ADELINA KRUPSKI

MEDIA MARKETING

NOVEMBER 16, 2005

Media consumers rarely pay attention to the amount of marketing that takes place in order to make their favourite media products available. Nor do they realise the true extent of the firms that produce these products. Media firms today deal with a variety of challenges, among others, those encountered in four key areas: dealing with new technologies, successfully developing new products, engaging in increasingly competitive markets and coping with changing regulatory environments. This essay examines the way in which two media firms, the internationally known National Geographic and the Ireland-based Irish Times newspaper, face these challenges. Considering the immensity of the National Geographic and the large collection of products that it generates, only National Geographic's magazines, television channel, and website are discussed. It is worth mentioning, however, that National Geographic remains active in other media, including six radio programmes, a collection of books, films, television documentaries, maps, CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs, and also holds the All Roads Film Festival, part of the All Roads Film Project. In addition, the firm owns a museum and produces non-media products such as watches, apparel, stuffed toys, and even a home furniture line. Most recently, as part of a new alliance between Lindblad and the National Geographic Society, a ship named the National Geographic Endeavour, ensures maritime coverage by the society's expert photographers, explorers and scientists. As its focus is on media marketing, this essay will not examine the National Geographic Society itself, one of the world's largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations, which has funded more than eight thousand scientific research projects and supports an education program for fighting geographic illiteracy. The Irish Times, on the other hand, is an independent newspaper and, as it is much smaller, can easily be examined as a whole when discussing the challenges faced. Its website, ireland.com will also be studied.

First, it is necessary to look at how National Geographic constantly deals with new technologies. Since National Geographic magazines are heavy with photos, its approach to the digital wave was a crucial step. In an article from March 2005, it is mentioned that “only five to ten percent of the pictures in the magazine are shot with digital equipment, but that figure is likely to grow as the marketplace continues to phase out film.” Furthermore, IBM helped the National Geographic magazine create a digital library that allowed the publication to archive its work. In terms of the National Geographic Channel, much is being done in order to take advantage of modern technology. For example, in August 2005, National Geographic Channel and Fox Networks Group announced the creation of a new NGC high-definition (HD) network, expected to roll out in early 2006. National Geographic takes advantage of the internet by allowing access to a range of videos, games, photos, maps, articles and up-to-the-minute news related to science and technology through its website, much advanced since its launch in 1996. In order to promote the programme Mars: Dead or Alive, the National Geographic Channel produced an online Flash game. In addition, National Geographic created the MapMachine Web site, which offers a comprehensive online educational atlas. Also thanks to digital technology, National Geographic's Digital Media Group launched a video production unit that will develop broadband content through a partnership with Microsoft's MSN. By seizing technology-based, National Geographic maintains a level of quality that allows its consumers to receive its products in the best form possible and, at the same time, upholds the consumers' trust.

The Irish Times also applies new technologies in order to facilitate the process of providing consumers with its news. “In 1994 The Irish Times was the first newspaper in Britain and Ireland, and among the first thirty in the world to publish on the World Wide Web. It appeared as a series of simple text pages until graphics and pictures were introduced in 1996.” Ireland.com remains Ireland's leading news and information website, as it continues to innovate and increasingly employs multimedia to enhance its coverage. The website incorporates the online edition of The Irish Times newspaper, and more than twenty five stand-alone sites covering breaking news, business, jobs, technology, sports, tourist information, weather, and festivals throughout the year. The Irish Times provides several ways to access the paper. In addition to the main and online editions of the newspaper, The Irish Times can be read on a computer screen in the same layout as the paper, top stories can be delivered by e-mail, or even via mobile phone in SMS format.

Second, the National Geographic appears to be a frequent innovator of new products. Nine months after the Society was founded on January 27, 1888, the first National Geographic magazine was published. “A studious, scientific journal with a nondescript, dull-brown cover, it bore no resemblance to the colour-illustrated periodical it would come to be.” Now, in addition to its original magazine, the National Geographic has four other magazines: Adventure, National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Kids and Traveler, each of which competes with the original Magazine thus potentially increasing market penetration. National Geographic has had its own television channel, now two thirds owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and since May 2005 under consideration for purchase by Liberty Media. Since its launch, the channel has been under a lot of pressure to come up with new programmes and modernise its image. In August 2004, National Geographic Channel made plans to “move from natural history and factual docs to more reality- and entertainment-based series such as American Chopper and Monster Garage.” In response, during March 2005, National Geographic Channel unveiled four original series and a variety of specials slated for the upcoming season. As well as creating new products every year, National Geographic Channel recently announced renewals for three of its five freshman shows. "Seconds From Disaster," "Naked Science" and "MegaStructures" have all received second-season orders. The effort put into developing these products appears to be paying off, given that in 2004 the channel posted the biggest audience growth of any ad-supported cable channel.

