With the success of the first WickedLocal.com site, Gatehouse is moving to spread the site to many of its uber-tiny newspaper markets. One of the first experiments in this was WickedLocalPlymouth.com.
Before everyone gets excited about the prospect of creating a wicked huge online brand for local search, let’s remember the failures of Backfence.com. It attempted to unite micro-local coverage under a macro brand, inherently making its sites feel like strangers in a small town. Few people ever used the sites.
Will the same fate befall Wicked Local Everywhere?
It would, except that Gatehouse is shutting down newspaper Web sites and replacing them with Wicked Local branding. For example, WickedLocalPlymouth.com replaced the Web site for the Old Colony Memorial newspaper. Gatehouse calls Plymouth the beta site for a network of Wicked Locals it will launch in more than 100 towns throughout eastern Massachusetts.
The newspaper is the most local brand in town, and its online presence, no matter what the name, will always be considered local.
Still, this begs the marketing question: Does it make sense to print a newspaper with a completely different name than its Web site? Gatehouse would get a lot better bang for its branding effort if it renamed the newspapers, as well.
Comments (5)
As for branding, lots of papers have diverging print and online flags - if you could get sarasota.com, wouldn't you? But your print readers - a different demographic, most likely, want the name they know and trust, in fancy lettering where possible.
As for the Backfences of the world - it's one thing to take a template/system and roll it out in different towns around the country. It's quite different to narrow it down a small region in Massachusetts - I think it could work, and I think it could work in your neck of the woods, too, from what I remember about that part of Florida.
Posted by Ryan Sholin | June 22, 2007 12:59 AM
Posted on June 22, 2007 00:59
Yes, lots of papers do have diverging names for their online and print brands. But, they shouldn't.
If Amazon or eBay were going to launch a print product, maybe a magazine, what would it be called? My guess is it would have the words Amazon or eBay somewhere in it.
The name, Old Colony Memorial, is totally MIA online. If it's so easy to just scrap the name of the newspaper on the Web site, then it should be of the same value in print.
Either it's a strong brand name, or it isn't.
Posted by Lucas | June 22, 2007 4:34 AM
Posted on June 22, 2007 04:34
It's worth noting, I think, that the newspaper brand won't disappear online.
There will also be a strong in-paper promotion that "this is your community news site online powered by (paper name)"
The goal is to build strong community platform sites, not "newspaper online" sites.
Also, we're taking a very different approach in markets outside New England.
I think there is a kernel of truth in your concern. Newspaper brands are important and you mess with it at your own peril, whether online or in print, but I think there is also an opportunity here to create a new, very strong brand, online.
Posted by Howard Owens | June 23, 2007 12:56 PM
Posted on June 23, 2007 12:56
The sites are much improved over their predecessors. And together WickedLocal will be a regional portal. The approach will generate more users and page views, so it is a success in terms of numbers.
But let's not pretend the success is being caused by creating a more local brand. After all, every site in the area will be called the same thing.
WickedLocal is local in the same way that craigslist is local.
And this move positions WickedLocal to compete online in markets where Gatehouse does not have newspapers. I think that's at least part of the reason for the change. Competition.
Posted by Lucas | June 23, 2007 5:45 PM
Posted on June 23, 2007 17:45
FWIW: There will be no WickedLocal sites outside of New England.
Posted by Howard Owens | July 6, 2007 2:37 PM
Posted on July 6, 2007 14:37