New look for Irish newspaper industry association

30 April 2015 – – The representative body for Ireland’s newspaper industry has unveiled a new corporate identity and is now known as NewsBrands Ireland.

Reveal
The new logo is revealed

The rebranding of the association previously known as National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) is designed to reflect the increasing demand for and delivery of online news content, with many publishers now affording equal prominence to their print and online brands.

The industry’s new identity, including a new logo, website and key new personnel, was launched at a special event in Dublin this evening.

Check out footage from the event by clicking here.

Speaking at the launch, the new Chairman of NewsBrands Ireland said the rebranding process was an initiative that would assist in better promoting the Irish newspaper industry.

“We live in a changing world and it was time that our identity reflected the new reality of newspaper publishing and news delivery,” said Mr Crowley. “We are no longer newspaper publishers in the traditional sense but owners of news media brands, both print and online.

“For a lot of people the name ‘newspaper’ still means the printed title that is purchased every morning, but for a new generation of readers we exist mainly in the digital sphere,” Mr Crowley said. “Our new name reflects this dual existence and our activity over the coming years will reflect that as well.”

JNRS survey under review

Part of that activity will be a comprehensive review of the JNRS readership survey, and Dara McMahon, coordinating director NNI, confirmed that a detailed review of the efficacy of the JNRS survey is underway.

“A review of JNRS has been on our radar for a while now, and I think both agencies and advertisers alike would welcome such a review.
“We have already started that process by talking to media agencies about their perspectives on JNRS,” she went on. “We particularly want to get the views of media planners and strategists so that we can, in effect, ensure the readership survey will give them the necessary ammunition they need to recommend and incorporate our news brands in their clients’ media strategies.”

PHD wins POP Planning Team of the Year

PHD POP Winners
The team from PHD: Emer O’Donoghue, Alex O’Connor, Carina Moran and Kevin O’Sullivan

Also at this evening’s launch event, the winning agency in the recent POP Press Planning Competition 2015 was announced.

Teams of young media planners from ten of Ireland’s leading agencies participated in the competition, held earlier this week, to devise strategies designed to showcase the range and effectiveness of the various print and online platforms that make up NewsBrands Ireland.

Teams had just a few short hours to prepare their strategies and plans and representatives from the various NewsBrands Ireland advertising departments were on hand to provide information about their products and answer questions. Each team was then given just six minutes to present to the judges: Ger Roe, Creative Director Publicis, Jennifer Fitzsimons, National Advertising Manager, Harvey Norman and Ruth Payne, Media Director Javelin, panel Chairman.

The teams were judged on the basis of five criteria: Interpretation of the Brief; Strategic Thinking; Best Use of the Medium; Use of Budget; and Presentation Skills.

The winning strategy was devised by a team representing PHD: Kevin O’Sullivan, Carina Moran, Emer O’Donoghue and Alex O’Connor.

Ruth Payne, Chairman of the judges congratulated the team from PHD on an engaging and entertaining presentation. “PHD demonstrated great understanding and interpretation of the brief and presented clever and innovative ideas which would certainly generate talk-ability for the brand,” said Ms Payne.

Teams from OMD and Mindshare were highly commended by the judges.

Vital signs are positive – NewsBrands Ireland

The launch of NewsBrands Ireland took place in Dublin’s Chocolate Factory and was attended by more than 200 people from the news media and ad agency communities, with an upbeat atmosphere reflective of the improved conditions in both sectors. Last month it was confirmed that stability has at last returned to the newspaper market, with a slight increase in direct advertising for the first time since 2007 and improving trends have been noted in the early months of 2015.

“We’ve been through some difficult and turbulent years but we can now say for certain that the recovery is under way,” commented Vincent Crowley. “Even as circulation figures and advertising revenues were declining, however, we were continuing to attract and retain readers and that is because of the USP of the news media industry: content.

“Newspaper content both print and online is the single biggest driver not only for readership but also for advertising,” Mr Crowley went on. “Our members invest more in content creation than any other business while our publishers continue to invest in multi-platform delivery of that content, providing more access to consumers and more options for advertisers.

“There is a huge appetite for explanatory journalism as people look to understand what is happening and changing in the world, and this will continue to form the bedrock of our business across all platforms and channels,” he added. “Original content will help us to grow our readership, our circulation and our ad revenues in the years ahead.”