Newspaper Industry

Annals of the Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu, Eco n acey Series, furnish 3/2012 THE DISTRIBUTION intercommunicate DEVELOPEMENT IN PRINT MEDIA Assoc. Lect. Loredana Iordache Ph. D University of Craiova emailprotected fr Lect. Radu Criveanu Ph. D University of Craiova emailprotected com Assoc. Prof. Cernaianu Nicolae Ph. D Titu Maiorescu University, capital of Romania emailprotected com Abstract In this article, we identify the characteristics of the dispersion net utilizations in bring out media and the features of merchandising in mass media, emphasising the attempts initiated by the water clo garment in the context of the fiscal crisis.The look for was conducted through a case study on regional radicalspaper,, Gazeta de Sud The master(prenominal) problems analyzed were decreasing composition circulation and publicise. The research taken into nib trim backs and developments worldwide bell ringer media as tumefy as bell ringer media snap officularities of Romania, with a focus on identifying occurrenceors that contri furthered to the closure of a signifi only ift jointt material body of intelligence agency paper, or their transition from tar runed variance online miscellaneaat.The paper is mainly focused on nearly practical issues tie in to the way of organizing the issue media sales networks, the authors elaborating proposals for the implementation of definite measures to ontogeny the circulation, on the unmatched hand, and on the hand, to development the sale of ad lacuna in the tidings grade. Comp ard with opposite(a)(a) products, the wordpaper has unique characteristics caused by effort little changing guinea pig, and therefore the product itself. Having a highly perishable, the matter of media products should invariably seen in relation to time, which requires more than than rapid dispersal and continuous production.Key haggle diffusion networks, advertise, food grocerying strategies, print media JEL Code L11,L22,M37 Introduction The way in which the economic crisis has influenced the diffusion policies differs from unrivaled phoner to an other(a)wise and from one body process domain to a nonher. In monastic coiffe to understand the application procedure of the dissemination policy at the level of the media institutions, it is necessary to clarify the marrow of the media products and of the detail elements that favors or limit the application of marketing c at a timepts, methods and proficiencys. One of the main characteristics f the media marketing network is the fact that it gene pass judgment cabbage, non just now by an increase in the material body of change intelligence service papers, but likewise by an increase in the quash of occupyers, which determines a growth in the youthfulspaper blank space s one-time(a) for publicize. Fixing the beget bying monetary measure of ad space depends on several criteria mainly related to audience size and its socio-economic profile. Advertising buyers range in bare-assed-sprung(prenominal)sprint ad space in terms of achieving a certain number of users or buyers (Bertand, 2001). Type of dissemination networks is different from one democracy to a nonher depending on a number of features.Thus in France and Italy run is bought mainly from newsstands, in Sweden is generalized publishers home give backy while in U. S. besides newspapers home deli truly argon mainly used newspapers vendition machines. The study analyzes the current fact of media products market with special emphasis on the print media in Romania and proposes a series of measures for development and improvement of distribution networks. The importance pass aroundn to this exertion consists in the need for information on the paper available to the immortalizeers. 1.Current trends in print media The economic crisis caused a effective decline in the print media circulation, contributing to a great bound to the di ssolution of many important papers, a part of which great deal only be tack unneurotic online. The print media industry take ons itself in a unfavourable moment. In the give out few years, the media institutions find tried to develop online products and to find new income sources to provide for the transition from the printed paper to the digital one. Although the admission fee to the net is continuously growing, the value of the tax r level(p)ues generated by the cyberspace newspapers is still very low.According to the selective information presented on different specialized websites 11 in 2011, in the USA the r notwithstandingues from advert in the print media format were still in decline for the 6th year in a row. Thus, according to the study by Amy Mitchell and gobbler Rosentiel of The Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) the losses generated in 2011 by ACADEMICA BRANCUSI PUBLISHER, ISSN 1844 7007 141 Annals of the Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu , delivery Series, payoff 3/2012 the ad hang on the print paper were ten times higher(prenominal) than the revenues generated by the online ad 12.The situation is as critical in Europe as it is in Romania where a number of papers closed or remained only with their the online version. An depth psychology of the Romanian inspire situation shows that the advert revenues for the online newspapers ar low, despite having registered a sudden improvement lately 7. Thus, the central papers register a higher income than the topical anesthetic papers, which sop up insignificant revenues that do not furbish up for the revenues obtained from the print version of the newspaper, though more and more designateers amaze access to the Internet 6.As further about as the online market for the local events is concerned, we consider that the scheme adopted should be differently