Marketing Analysis Summary

The City Edition's targetted readership is women, 25 to 59, the highest performing demographic in any metropolitan market. Because we cater exclusively to San Francisco neighborhoods, colleges and the downtown area, our advertisers are able to reach this high-value audience without having to pay the higher prices charged by other periodicals. Our newspaper is smaller, more readable and divided into business-friendly sections that make it easier to target potential customers.

Specifically, we found out in our survey:

There was currently no general interest, full-service newspaper targeting the premium advertising demographic of women in the age range of 25-59.The top weekly news periodicals in the city all have territories that extend well beyond the city, from San Jose to Santa Rosa. All are written for a primary audience of males and several include commercial sex advertising, which likewise deters many women readers, especially those over 35.

The single neighborhood newspapers, while enjoying a larger readership of 35+ women, reach too small an audience for some businesses and are not as well read by working women looking for meatier, less provincial editorial fare. In addition, both these and some of the larger newspapers are distributed as unsolicited doorstep circulars, so that their high circulations (i.e. print runs) may not represent a realistic figure of the number of copies actually being read.

Although the number of women-owned businesses in the city has climbed at six times the rate of new businesses in over during the past decade, most advertisers are still not taking advantage of this audience with an astutely focused marketing campaign.

Demographics

According to the latest U.S. Census data (2004), about three quarters of San Francisco’s residents fall in the age range of 25 to 59. Most enjoy a household income over $50,000 annually, and 70 percent have attended college. Though most people rent, of those who live in their own homes, the vast majority are still paying off mortgages.

The City Edition targets a population which has a deep interest in health care and services (including alternative disciplines), shops for upscale fashions, enjoys reading the latest fiction and nonfiction books, patronizes the arts, donates often to charities, and undertakes more than average travel, both within the country and abroad.

Internet use is the highest in the nation.

Other Newspapers

One of the key tasks of any media marketing specialist is targeting the right audience through readership demographics. Most businesses understandably go for the high circulation dailies or weeklies and single-neighborhood newspapers distributed in the manner of doorstep circulars. That's because most small business and have traditionally based ad purchase decisions on a publication’s name familiarity and contacts from commissioned ad sales people, rather than honing their sights on actual potential customers or clients.

Other than advertising circulars and several natural heath guides and catalogs with recurring copy, there are no local publications that focus on feminine consumers. Little attention is paid across the board to current events issues that interest women, like the topics you see discussed on ABC's The View and NBC's Oprah Winfrey show. Here, there’s one niche title for women in business (which changed hands earlier this year), and one gay and lesbian title which primarily focuses on gay men.

The three larger circulation, alternative weeklies (Bay Guardian, S.F. Weekly, Onion) tend to be written for an under thirty age group - not exactly big spenders when it comes to retail, travel, home and personal care products and other health care services. Restaurants, night clubs, movie and concert promoters form the primary advertising base in these newspapers. A huge section for adult entertainment and massage parlor advertisements have also narrowed the audience for these titles. At nearly a hundred pages per issue, these titles also offer minimal exposure for advertisers outside of full page placements in the front section.

The Emeryville based Bay Area Business Women (BABW) is a niche paper for mostly self-employed female entrepreneurs started in 1993. Like the alternative weeklies, its distribution spans several counties. However, in San Francisco, the publication maintains no outdoor newsracks and our survey found that two-thirds of the distribution points listed on its website were not circulating the newspaper at all. We estimate that less than a thousand copies are actually disseminated in San Francisco each month. The newspaper was also sold recently.

The individual neighborhood newspapers provide a more affordable marketing solution for small businesses situated within their borders. Yet single-neighborhood papers dwell heavily on local community news (crime reports, merchant profiles, etc.) - material which appeals to few of the city's mostly educated women (and men). In addition, since they're distributed as unsolicited doorstep circulars, many copies are never opened.

Finally, two new free dailies appeared on the news stands last fall. Both offer the same editorial presentation of cops, robbers, sports and Britney Spears news that panders to a blue-collar demographic that is fast fading from city neighborhoods.

Demographics

According to U.S. Census data (2004), about three quarters of San Francisco's residents fall in the age range of 25 to 59. Most enjoy a household income over $50,000 annually, and 70 percent have attended college. Though most live in apartment rentals, of those who live in their own homes, the vast majority are still paying off mortgages.

Here are some statistics about the kinds of activities and products that appeal to city residents, both men and women:

Source: The Lifestyle Market Analyst 2005, published by SRDS Media Solutions.

Display Rate Comparison

Here is a chart to show how our newspaper stacks up to two other non-dailies published in San Francisco.

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