Based on that and other comments, it looks like Gannett is now staffing up a separate online advertising sales force assigned to some or all the newspapers. Presumably, they'll have a different commission pay structure. The hiring would be in line with the company's plans to sell advertising across all its newspaper websites, now that they've adopted the same templates.
But here's what's intriguing, another reader told me in an e-mail: "They don't report to the normal boss for such ad reps, but directly to a vice president, and ultimately directly to Corporate -- or so I was told by someone in advertising. They were also hired by Corporate, not through the papers."There have been signs of this new hiring at least as far back as Oct. 28, when newspaper division President Bob Dickey announced a 10% workforce reduction. That day, a reader said in a comment they'd heard Gannett had hired 60 new online sales specialists. Moments later, another reader replied: "Yes, it's true. Their mission is to target advertisers that have not advertised in the last 90 days. They are outside of the normal chain of command and report directly to Corporate online."
Maybe this separate digital sales force was always in the works? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
[Image: today's Detroit Free Press, Newseum. The daily is in one of Gannett's biggest markets -- an area being further decimated by the auto industry's plunging sales. General Motors' shares dived this morning, the Freep is now reporting]
If US Publishing hires and pays them, but the revenues generated hit the new digital segment---isn't that, um, maybe some kind of accounting problem that would distort what's really going on in the industry?
ReplyDeleteWait till the next round of cuts are announced and then it will make sense.
ReplyDeleteSorry, it isn't as sensational as many would like to hear.
ReplyDeleteTrue: Digital Only reps were hired to sell to online advertising inactive advertising accounts.
True: To ensure the Digital Reps receive support and stay focused on their sales, they are out of the normal reporting structure. At least for the start of the initiative.
False: They do not report to corporate online. However, corporate did assist in sourcing the Digital Reps and did provide digital sales training. Local properties did the hiring.
True: There have always been opportunities to sell cross-property online advertising. This is not new to the standardized design and ad serving software/fulfillment, but it does make it easier on us.
So, what is wrong with having a targeted sales staff?
6:07 PM
ReplyDeleteThere's a fairly new job posting for a sales executive in Indy. The posting reads like it will include Indy Star-Career Builder sales responsibilities. Is that job one of the digital only jobs you're talking about?
Louisville hired two new digital reps last month.
ReplyDeleteThis could even be better than Gannett's failed Google experiment.
ReplyDeleteHiring digital sales "specialists" who report directly to corporate is like hiring 25 blacksmiths to shoe the corporate horses. Ain't got none!
ReplyDeleteHow many cross-selling experiments do we need to see fail before we get the idea firmly entrenched in our thick skulls that you don't run anything else like a newspaper (see failed experiments with radio stations, cable tv, direct mail, online, etc.? Hello???
Amen 4:55 PM
ReplyDeleteCareer Builder seems to have a huge staff. Why are Gannett employees selling Career Builder products, and who pays the sales people?
Speaking of Career Builder, has anyone else checked out the CB forums? Seems clients are asking some really good questions about spam, ad authenticity, etc.