How does a newspaper’s location affect local advertising? Just ask The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As of next week, it will no longer be in Atlanta. The newspaper is moving to Dunwoody, Ga. not at its Marietta Street location where it has been since the Civil War. The newspaper is moving out beyond what any self-respecting Atlantan calls Atlanta. They refer to it as OTP, outside the perimeter. It’s not in the city anymore.

No, the newspaper is not changing its name to The Dunwoody Journal-Constitution. But it begs the question advertisers must ask. Will this move affect their local advertising campaigns? Will the newspaper lose readership because it has moved to suburbia and is no longer in the city? The newspaper has made several changes in the past few years. This is just one more.

The newspaper’s line is that it will not have any change in its news coverage, only in publishing and operating costs. While the news staff has been cut dramatically over the past year, the newspaper’s owner, Cox Newspapers, may be simply making its advertising dollars stretch even more.

For the local advertiser, the only change that should be seen is if the readership drops. Will anyone really notice, or much less care about where the employees drive to every day? Not likely, but still debatable.

Newspaper advertising works well in many industries, despite the forum’s slow decline in readership over the years. It is still successful, especially for coupons and local marketing. Although it will be interesting to see the statistics at the end of the year, as long as people are still getting their news – and their newspapers – they will still get their advertisements. The practical thought is that the effect of local advertising in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will probably not change. If anything, its little boost in the news at moving might even bring it a little more business. And that’s got to be good for the local advertiser.

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2. Print Newspapers Diversify, Show Creativity
3. Miami Herald Ad Campaign in the Right Place at the Right Time
4. Online Advertising Revenues Reach Record High
5. Insurance Company Finds Radio & TV Advertising Success

Tags: Local Advertising, newspaper advertising

This entry was posted on Friday, April 16th, 2010 at 4:29 pm and is filed under Advertising News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.