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MEDIA: FORUM - Will the tabloid Indie sell more copies?
What does the industry think of The Independent's latest tabloid venture? Is it just a gimmick, Alasdair Reid asks.
It's only in the UK, as The Independent's editor, Simon Kelner, is so fond of pointing out these days, that the word 'tabloid' carries such negative overtones. He's right. Around the world there are hundreds of examples of quality (well-written, with aspirations to objectivity and reliability) newspapers printed on A3-size pages. On the other hand, it remains true that almost all of the world's truly great prestige newspapers remain adamantly broadsheet.
In short, The Independent's latest initiative is a risk in anyone's money.
Brand values, and possibly much more, are on the line as it begins offering the paper in two parallel formats - tabloid and 'classic brand' broadsheet - in a test area within the M25. The contents are identical (though the layouts are rejigged: it's not just a photo-reduction job) as is the 60p cover price.
The initiative is backed by a pounds 3 million marketing campaign including a TV-led ad campaign through Walsh Trott Chick Smith and by a substantial investment on the production side. This is no nine-day wonder.
The gamble is that the tabloid will attract new readers without cannibalising the traditional broadsheet sale. Lawrie Procter, the commercial director of The Independent, believes new readers will come from a number of sources.
He states: 'First, commuters. The convenience factor is important. The interesting thing is that The Guardian and The Times as well as ourselves have launched tabloid sections, with the presumption perhaps that people will read the tabloid section on the train and the main news section when they get to work. But does it happen that way? After all, people buy newspapers primarily for news. A tabloid will be of interest to younger readers. Women in particular express an interest in reading a quality tabloid.'
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