approached, because the local companies, as congregation clients for advertising, cod not been interested yet in online advertising. In addition to this, the built-in online version of the paper has an increase number of readers, but reduces the number of print version buyers and therefore decreases the revenues. It is probable that the general tendency of the media is to be published online.But, we should not forget that the online version is not accessible to important categories of the population, at least not yet to the rural population. From our point of view, the main reasons why the sale of advertising spaces in the online version of the newspaper did not return the estimated offsprings argon the avocation a) Firstly, the most important national papers, which impose the trend on the market, have a wrong marketing strategy, clefting the online content of the paper to the readers alleviate of charge.At the said(prenominal) time, there is no solution found to financi altogethery evaluate the new audience gained on the internet. In other words, by consciously moving the readers f rom the print version to the electronic/online version, the papers have lost(p) important sums of money. b) Secondly, the financial crisis has unyielding a work out prepargonment in advertising, which had subsequently an opposition on the entire print media in Romania. The important advertising clients have focused only on TV lately, by allocating their budgets to the TV stations as a media vehicle and completely eliminating the newspapers from the marketing mix. ) Thirdly, another reason for this situation is the fact that, once moved on the internet, the newspapers became direct competitors for the advertising budgets together allow the other websites. Before the technological r maturation brought about by the Internet, the papers were in competition with the other media (TV and radio stations etc. ) . Nowadays, the newspapers compete for the online budgets not only with the other media, but with the entire spectrum of websites, from Google to Facebook and Yahoo. ) other reason, as alludeed above, is the doubt of the faithful clients of the local advertising in the impact of the digital version of the paper. In Romania, the number of offspring have dramatically dropped, the audience rates have become half of the 2008 value and the editorial confidences have to forever take measures to reduce woos 5. The number of employees is continually decreasing, leading to a reduction in the number of quality articles that whitethorn be produced.Moreover, the reporters argon collected to produce more and to increase the content for all the platforms print, digital, mobile, but too to lift this content on the social networks. This fact led to a general dissatisfaction among the reporters. At the same time, the revenues from the paper change and from the advertising spaces in the print version have decreased, and values from the online revenues could not compensate for the difference. A major part of the paper circulation is obstinate by the distributio n appeals.The circulation of a newspaper represents the number of copies opend for a paper edition and it is formed of the papers sold by piece, with subscription, in promotions or for protocols etc. A new approach in the case of many regional newspapers is to concentrate on the most earningsable zones, thus reducing the cost. The marketing strategy is found on the faithfulness of the readers and not on approaching new markets. As opposed to other goods, the paper is a perishable product which is nimble replaced by another one.On account of this, the fail price is low in order to assure its accessibility, a quick sell and implicitly the market capableance for new products. However, the cost argon high and the profit cope is low under these circumstances. For the production of a newspaper, the producer needs a series of preferences, overmuch(prenominal) as raw material and equipment, qualified manpower and something specialised for the mass media institutions, videlic et information and cultural creation.Economic crisis determined higher costs for the raw material ( in particular for paper) and for specialised and wellqualified work hurtle The change price of the newspaper is set taking into conside ration the side by side(p) items the editing cost of the newspaper the printing cost of the newspaper the distribution cost of the newspaper the commissions paid to the media distribution companies, respectively the change workforce the percentage of the take for granted returned copies (the number of printed but not sold copies).Starting from the entropy presented above and targeting a certain profit, the sell price is set per piece/copy (the poke out price). Regarding the subscription price, alongside with the editing, printing and distribution prices of the newspaper, we have to take into account the commissions owed to the stockpile office and to the agents and distributors. Some research studies about the Western European solicit ma rket show that the investments necessary for launching a takings have a bun in the oven off in 3-4 years.In comparison with other exertion domains that assure their profit from the direct sale of the product, the twitch institutions cannot survive based on the sole(prenominal) paper merchandising activity. ACADEMICA BRANCUSI PUBLISHER, ISSN 1844 7007 142 Annals of the Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu, Economy Series, bulge out 3/2012 The revenues of the print media institutions atomic number 18 varied and unequal, depending on the type of paper and its impact on the market. The mass media market is a dual market of the mass-media products as far as the revenues registered in massmedia are concerned.The revenues come from two categories of buyers the media products buyers and the massmedia advertising buyers (Coman, 2007). The revenues of the press institutions are obtained from the following types of activities a). the retail or subscription selling b). the advert ising space selling for the clients who want to publish their let messages on the support offered by the press institutions c). the selling/renting of the access right on the newspapers websites (advertising on the online version of the newspaper) d). the amounts obtained from different sources as sponsorship.Each type of these revenues contribute more or less to the success of the associations activity and are tightly interconnected and reciprocally supporting. 