National World has announced two new strategic partnerships for its digital and print advertising sales, as it seeks to localise and monetise unique content and grow the company’s audience.
It has formed a strategic partnership with Reach plc, to sell national advertising to UK media agencies. From October 1, Reach Solutions Limited will represent the group’s print brands for display and public notice advertising to all leading regional and London-based agencies.
National World’s daily newspaper brands, including the Scotsman and Yorkshire Post, will join the highly successful “Big City” package which combines the Mirror titles and Reach’s leading regional dailies, including the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo.
National World’s Express & Star and Shropshire Star in the West Midlands are already part of the “Big City” package.
Alongside the enhancement of its print advertising operations, the company is establishing a joint venture with Axiom Media Holdings Limited, called Axiom Media Alliance, (“AMA”) to market the group’s digital assets to advertisers.
Led by Axiom’s chief executive, Jeremy Lawrence, AMA will serve as a specialist, dedicated, independent sales house to market the group’s unique mix of content and audience reach to high-quality advertisers. Axiom already markets National World’s video inventory.
National World is committed to creating a transparent marketplace for its advertisers and as part of this strategy the company will move its digital assets to a new platform provided by Auth (www.auth.inc).
The platform features market-leading technology that utilises Artificial Intelligence to enrich the reader experience.
Mark Hollinshead, COO, said: “Media partnerships such as those we have announced today help publishers to become more efficient, improve their pricing power and offer a one-stop-shop for advertising customers.
“Where possible, it is essential for print titles to increase their efficiency so that resources can be directed at the journalism and content creation our audiences desire. Similarly, dedicated digital resources are an essential component for any growth-orientated news publisher.
“Reach Solutions is the market leader in its sector and the addition of National World’s print brands will further enhance the “Big City” package, creating compelling solutions for advertisers. Similarly, we’re delighted to be expanding our relationship with Axiom which we believe will create a compelling offer for National World’s rapidly growing digital portfolio.”
