Gannett and TEGNA Confronted by Digital Headwinds

amp160The greatest challenge will be to gain awareness in the ad community where only 15 of 360 national advertiser and digital media agency executives surveyed by MyersBizNet state they are in a relationship with Gannett Digital Media now Tegna and only 11 with USA Today The split of Gannett into two companies planned for more than a year was completed in June The name Tegna was formed from letters within 39Gannett39 With such a low base of awareness both new companies would hope there is good will to build upon among their established clientele but that39s far from the caseAmong the digital ad sales organizations of nine printbased media companies USATodaycom ranks 8th and Gannett Digital Media now Tegna ranks last overall in six performance categories evaluated by each company39s advertiser and agency clients Only an average of 32 of Tegna39s and 24 of USATodaycom39s advertiser and agency clients rate the companies39 overall performance as quotmarket leaderquot or quotmarket achieverquot toptwo box 45 on a five point scaleNeither company is credited for offering quality content that justifies premium pricing innovative and creative opportunities nor for advanced research and market insightsAdvertiser ampamp Agency Perceptionsamp160amp160 Rating on 5Point Scaleamp160amp1604512Tegnaamp160amp160amp160formerly Gannett Digital Mediaamp160amp160amp160amp160Quality of Content Justifies Premium Pricing2720amp160Provides Innovative and Creative Opportunities2032amp160Provides Advanced Research ampamp Market Insights2325amp160amp160amp160amp160USAToday comamp160amp160amp160amp160Quality of Content Justifies Premium Pricing2617amp160Provides Innovative and Creative Opportunities2923amp160Provides Advanced Research ampamp Market Insights1931amp160amp160amp160amp160SOURCE MyersBizNet 2015 Survey of Advertiser and Agency Executives on Perceptions of Digital Media Value and Sales Organization Performance Copyright amp169 MyersBizNet 2015 Percentage based on survey respondents selfidentifying as being in a relationship with each companyamp160amp160amp160amp160The companies will need to invest quickly in programmatic and automated capabilities More than twice the percentage of current advertisers rate both companies more negatively 12 than positively 45 for programmatic and automated supportThe ad sales organization of USATodaycom ranks sixth among the nine printbased digital organizations and third among agency digital media executives with print and video responsibilities The Gannett Digital Media Tegna sales organization ranks ninth with only 26 of respondents who do business with the company rating the organization positively 45 and 25 rating it negatively 12While Tegna is the new home of Carscom Career Builder PointRoll GO Digital KeyRing Shop Local and Clipper Magazine it is better known for its network of 46 local television stations and Gannett did little to effectively build a national digital brand profile The new Gannett plans to integrate its extensive local newspaper network and share resources under the USA Today Media Network brand While the separation was designed to enable the quotgrowthquot television and digital assets to shed the drag of declining newspaper revenues I believe longterm the local TV and local newspaper business would have proven to deliver a more compelling integrated local and regional advertiser offering Carscom and Career Builder were both originally acquired to offset the loss of newspaper classified advertising A logical integration of the TV station and digital businesses will be an interesting challenge for Tegna managementThe MyersBizNet survey was conducted in March 2015 and the organizations were identified in the survey as Gannett Digital Media and USATodaycom Additional details on the MyersBizNet study are available to MyersBizNet member companies Contact Bob Flood at bobmyersbiznetcom

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Gannett and TEGNA Confronted by Digital Headwinds

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Jack Myers

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