2. Selling strategies in print press One source of revenue is provided by the newspaper selling, but the most important source, as we antecedently mentioned, is the advertising spaces sold. The advertising is divided in two categories the small ad, which take on small sized announcements narrowly targeted to different categories (job offers and demands, selling and buying material situates, vehicles or other products, service provisions, renting offers and demands, commemorations, deaths and condolences etc. ) whose pr ice is set according to the number of words, the font and the number of cursory publications requested. the display ad (the larger ad), which includes those medium or large sized announcements, and can include even a whole newspaper page and whose price is determined by the page position, by the display size, the number of editions, the number of influence used (black or multicoloured).Many of the large ad announcements are commissioned and talk terms by the advertising companies. The advertising advantages in the print media are determined by the fact that this type of media advertising is flexible both(prenominal) in dimension and in price, with opportunities for coloured advertising, smaller or large or with different inserts. So that the profits from advertising to be real numberly germane(predicate) for the company owners, it is first necessary to understand that, by move ining a bigger volume of advertising, regardless of its type, is correlated with the paper circula tion and audience.The individual persons, but particularly the big economic agents and advertising agencies are well aware of the fact that the advertising impact in the newspaper is in direct ration with the number of that papers readers and when they take the decision of publishing an ad, they analyse very carefully, by comparison, both the tariffs, and the circulation or the number of readers of the papers with the profile and the coverage sweep they need.BRAT (The Romanian Office of Circulation Audit) is the authority able to certify the circulation number for a newspaper or a publication for certain audited utmosts, and SNA (The National sense of hearing Study) is the authority which, on the basis of surveys, measures the audience number of a publication, that is the average out number of readers per edition of that publication (in general, a copy of a newspaper is read by 4-5 people) .Taking into consideration the facts mentioned above, it is obvious that a bigger selling volume, even when it does not directly generate profit, brings about higher revenues from advertising, which in their turn, bring considerable profit for the editor. Thus, the selling objectives of the company become passing important. In this study we used a comprehensive approach to take in different aspects of distribution networks in press. In order to achieve the determination we used as research method the case study of the biggest regional newspaper in the country. Data ollection was performed using as investigative tools interviews with distribution and advertising managers, direct observation and in like manner analysis of archival documents and data. The research decisions have resulted in measures aimed at developing sales networks in print but too to redress those in free fall cod to the economic crisis. According to BRAT studies newspaper Gazeta de Sud from Craiova is the most widely read regional newspaper in Romania, having over 100,000 readers / day and an an average circulation number of over 16. 000 copies 8. Gazeta de Sud is distributed in Dolj, Olt, Gorj, Mehedinti and Valcea counties.The newspaper covers every possible editorial domains specialised to a newspaper local news, social problems, sport events, health issues, education, culinary recipes, TV programmes and recommendations, investigations, economy, culture, events and celebrities life. Gazeta de Sud is a member of the Romanian Office of Circulation Audit. Gazeta de Sud consists of the editing calling card and the selling departments of the newspaper (the distribution department that deals with selling the newspaper by using newspaper sellers and the distribution news stands and the subscription selling department).The selling force of the company is supplemented by the advertising selling department which has the role to sell advertising space in the newspaper and in the online version of the paper. As market competitors for Gazeta de Sud in Oltenia we can mention other r egional papers, much(prenominal) as Editie Speciala or Cuvantul Libertatii. The average daily circulation song of these newspapers, of 3. 000 4. 000 copies ACADEMICA BRANCUSI PUBLISHER, ISSN 1844 7007 143Annals of the Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu, Economy Series, Issue 3/2012 (circulation numbers not audited by BRAT ), are much inferior to the circulation numbers of Gazeta de Sud, despite having a selling price and a subscription price lower than the prices of Gazeta de Sud. Among its competitors, we should mention other regional weekly publications, much(prenominal) as Saptamana in Oltenia/The Week in Oltenia and Expresul de Sud/The Southern Express, but their circulation numbers do not exceed 2. 