Monday, March 07, 2011

Dubow, Martore: 'We have changed in so many positive ways in recent years. The brand launch is the natural evolution of that transformation'

The following memo was sent to Gannett's employees today:

Craig A. Dubow
Chairman
Chief Executive Officer 

Gracia C. Martore
President
Chief Operating Officer

Dear Colleagues:

Today, we are launching Gannett’s first corporate brand campaign, including a new logo, tagline, mission and vision. This is an exciting milestone in our company’s history and an important one. It represents the many significant changes we have made together over the last several years and the culmination of that great work.

Advertising begins today in support of this campaign. We have ads running on national television, digital and print, and throughout our entire network of broadcast, Captivate, digital and print properties. This morning, if you watched the local news on one of our television stations, opened up one of our newspapers, or logged on to one of our web sites, we hope you saw our new brand featured in our ads, in our new TV newscast close and in our print and online mastheads.

We have changed in so many positive ways in recent years. The brand launch is the natural evolution of that transformation. It’s time for our company image to reflect who we are today and the tremendous value we bring to our consumers and business customers. We offer everything our customers want and need to connect and engage with the things that matter most to them anytime, anywhere and on any platform – and, we want to communicate that message broadly.

An important strategic goal of our brand campaign is to raise awareness of Gannett’s name. Our new logo helps achieve this by focusing on and elevating our corporate brand in a simple, straight-forward and contemporary way.

Our new tagline – “It’s all within reach” – speaks to the many benefits we offer. For consumers, we provide easy access to the information they want, when they want it, on every platform. For businesses, we deliver innovative marketing solutions that help put their goals within reach.  For employees, we offer rewarding careers and opportunities to grow.

We are adding the phrase, “A Gannett Company,” after the names of all our properties to create a more direct link between the Gannett corporate brand and our businesses. When people see this linkage, they start to connect the dots. They begin to recognize that all of these great brands are part of the same company, Gannett. We are so proud of both our local media organizations and national business brands.  They have established great credibility and trust in their communities and throughout the industry, and they will continue to take the lead positioning role in their respective industries. This will help us create more recognition and opportunities for our corporate and property brands – across platforms and businesses.


Our corporate mission to enrich lives, to help clients succeed and to lead the transformation of our industry was designed to unite all employees across every Gannett business and create one shared vision for our future. Our vision statement conveys what we aspire to achieve going forward and that is to be the trusted, leading media and marketing solutions company at the forefront of a new era in human engagement.

Today, we are also launching an updated corporate web site at gannett.com which promotes our full portfolio. We feature our new brand and employees from across our businesses on both the site and throughout our ad campaign. We encourage you to visit our web site and our intranet site to see all of the brand materials, including our ads.

We have an incredible history at Gannett and we are very proud of it. Our commitment to delivering the highest-quality journalism is fundamental and unwavering as we continue to grow our business. Each day, our media organizations and digital properties engage, inspire and inform millions of people. The work you do literally changes lives and communities. And, for our business clients, we are aggressively expanding our digital and mobile brands like PointRoll, ShopLocal and CareerBuilder to help their businesses succeed.

This is a really exciting time for us as we launch this new campaign. Thank you for all you do and for making the Gannett family of brands such a valuable part of so many people’s lives.

Related: the company's official campaign statement. Plus: a history of Gannett logos.

24 comments:

  1. The corporate mission is to "enrich lives" ... like those 220 or so who were recently downsized, or those who must take furloughs? Those lives?

    If that's enrichment ...

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  2. On every platform? Where's the smartphone app for the Gannett brand in my city? Those seem to not be within reach.

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  3. 1. The words First Amendment appear nowhere in this memo.

    2. The following is a lie: "Our commitment to delivering the highest-quality journalism is fundamental and unwavering as we continue to grow our business."

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  4. Craig Dubow---the Charlie Sheen of newspapers.

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  5. Mr. Yesterday3/07/2011 11:28 AM

    "It's all within reach, but we're out of touch."

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  6. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig

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  7. 'We have changed in so many positive ways in recent years.' Mmm... have they taken notice that employee morale is solid rock bottom and the worst it's ever been? Who believes this crock of s*@%!?

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  8. We have changed in so many positive ways?

    Like how, Craigy? By making you richer?

    He certainly can't be referring to revenue, product quality, and digital innovation.

    Gannett, the company where customer service is pleasant memory.

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  9. oh - gag me with a spoon....

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  10. Tone deaf. Utterly out of touch. Has he actually convinced himself that these lies are true? Even with his millions, how can he rest easily in retirement knowing how much he's destroyed his own company, its products and the lives of the people who once made them salable?

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  11. I would laugh at this memo but I am gaging on the propaganda Dubow is cramming down my throat with this memo

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  12. Dubow should go on the road with Charlie Sheen. Talk about being out of touch with reality!

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  13. Keep your eyes on the prize: Getting another job.

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  14. Gannett management: Winning!

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  15. Levi Strauss3/07/2011 12:36 PM

    This emperor is buck naked!

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  16. It appears these two don't know the difference between mastheads and flags.

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  17. That would require them to be journalists, or at least have taken J 1 in high school. Gannett: Where journalism is optional.

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  18. stupid,is as stupid does that should be the brand

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  19. It's all within reach, but none of it ever gets done.

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  20. "For employees, we offer rewarding careers and opportunities to grow."

    WHAT THE HELL?

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  21. I've been a writer and editor for 40 years, and I've never read such absolute bull!

    That this comes from the chief executive of a communications company makes it all the more astounding.

    If he said these things under FBI questioning he'd face charges of lying to a federal officer.

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  22. Maybe the Gannett Blog could have a reader-funded advertising campaign.

    Something along these lines: "You may have heard about Gannett. Come to the blog to learn the truth."

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  23. No need for that. Anyone at all familiar with Gannett knows the truth, and that sure isn't the picture Dubow and Martore want to convey.

    But hey, as a poster opined today, maybe this is all part of a grand scheme to bust up the company and sell the parts.

    Could be.

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  24. All within reach on multiple platforms. Really? Well, it is if you don't mind poorly produced, amateurish videos on some of the newspaper sites. Take a look at some of the videos. I've seen self-taught high school kids produce better videos than the stuff that is on some of the Gannett newspaper websites. Part that fault might be with the equipment they're using to produce the stuff. Poor quality equipment because there wasn't money in the budget to buy good quality stuff.

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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

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