The Globe and Mail’s Tracy Day in conversation

Before joining The Globe in 2016, Tracy held several senior leadership positions in the media industry. She grew up in the UK and attended Trinity & All Saints’ College, Leeds University in England, where she graduated with a BA Honors degree in Geography & Public Media.

Where does print fit into your advertising portfolio if print is still relevant to you?

Print remains a cornerstone of our advertising strategy at The Globe and Mail, contributing over half of our total advertising revenue. It uniquely reaches 56% of an exclusive audience who do not engage with digital news, offering advertisers a valuable opportunity to connect with high-value segments, particularly C-Suite executives and high-net-worth individuals.

We integrate print into our media mix through proactive pitches, ensuring it is always part of our comprehensive advertising proposals. Our content marketing programs consistently include print options, significantly boosting our overall print revenue.

How do you attract advertisers to this portfolio?

To capture the attention of younger media planners and buyers, we leverage our trade marketing initiatives. We highlight the enduring value and engagement of print by showcasing recent studies and insights, demonstrating its effectiveness and relevance in today’s media landscape.

The latest News Media Canada 24/7 research study reveals that newspaper readership remains stable, as 81% of Canadians read newspapers every week across four platforms (print, computer, phone and tablet).

Almost half (46%) read newspapers in traditional formats (either in print or an e-edition) and 59% access newspapers in an online format. Almost 1 in 4 (22%) choose to read in ALL traditional and online formats.

62% of Canadians trust editorial content in printed newspapers (print/digital) while 59% trust news media websites.

How do events play into this?

Trust in editorial content extends to advertising as half (49%) of Canadians trust ads in printed newspapers and 44% trust ads on news media websites. Both print and digital news media websites are the most trusted of all advertising formats.

We use the above and other industry research to create our own Power of Print presentation. Here is some sample data from the presentation:

The Globe and Media utilizes branded custom events to extend reach, establish expertise and engage directly with our advertisers target audiences. Hosted by a Globe journalist, our events can be either full virtual, in-person or hybrid. Our packages include:

• All programming and logistics

• One sponsor-speaker integration to establish thought leadership in a specific topic

• A comprehensive print and digital marketing campaign to drive targeted audience acquisition

• Lead generation opportunities

We have a specialized team consisting of sales, logistics, content creators and marketing.

Depending on the topic, our events can be either subscriber-only or open to the general public.

This is a growing revenue opportunity for The Globe, helped by having our own event venue offering panoramic city and lake views from the top floors of the headquarters of our Globe and Mail Centre.

More about Mark Challinor: Mark is a commercial and media advertising strategist. He recently led the International News Media Association’s (INMA.org) Advertising Initiative (the news industry’s deeper dive into media advertising). He has also been European and global president of INMA. He produces a monthly Future of Media Advertising newsletter on Linkedin, as well as running an advertising committee made up of senior executives from across the world’s media. Mark is now CEO of News Media UK Consulting. Follow Mark on X: @challinor and LinkedIn.

Last week we spoke to Mark Campbell, CMO of Hearst Newspapers. Next we will have Marcelo Benez, chief commercial officer of Folha de S.Paulo. Catch up on the News Horizons hub.