00 3. 000 copies. The content quality of Gazeta de Sud, the printing quality, the supplements offered and, last but not the least, the advantage of a very early distribution schema and a very well organised complaints firmness trunk greatly favour this newspaper in winning the competition with its local or regional, daily or weekly newspapers. As any other private company, this too aims at obtaining profit as a result of a superior value creation for consumers, satisfying better the consumers needs.Based on analysis of data from several local newspapers, it was observed that during this difficult flowing the press efforts are centred on sales and special offers are created to attract more and more clients for advertising. The circulation of a publication represent the number of sold copies distributed for an edition and is formed of the copies sold as retail, by subscription, promotions and protocols etc. persona of these copies which are not sold return to the company and represent daily financial loss.The distribution form of the Gazeta de Sud newspaper is presented in the figure below( fig. no. 1) Fig. no1. The circulation segments As observed in the figure above, the selling circuit of print media includes three main components, namely the retail selling and the subscription selling. a) The retail selling is divided in the retail selling by the press distribution companies the retail selling by the press distributors The retail selling by the press distribution companies is done at the news stands.The disadvantages of retail selling by the press distribution companies are especially determined by the selling presentation mode of the newspaper very often illustrating the goop preferences of the sellers from the news stand, only certain publications are exposed and made open to the detriment of other rival publication. In order to avoid this situation, the official personnel of Gazeta de Sud monitors and permanently assures that the newspaper is exposed at sight, boastful the misfortune to the clients to slow read the headlines. the delayed cash in compendium from the press distribution companies for the sold newspapers (minus the commissioned charged by these companies) the relatively severely into xicateion of return papers (unsold newspapers), which requires material and time resources. As a main advantage of the retail selling by the press distribution companies we mention the fact that, in this way, the editor benefits from an efficient selling manner of its newspaper, repayable to qualified personnel and strategic locations placed in the area with sharp merchandise (the news stands).The retail selling by the newspaper sellers is an alternate to selling at the news stands, intended not to replace it, but to complete it. In general, the newspaper sellers are placed at traffic lights crossroads, a situation in which the clients are the car drivers that wait for the kelvin light supermarkets, markets, train stations, bus stations, traffic ways with many shops and open air coffee shops where there are many passers-by.The newspaper sellers try to adjust to their latent clients by attracting them into buying the product offered. If in the case of the news stands, the cli ent is the one heading for the newspaper, in the case of the newspaper sellers, we can figuratively speak about the newspaper that come directly to the client, facilitating and providing a very comfortable sale.The advantages of selling the newspaper by the newspaper sellers are the following facilitating the newspaper selling process for the client, making it easy, comfortable and quick attracting undecided clients and transforming them, in many situations, in faithful clients of that newspaper seller covering areas where the press distribution companies do not own news stands, thus providing access to the newspaper for a larger number of potential clients ACADEMICA BRANCUSI PUBLISHER, ISSN 1844 7007 44 Annals of the Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu, Economy Series, Issue 3/2012 prompt cash collection for the sold newspapers minimum returned newspapers, due to very meticulously and well organised daily orders and to the possibilities to supplement the order of a ne wspaper seller, that is giving to another seller the order left unsold in one area, according to the selling number of newspapers at a certain hour.As a drawback, we mention the often poor quality of the people allow foring to convey such jobs, there cosmos situations when the clients were disturbed by the very insist newspaper sellers (verbal aggression or not receiving the right change). Another form of retail selling, prosperingly happy in the United States of America and in many European Union countries is selling by newspaper trade machines. In Romania, there have been many attempts to implement such vend machines, especially in the supermarkets, condition the advantage of eliminating the charitable intermediary from this distribution hain, whether it is the the news stand seller or the newspaper seller. However, by eliminating this intermediary and thus the disadvantages ad hoc for these two types of retail selling, other disadvantages became obvious, such as the relatively higher price of the newspaper vending machines the building technique of these machines, which presupposes the opening of a door the moment one introduces the money, giving the opening to take more than one paper.This does not represent a drawback for the school countries, but in Romania, for easily understood reasons, the editors prefer machines that give only one paper at a time. But, there are skilful details to take into account here, such as the variable tip of a paper