Advertising Chief: Newspapers Must Learn More About The Web

Despite significant advertising growth online, publishers and advertisers don't know enough about advertising effectiveness on the web, and more research is needed, says Olivier Fleurot, a chief executive for the advertising and public relations giant Publicis, in an exclusive video interview with the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) ahead of the World Newspaper Congress next month, where he is a special guest speaker.

"One thing you have to realise is that online, we're all learning. It's very new. So it will take a lot of time to have reliable data, to really understand how efficient the web can be," said Mr Fleurot, the CEO of PRCC (Public Relations Corporate Communications) and Publicis Events Worldwide.

"You know, it's not efficient in all cases at all. You will always need mass media when, for example, you launch a product on a very broad scale. So you know, you have to consider the traditional media as a sort of place where you understand what's going on, which is safe, and you must think of the web as a place where you are an explorer," he said.

Mr Fleurot will be a special guest speaker at the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2009, the global summit meetings of the world's press, to be held in Hyderabad, India, from 1 to 3 December next. The full video interview can be found at www.wanindia2009.com [1].

"Clearly, one thing that is absolutely key is to understand, especially after a terrible year like this year, is that advertisers are looking for return on investment. So the more you can offer on ways to measure return on investment, the better. And there are ways to do it," Mr Fleurot said.

"I think newspapers still have a lot more to do towards providing more data, but quality data. It's easy to say, 'I have one million unique users a month.' But that doesn't mean anything. You need to go much further, and qualify who these people are, and, with the one million unique users, which ones can really be interesting for advertising," he said.

To help agencies target those audiences, news websites "need to offer a context that is of high quality. So, there, the question is, 'how do you distinguish your content from others, and why should people come to you?' I think there is only one solution: to be very specific about the content that you can deliver, and the quality of that content, and being the best in that segment of the market."

Mr Fleurot, who is former Chief Executive of the Financial Times Group, is responsible for all communication activities of Publicis in public relations, corporate communications, financial communication and events management. He is among a slate of top-rank industry speakers who will examine new business and editorial strategies at the Congress, Editors Forum and Info Services Expo. More than 1,500 publishers, chief editors, managing directors, CEOs are other senior newspaper executives are expected to attend.

Full details can be found at www.wanindia2009.com [1].

There is still time to register! Special measures have been taken by Indian authorities to facilitate the processing of visas for Congress and Forum participants and Hyderabad is linked by direct flights to major cities in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world's newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. The organisation was created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org [2].