February 2012

Newspaper company Gannett recently announced that it would be setting up a paywall for four Indiana publications: The Indianapolis Star, the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, the Star Press in Muncie and the Palladium-Item in Richmond, according to Inside Indiana Business.

In a press release, Gannett said part of its plan for expanding capital and strengthening its financial outlook would be to charge for all of its online content "regardless of platform." The plan will also curtail non-subscriber access, a model that it hopes will enable the company to add $100 million to its publishing segment's annual earnings as of 2013.

Gannett CEO Gracia Martore said the plan showed the company was "once again playing offense, poised for growth and value creation." She added that she and the other leaders were  confident this new strategy will return Gannett to a path of profitable and sustainable revenue growth, and deliver value for all of our stakeholders."

Additionally, the company said it would be creating a new digital marketing services business specifically for small and mid-sized companies. Gannett said the division was projected to earn between $275 million and $350 million annually by 2015.

Responding to the announcement, John Strauss, a journalism instructor at Ball State University, told Inside Indiana Business that even if readers are angry about the fees for reading content online, the newspaper industry had to install paywalls.

The same marketing firm that represents the Cleveland Indians has recently signed deals with two more baseball franchises.

The Lack County Captains - based in Eastlake, Ohio - and The Akron Aeros will now get their branding and advertising help from Cyrid Media. Some of the services that the firm offers include social media strategy, behavioral targeting and graphic design.

"We always thought it would make good sense for one marketing group to represent all three local baseball franchises," Mark Dolan, owner and president of Cyrid Media, said in a statement. "We are excited about this opportunity and we look forward to exploiting the obvious synergies that exist here."

He added that the city was "fortunate" because three of professional baseball's four levels are within driving distance of each other.

As Mike Imrem writes for the Chicago Daily Herald, baseball teams in that Midwestern city have struck out with their recent slogans. The White Sox' latest is "appreciate the game," while the Cubs claim that "baseball is better."  He says the slogans leave much to be desired, and rather portraying hope for being competitive, show that the teams are "out of marketing ideas."

Consumers from all around the globe using Pinterest more often, and businesses are realizing the social media platform could also help their Cleveland marketing efforts.

Crain's Cleveland Business reports that paint maker Sherwin-Williams Company, based in the Ohio city, is starting to see the potential in targeting people who are already designing their "dream rooms" and "pinning" images on the interest-sharing network. 

"The popularity has gotten to a point where we definitely need to pay attention to it," the company's director of color marketing, Jackie Jordan, told the news source. Other companies in the Cleveland area are also starting to integrate Pinterest into their websites, the news outlet adds.

However, because the format for Pinterest sharing is so different from the likes of Twitter and Facebook, companies will need to apply a different strategy to how they market themselves on the platform, according to Vator News. Instead of generating comments and followers on other text-focused networks, Pinterest users communicate through links and images. Start out by making a board and categories featuring a company's different products, and don't be afraid to get creative, digital marketing agency Greenlight told the source.

With a branding makeover, one Lexington marketing agency is showing its love for a basketball team far from its home state. Or rather, for a specific basketball player on the New York Knicks.

Cornett Integrated Marketing Solutions announced that it would be taking up the title of Cornett LINtegrated Marketing Solutions in homage to Jeremy Lin, complete with a change of its logo to feature the blue and orange colors of the Knicks.

The move may be more than a display of superfandom, and could have some roots in the idea of SEO. The firm points to a Google statistic that "Jeremy Lin NBA" searches have surged 1,850 percent over the past 30 days.

Kip Cornett, president of Cornett LINtegrated Marketing Solutions, said the company had no plans to revert to its old name, at least not until the Knicks start losing again.

"Like Mr. Lin, we are an under-the-radar entity. Although Cornett represents national brands... the world hasn't experienced the agency's game-changing work just yet. The world has yet to experience our supreme LINtegrated marketing approach."

Lin himself is proving to be a valuable asset on and off the court, particularly in advertising and marketing. As Ira Kalb explains for Business Insider, his uniqueness and unusual career path have made him a "brand marketer's dream."