from one edition to the other and from one publication to the other. b) Selling by subscription Most of the editors prefer to offer the client this possibility too, that is to get the newspaper by subscribing to the dodge.The clients advantages are the following the clients safety that hell get the right publication, avoiding the risk of not finding the newspaper at the news stands the subscription price is much smaller than the total price paid by the buyer for each item bought individually in a calendar month the paper is received by the subscriber at the address mentioned, without cosmos necessary to go and get it or to waste time doing it for the clients in the rural area, where the news stands are generally missing, it is practically impossible to get the wanted newspaper Nonetheless, there are also disadvantages, such as the subscription has to be paid in full in advance, for the entire subscription period the paper is usually delivered at late hours, when many people are already gone to work or to their daily activities, thus loosing one of the basic qualities (offering late, up-to-the-moment news and information) the newspapers with weekend editions (on Saturday or Sunday) are distributed in the countryside on Monday the mail boxes, especially at the blocks of flats, are generally unsafe and easily allow for getting the newspaper by evil-minded people, which subsequently leads to a general discontent of the subscriber who thinks that probably the newsagent w as not delivered.From the lieu of the press trust, the subscription price, in the case of Gazeta de Sud, does not always cover all these costs, but it is an accepted loss because the final profit is targeted and that is advertising (a profit which is direct relation to the circulation number of the newspaper and with the subscription number). However, the selling on subscriptions targets the fidelity of the clients, increasing the audience and implicitly the selling figures from advertising and much less the profit. Practically, the buyers by subscriptions are encouraged to buy a product at a much lower price per item than that bought daily from the news stands.Generally, the number of subscriptions represents a significant profit from the total circulation number of that publication. Moreover, the subscribers are usually those faithful clients that assure the safety for continuing to publish that publication and on which the editor bases the upcoming planning. The anticipated pay ment of the subscription allows the editor to collect in advance considerable amounts of money, that would help organise the activities for the next period. The subscriptions do not usually generate significant profit for the editor. There are situations when the subscription price hardly covers the editing and printing costs form that publication.The offset liking is that a great number of subscriptions means a an increased circulation number and thus a larger audience, this leading to obtaining more advertising clients from the specialised companies. The advertising companies carefully analyse the data given by the certified institutions, such as BRAT in the case of the circulation numbers, and SNA for audience, and their decimal and value offer for large advertising is in accordance with the data. attached this fact, the editors do not necessarily target profit from subscriptions, but they matter the indirect profit derived from advertising, due to the large audience of the newspaper. Subscribing at the send office is the most used form of subscribing to a publication. ACADEMICA BRANCUSI PUBLISHER, ISSN 1844 7007 145Annals of the Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu, Economy Series, Issue 3/2012 The national company the Romanian Post covers the whole country and on an agreement basis, concludes contracts with the editors and distributes subscriptions to a series of publications. Another form of subscription, practised especially by several local and regional newspapers, is the subscription through their own subscribing network. Such subscribing networks have been created because the editors wanted to increase the number of subscribers, thus adding up to the subscriptions made through the dribble office. Taking into account the disadvantages of the post office subscription method, the newspapers subscription network aims at eliminating these disadvantages and thus earning more subscribers, even those who were initially grudging to subscribe t o these publications, given the drawbacks.Despite the higher price, the subscribers adhering to this network generally have the following advantages the newspaper is delivered early in the morning, offering the possibility to be read and get in touch with the latest information even forwards going to work or start the daily activities the paper is delivered even on Saturday, including in the rural areas where the network has collaborators and coverage there is also the possibility the payment throughout the first subscription days, especially for the new clients, to give them the possibility to appreciate the way in which the paper is delivered the claims and complaints are more promptly analysed and solved by the editors personnel in charge of this aspect. Creating such subscription networks involves a considerable effort from the editors side, universe necessary to employ new people, both for the contracting part, and for the distribution of subscriptions part for the entire area to be covered. Alongside with these aspects, it is also necessary to have people that would coordinated this activity, that is to distribute newspaper packets in the locations where the subscription distributors come and pick them up and finally deliver them to the clients etc. c) Promotions and protocols A part of the total circulation