunity for News Limited to have a crack but Fairfax won't let it go easily.”
Others see an immediate challenge to Fairfax's pole position in the finance media space.
“The News purchase of AIBM is gold,” said Mark McCraith, chief operating officer at Maxus. “The days of the Financial Review being the only major premium media outlet are over. Fairfax have never been able to sell the AFR as a bundle. The rivers of gold will open up for News Limited.”
In turn, Fairfax could, by offering metered packages to an audience now used to making micro-payments on the internet, win more of a middle Australian audience, and head off News Limited in that audience segment. News Limited, meantime, will look to package up its Wall Street Journal stories with its Business Spectator and Eureka content to eat into the AFR readership.
“I think News Limited has been going after the premium ad dollars for a long time now,” said Martin Patton, managing director at Foundation. “The media publishers are reinventing themselves and breaking stereotypes and the market has to consider these changes.”
The digital AB audience of course buy tablets before anyone else, subscribe to digital news, and read finance updates on their smartphone. Media buyers said that both publishers are taking the right approach, with News adopting the paywall approach and Fairfax going down the metered content digital route. The skill will be in convincing advertisers about who has the premium eyeballs in the digital space.
“I am certain that if either publisher could speed up that digital process they would be very happy,” said Simon Davies, head of print at OMD. “We won't find out for another six months to a year, or maybe three years before we know who the real winner is.”
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