Usa Today Marketing Strategy
Case Study Analysis – USA Today: Innovation and Evolution
MBA505 –Marketing Management
Carol Rodriguez
Jones International University
April 2013
a. What opportunities in the marketing environment did Gannett seize in launching USA Today? What unmet benefits are added and what value is created for the customer by USA Today?
Gannett was brilliant to seize a great opportunity to niche market news. True to the definition of niche marketing which seeks to understand and meet the needs of a target customer so completely that the despite the small size of the niche, the segment is extremely profitable (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011, p.170) Gannett was very thorough in his desire to appeal to achievement-oriented males in professional and managerial positions who were heavy newspaper readers and frequent travelers (Ferrell et al, 2011, p.502). He understood that the needs of this group were evolving and that there was an opportunity to change the formatting of news so that it could be more easily digested and embraced by this set of men on the move. Specifically, he noticed that attention spans were increasingly growing short and there was a growing desire for more information (Ferrell et al, 2011, p. 502). Further he noticed the ability to target Middle America which differentiated him from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
There were a variety of unmet benefits that were addressed by USA Today and its value was immediately apparent by skyrocketing sales that immediately graced this paper. For instance, by changing the formatting so that information could be more easily and quickly absorbed by readers, readers could more efficiently catch up on a wide array of news while needing a smaller attention span and less time. In addition, by reducing the size of the paper, USA Today made it more convenient to read while in the confined space of an aircraft. It also bridged the gap of information provided by its two main competitors by also reporting
MBA505 –Marketing Management
Carol Rodriguez
Jones International University
April 2013
a. What opportunities in the marketing environment did Gannett seize in launching USA Today? What unmet benefits are added and what value is created for the customer by USA Today?
Gannett was brilliant to seize a great opportunity to niche market news. True to the definition of niche marketing which seeks to understand and meet the needs of a target customer so completely that the despite the small size of the niche, the segment is extremely profitable (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011, p.170) Gannett was very thorough in his desire to appeal to achievement-oriented males in professional and managerial positions who were heavy newspaper readers and frequent travelers (Ferrell et al, 2011, p.502). He understood that the needs of this group were evolving and that there was an opportunity to change the formatting of news so that it could be more easily digested and embraced by this set of men on the move. Specifically, he noticed that attention spans were increasingly growing short and there was a growing desire for more information (Ferrell et al, 2011, p. 502). Further he noticed the ability to target Middle America which differentiated him from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
There were a variety of unmet benefits that were addressed by USA Today and its value was immediately apparent by skyrocketing sales that immediately graced this paper. For instance, by changing the formatting so that information could be more easily and quickly absorbed by readers, readers could more efficiently catch up on a wide array of news while needing a smaller attention span and less time. In addition, by reducing the size of the paper, USA Today made it more convenient to read while in the confined space of an aircraft. It also bridged the gap of information provided by its two main competitors by also reporting
References: Ferrell, O.C. & Hartline, M. (2011). Marketing Strategy. Mason, OH: Cengage Vanacore, A. (Oct 14, 2009) Wall Street Journal Overtakes USA Today As Biggest Newspaper In US, Huff Post Media. Retrieved April 26, 2013 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/14/wall-street-journal-overt_n_320759.html