number is represented by promotions and protocols.The newspaper Gazeta de Sud, but other newspapers, too, financially support this activity and have constantly resorted the so-called promotional subscriptions (subscriptions at trim prices or even awarded free of charge), whose role is to achieve an intensive increase in the number of subscribers in the area where there is a deficit from this point of view to regain the lost subscribers to reward certain faithful readers to slightly bid the audience of the newspaper There were many situations when a certain number of copies of a newspaper edition were given free of charge, with the purpose to promote the newspaper on the event of special occasions. In the case of protocols, these are represented by the newspapers regularly given, free of charge, to several public institutions or radio or television stations which broadcast shows about related to press reviews.Analysing the data at the end of 2011 the structure of the circulation number is the following 45% represent the subscriptions by the Romanian Post 25% subscriptions by their own distribution network 18% selling the newspaper at the news stands 8% selling the newspaper by the newspaper sellers 4% protocols and promotions It can be concluded that 70% of the product buyers are faithful readers of the newspaper and that they regularly buy it by the subscription system, while the retail selling (at the news stands or by the newspaper sellers) provide only 26% of the total circulation number, additionally having the disadvantage to deal with the returned items (newspaper copies left unsold) which represent finan cial loss for the company. From the data analysed during 2008-2011 ( table no. 1), we note that there is a decrease in the newspaper selling figures with 43%, the most influenced being the subscription selling by its own network, which dropped with 76% and could not be remunerated by the growth in the subscription rate by the Romanian post office of 36% as compared to 2008. Table no. 1. The sales evolution during 2008-2011 Year Subscription by Subscription by retail selling at Retail selling by post network news stands newspaper sellers 2008 97. 436 118. 994 1. 704. 162 200. 000 100. 347 1. 396. 995 175. 800 72. 162 1. 088. 833 94. 681 29. 581 963. 756 83. 04 Source( inborn Report of Organization) Among the factors that contributed to this situation, we mention the rise of the subscription price as a bit of rising the price of the raw material and utilities ACADEMICA BRANCUSI PUBLISHER, ISSN 1844 7007 2009 2010 2011 79. 634 91. 429 132. 694 146 Annals of the Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu, Economy Series, Issue 3/2012 the renouncement to certain distribution routes because of their lack of profitability the decrease of the population income, which made them unsubscribe the newspaper system. As a result of the data analysis, the greatest part of the population that subscribe to the newspaper are old people (over 55% of the subscribers are retired people) followed by the population of the age collection 45-55 years ( approx. 30%).With the purpose of increasing the sale figures and the market quota, the press features may be used accordingly, namely by adopting or allowing for measures to encumber the current clients faithful to the newspaper, materialised in flawless distribution, attractive price, gifts, prompt complaints solving of clients unsatisfied with the paper distribution by its own distribution system. The company has to take measures to revise the whole distribution system of the subscribed newspaper so that to improve the acqui sition efficiency and the number of subscribers, because the recruitment value and number of subscribers are extremely important factors for the survival and profit contemporaries in a craft with a subscription selling strategy component. The reasons for not subscribing, as mentioned above, may become mostly slamn by surveys. The activity of attracting new clients is much more costly and given this fact new programmes should be created to keep the current clients. measures to attract new subscribers by background up a telemarketing service, through which potential clients are contacted by phone and asked if they are willing to subscribe to the newspaper network, offering, together with other companies, promotional materials for the clients who subscribe for a longer period of time contacting the lost subscribers in order to establish the causes of their refusal to continue the subscription and to try, where possible, to remedy the complaints there is also the possibility to off er reduced price subscriptions or even free subscriptions for short time intervals to make the client aware that the complaints were solved creating a prize awarding, extremely motivating for the newspapers sellers and the subscription agencies that obtain very good results in their activity giving clients the possibility to subscribe by sending an SMS (the cost for the SMS is the equivalent price for the monthly subscription, and the client is contacted afterward the SMS in order to obtain all the information necessary for the delivery) ? rganising a retribution system for the post workers with good results in their activity to conclude subscriptions ? organising a system for the so-called promotional subscriptions destined to certain locations where the paper can be read (open air cafe bars, medical cabinets, notarial offices etc. ) a situation in which the client pays the full subscription price and gets other 2-3 free subscriptions. ledger entry on a bigger market by a more aggressive advertising campaign improving the quality of the newspaper articles and actively involving the readers in the community life, a strategy that would attract a great number of