Postmedia Network Inc. (“Postmedia”) today announced the launch of the
new Ottawa Citizen, the first step toward the reimagination of all
Postmedia products. The new print, web, tablet, and smartphone versions
of the Ottawa Citizen that hit the streets and mobile devices of the
nation’s capital this morning will redefine the way news is produced,
presented, consumed and monetized across all Postmedia brands.
“Canadians of different demographics, backgrounds and interests told us
that depending on when, where and on which device they’re consuming
content, they want different stories, told and presented in
fundamentally different ways,” said Wayne Parrish, Chief Operating
Officer. We listened and are launching four new fully-differentiated
products across our four platforms of print, web, smartphone and tablet.”
“Our strategy aims to attract new readers and engage current readers
more deeply. It will create opportunities for advertisers to target and
engage with their customers more effectively,” said Paul Godfrey,
President and CEO. “The roll-out across the majority of our Postmedia
brands will take place over the next 12 to 15 months. This is a very
exciting day for us.”
Extensive research conducted by Postmedia clearly demonstrated that
Canadians no longer rely on a single platform to satisfy their desire
for their daily fix of what’s going on in the world around them; they
consume different information at different times using different
platforms, with younger Canadians heavily favoring the smartphone. The
research supported Postmedia’s own internal metrics, which show the
migration of its digital audience has accelerated in the past 18 months
to the point that two-thirds of total traffic is now accessed via mobile
devices, either smartphone or tablet.
Enabling the company’s new four-platform strategy is its ‘One Newsroom’
strategy that harnesses the power of Postmedia’s 800 journalists across
the country. It allows each Postmedia local brand to focus exclusively
on producing the best local news and information while a central hub
creates the best national and international content for the entire
network.
Unifying the four new Ottawa Citizen products will be a new, holistic
brand design that is rooted in the concept of designing from the
“smallest canvas out,” in the words of globally-renowned print and
digital design guru Mario Garcia, who worked on the project. The design
will be echoed in the rollout of products to seven other Postmedia
titles, as will the new masthead and brand design for each individual
newspaper and for Postmedia itself, created by Tyler Brule and his
London-based Winkreative agency.
Each of the four new products is unique and utilizes the distinct
characteristics of each platform to play its own role in developing and
conveying the most compelling stories of each day.
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The newspaper features insights and analysis for an informed and
passionate morning audience. It offers deep engagement with
Postmedia’s best journalism. New, colour-coded sections provide easy
navigation.
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The responsive-designed websites comprise the “digital hub”, always on
and always up-to-date, designed for search-driven audiences with
breaking news, features, columnists, opinion, video, audio,
interactive media, archives, blogs, special sections and social media.
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The smartphone app is the local, always-on product designed for the
skimming, sharing, mobile audience, with links to the web for
non-local news. It speaks in its own, distinct voice, and is created
18 hours a day for the small screen and audiences on the go. Think of
it as micro- blogging meets talk radio. Available through iTunes for
iOS and Google Play for Android.
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The new 6 p.m. news and current affairs tablet magazine is a
feature-driven, animated, vibrant approach to storytelling. It
illuminates, illustrates and expands on the news of the day through an
interactive story format. Delivered through Apple Newsstand.
About Postmedia Network Inc.
Postmedia Network Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Postmedia Network
Canada Corp. (TSX:PNC.A, PNC.B), is the largest publisher by circulation
of paid English-language daily newspapers in Canada, representing some
of the country’s oldest and best known media brands. Reaching millions
of Canadians every week, Postmedia Network engages readers and offers
advertisers and marketers integrated solutions to effectively reach
target audiences through a variety of print, online, digital, and mobile
platforms.
Copyright Business Wire 2014