In contrast to National Geographic, apart from its website, The Irish Times appears to place less emphasis on new products, concentrating instead on improving in its core business of print media. For example, the International Edition of the newspaper, which is printed in London and Madrid and is now available in thirteen cities in Spain, as well as in Brussels, and six key cities in the United States. Metro, a free paper launched as a joint venture between The Irish Times, the Mail group and Metro International, was handed out in Dublin for the first time in October 2005. Books stamped with the firm’s name such as The Irish Times Book of Favourite Irish Poetry and The Irish Times Book of the Year 2004 complete the product picture. Additionally, true to its mission, The Irish Times provides a professional training service, which covers a wide range of topics including IT, management, banking, personal development, and sales.

For the National Geographic, engaging in increasingly competitive markets undoubtedly represents a challenge, as each of its products belongs to a different type of market. Not only does the National Geographic have to compete with other firms in its home country, but, because of its broad international reach, it also faces strong competition abroad. Just in 2005 the National Geographic introduced Indonesian and Bulgarian editions of its magazine for a total of twenty six languages, and total circulation of around nine million. National Geographic in fact claims its magazine is read in every country of the world as the top third global magazine. Nevertheless, “National Geographic has suffered circulation losses over the years, partly because of competition from television, partly because of a plethora of more timely niche publications.” An article from the Bangkok Post, reports that the National Geographic sees vast potential in the fast-growing Asian market for more local-language issues of its magazine and related products. “Asia offers a big business opportunity due largely to rising purchasing power in line with the region's growing economies. ...Asia's young and dynamic market is epitomised by China, where the company is planning a Mandarin edition of National Geographic, and projects monthly sales of 400,000 copies within five years.” The National Geographic Channel was launched internationally in 1998 and in the United States in 2000. Similarly to the magazine, this media form expanded rapidly, now reaching 230 million households in 27 languages in 151 countries. The channel’s main competitors are Discovery and Animal Planet.

While seemingly less diverse in its consumer offerings, The Irish Times engages in increasingly competitive markets by keeping up its status and protecting its editorial content from commercial and sectional interests. For example, while other broadsheet newspapers such as The Independent and The Times switched to the more compact tabloid-size and thus began to target readers who usually read tabloids, The Irish Times kept the broadsheet size and feel of the newspaper, maintaining its percentage of ABC1 readers. In this way, according to an established marketing strategy, The Irish Times stays true to its reputation as Ireland's quality daily newspaper. The method may so far be judged successful, especially considering that out of the ten Irish newspapers that were available during 1859, none apart from The Irish Times survives today.

While very little information is available concerning the effect of changing regulatory environments, one example of this particular challenge is that China's acceptance into the World Trade Organization in 2001 allowed National Geographic products such as the National Geographic Traveler to be launched in the country. A second is the relaxation of WTO regulations which allowed foreign companies to own distribution networks for books, newspapers and magazines for the first time in December 2004. This development, as well as the accession of ten new countries into the European Union in 2004 makes it easier for the National Geographic to increase its growth in the European market. Meanwhile, The Irish Times was founded just at the time when taxes on newspapers had been abolished and many new journals appeared. The newspaper has since survived a number of political makeovers. “The Irish Times at first reflected the views of its founder - in its first issue it described itself as a 'New Conservative Daily Paper'. Later it was to become Unionist in the generally accepted sense though this was later followed by 'a new unionist policy.... a policy devoted to the reunion of the country.’ Since the foundation of the State, however, the paper has followed an independent political line.” In a message from the newspaper’s editor posted on ireland.com, consumers are assured as follows: “We never go to publication without seeking both sides of the story. And if, in spite of our best efforts, we cannot get one side's version, we make it clear in our report that we have made every reasonable effort to secure that information. We do not use subterfuge to gain access to people or places. We present ourselves as Irish Times journalists.” In addition, a Trust formed in 1974 secured and maintained The Irish Times as ‘an independent newspaper primarily concerned with serious issues for the benefit of the community throughout the whole of Ireland, free from any form of personal or party political, commercial, religious or other sectional control.’ During their long history, media firms such as the National Geographic and The Irish Times were often obliged to adopt rules and laws as they were introduced. Since these two particular firms began in the 1800s and are still functioning today, it is understood that the firms and the people involved capably responded to each change in the regulatory environment.

In conclusion, there is substantial evidence that the two firms examined in this essay, the National Geographic and The Irish Times, have successfully faced the four challenges of dealing with new technologies, developing new products, engaging in increasingly competitive markets and coping with changing regulatory environments. By examining how two media firms that deal with entirely different media products and that are vastly contrasting in size face these challenges, it becomes clear that these are the four fundamental challenges, as they encompass the most important situations that need to be handled in a firm.

 

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