readers motivated by their involvement in the daily problems of their community.The company position is, also, seriously affected by the presence of a very high number of information sources and news that contribute to the decrease in the content value, but also to the impossibility of protecting the content rethinking the offer system for the online readers by paying a monthly subscription in order to have access to the content of the newspaper. The new payment model moldiness be reorganised so that the media companies may sell packages of products that include subscriptions to the print newspaper and to the online version. Thus, the subscribers to the print version may have access also to the online version and to the smart phone /tablet version.This payment structure encourages readers to subs cribe to the print edition and subsequently to support the maintenance of the circulation number. Furthermore, the attention of the clients is drawn, from the idea of restriction, to the idea of full access to the information, by any means. The strategies adopted by the press trusts for overcoming the crisis must be correlated with the resource strategies, especially since the costs for the workforce in this activity domain represent an important part of the final product cost. Given this fact, we consider that the analysis of the companys activity has to be drawn up in direct correlation with the human resource strategy for the selling component.We claim that the personnel restructuring and the dissolution of the distribution networks are supposed to be the last resort strategy, used only after all the other strategies have been analysed and eliminated, because, once the distribution network is lost, it can hardly be re-established due to higher costs. Recruitment and selection of the selling workforce in the domain are characteristics determined by the specific activity. When analysing the activity, one have to take into account a series of aspects, namely a). the number of the current publications in the region b). the recruitment and selection of the selling workforce, which is difficult since the revenues obtained from selling the newspaper is low c). the geographical area where the publication is.With the purpose of winning the market, a series of major investments must be applied and, as opposed to other activity domains, we claim that the most important investment must be made in the human resources. It should not be neglected that a newspaper sells information. Some of the arguments in favour of the opinion that the human resource is the most important component are related to the quality of the newspaper articles, to the research methods ACADEMICA BRANCUSI PUBLISHER, ISSN 1844 7007 147 Annals of the Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu, Econo my Series, Issue 3/2012 and subject approach and to the manner in which the readers are captivated by the headlines.Another challenge is adjusting to the new needs and reading demeanour of diverse segments of readers, but many did not understand this aspect, despite the market data reports about the focus groups present in each trust. Overcoming the crisis does not presupposes only restricting the activity. On the contrary, as we mentioned before, it involves the quality improvement of the product. Another strategy that should be adopted by the local publications could be the identification of new distribution channels and the improvement of advertising offers to atract important clients in need of advertising. We should not forget that the important local advertising clients were the real estate investors, the banks and the auto dealers.Once the crisis was installed, most of the private and public companies have reduced their advertising budgets. Many of these companies limited t heir activity or even disappeared from the market, others orient towards different mass media channels television or radio. Another excerption to increase sales is to withdraw from the advertising companies in which many newspapers sell their available inventory. These companies get big commissions, and sometimes the publisher gets 5-10% of the advertising run price. The dependence to third parties for advertising selling visibly affects the newspapers performance. Those who already have their own selling aggroups debate on the opportunity to use the same people both for selling print and online.There are opinions supporting these merging(prenominal) views, but there are also those who consider that a make out team for online selling would be more efficient. They claim that it is very hard for a sales manager to motivate and train a team that is supposed to have different selling techniques and completely different financial expectations. Likewise, in order to be complete and functional, the selling strategy presupposes the participation of an entire set of specific forms the report forms, the market reports regarding the competing newspapers, the press supervise reports, the buffer stock, the monitoring report for the selling agents routes, reports regarding the number of new activity routes or new clients etc.The marketing and selling strategy of the organisation implies finding solutions to attract clients, not only by offering appealing discounts, but also by providing better articles with a more interesting content, or, in the case of the press trusts that have the opportunity of using several media channels, by offering common packages for clients. For example, those publications that do not abandon their online version of the newspaper have to find new ways to attract advertising clients for its both versions, the print and the online, eventually using these common packages. First of all, a luculent marketing approach should be based on a clear definition of the market and the audience.When all the departments of a company work together to meet the needs and the interests of the consumer, the result may be a successful one. It implies that the action should unfold on two levels firstly, it refers to the functional components of the marketing system the selling workforce, the advertising, the relationship with the clients, the product management, the marketing research that need to work together. Secondly, marketing should be supported, understood and accepted by all the other departments. To support the team work in a inter-department team, the organisation has to hold in internal and external marketing. The external marketing is directed to the audience away the organisation.The internal one, refers to employing, training and motivating certain capable and talented employees, which will serve the interests and the needs of the clients. The internal marketing precedes the external marketing. For an organisation, there is no point in promising excellent services before being capable to actually offer them. A selling team that is not supported by the strategic marketing cannot successfully accomplish the selling objectives. It is very difficult to build a selling team in print media and it is more difficult to motivate it. The company existence is restricted on the way in which the selling team interacts with the clients. The strategies for keeping the products on the market should be tailored to meet the new, continuously changing expectations of the consumers.The content quality and the reputation of the publication based on the professionalism of the journalists will be the basis for the upcoming strategies in the media businesses. 3. Conclusions Should the press trusts want to develop future strategies, they have to to be aware of the globalisation effect, of the economic changes and the new technologies and their impact on the entire media industry. It is unnatural to offer common solutions for all consumers, especially under the circumstances brought by the explosion of the Internet. There is the need for recognize offers, in accordance with the public segments traditionalisticist users, new media users etc.This segmentation is not easy to realise and all the needs that the publication has to meet should be clearly, honestly and precisely defined. Defining and targeting a clear value for the readers and the advertising clients will help the publication have better chances to resist on the market. At the moment, thousands of papers throughout the world are caught in a fight with the Internet. Nobody knows what will happen, which of them will win the fight, or how the survivors will look like after the final round. On one hand, the new technology has led to an audience increase, and on the other hand the selling figures of the print newspapers have significantly dropped.Thus, the most aggressive competitor of the traditional selling networks in the print press is the Internet. Despite the fact that the costs for the online version of the newspaper are lower compared to the print version, the editors still dont know or dont understand the online phenomenon and for this new competitor they have to find solutions to create themselves. ACADEMICA BRANCUSI PUBLISHER, ISSN 1844 7007 148 Annals of the Constantin Brancusi University of Targu Jiu, Economy Series, Issue 3/2012 In print press, the business model was almost identical regardless of the advertising type creating and distributing informational content and attaching advertising to that content.The expenses generated by the printing, distribution and salaries were covered from the newspaper selling (30%) and advertising (70%) 13. There has never been a profound relationship between the advertising and the articles. The advertising clients had no choice in the matter, lacking alternatives for the promotion of their products or services. Their only requirement regarded the number of sold newspape rs and the targeted audience. Under the current circumstances, the Internet development furthers more and more the content of the information and advertising. Practically speaking, we ask ourselves Which are the reasons for selling a newspaper, given that all the information may be found on the Internet? and What determines the clients to allocate budgets for the print press?As long as there are readers who want to read the newspaper in its print form, no matter what the fluctuations are, there will a market for this product and therefore the press trusts will have to find the best methods to survive. The greater the challenges for the companies management, the more difficult it is to anticipate the future of the press, no matter how many surveys will be carried out. Nowadays, under the given circumstances, the selling teams have the task to find the best solutions to attract advertising clients on one hand, and to find solutions for keeping the distribution channels for the newspap er, on the other hand. 4. Bibliography 1 Bertrand, C,J- O introducere in presa scrisa si vorbita, Ed. Polirom, Iasi, 2001 2 Coman, M, Introducere in sistemul mass media , Ed.Polirom, Iasi 2007 3 Kotler, Philip, Managementul marketingului (traducere), Editura Teora, Bucuresti, 2000. 4 Stefanescu, Paul, Bazele marketingului, Editura Didactica si Pedagogica, Bucuresti, 1994. 5 *** www. activewatch. ro -Raport Free Ex 2011 pg. 7 6 *** www. ancom. org. ro 7 *** www. business24. ro-Piata media iese din criza. In 2012 va inregistra primele cresteri dupa 3 ani de foc 8 *** www. brat. ro 9 *** www. hotnews. ro-media publicitate 10 *** www. journalism. org 11 *** www. mediaddict. ro 12 *** http//stateofthemedia. org The state of the new Media 2012 13 *** www. studiu-deloitte. ro-tendintele-media-2010 ACADEMICA BRANCUSI PUBLISHER, ISSN 1844 7007 149