Memo: The really mean kids are on Team No. 5

The following memo was distributed to employees late this morning.

Craig A. Dubow
Chairman
Chief Executive Officer

A few weeks ago, I shared with you the next step in our ongoing strategic efforts to transform Gannett. As noted then, it is critical that we accelerate our internal rate of change to address the rapid rate of change taking place within our industry for consumers, advertisers and competitors. To accomplish this, we launched an integrated, cross-divisional effort that includes a number of strategic initiatives and teams designed to create and deliver transformational ideas.

Since that time, we have accomplished several things and, as promised, I want to keep you posted on the progress we are making on this important company-wide initiative.

First, we have organized our strategic work around five areas that collectively represent key opportunities for Gannett. Second, we have created teams comprised of strong, diverse leadership from throughout our company. Here are the questions that each team will tackle and the members of those teams:

1. Content Monetization: How should Gannett best generate value for the content we create? Led by Craig McKinnis, director of Content Acquisition and Distribution -- Gannett Digital Ventures. Team members include Matt Jones, Kevin Poortinga, Laura Ramos, Maribel Perez Wadsworth and Jeffrey Wilks.
2. Content Vertical Expansion: In what content areas should we either significantly expand our coverage or offer new content for our consumers? Led by Heather Frank, vice president of Consumer Media -- USA Today. Team members include Jennifer Carroll, Randy Lovely, Akin Harrison, Carla Wojnaroski and Mark Wasiljew.
3. Business Adjacencies: Which areas of the media, news and information industries should we expand into or enter? Led by Steve Hauber, publisher and chief executive officer -- Gannett Healthcare Group. Team members include: Dan Ehrman, Laura Hollingsworth, Scott Lyon, Grey Montgomery and Josh Resnik.
4. Local Products and Advertising Services: How can we best serve the needs of small and medium-sized businesses in reaching and retaining consumers? Led by Steve Zuckerman, chief executive officer -- Clipper Magazine. Team members include Anthony Diaz, Dan Donaghy, Tricia Kelly, Brad Robertson and Reggie Murphy.
5. Transformational Cost Restructuring: How can we best ensure we have the right resources in the right areas to meet changes in the industry and our portfolio? Led by Paul Saleh, senior vice president and chief financial officer -- Gannett. Team members include Mark Cornetta, Stacy Cunningham, Susie Ellwood, Don Lemire, Susan Motiff and Evan Ray.

I am very pleased with the teams senior management has put together and the leadership and expertise each person brings to this process. The teams have spent the last month outlining issues and work plans, as well as gathering data from the market and from throughout the many corners of Gannett. They have started to develop early ideas about areas of opportunity which will be tested, refined, supported -- or dismissed -- in the weeks to come.

As the teams began to outline their work, a question emerged which you may also share: what exactly is a “transformational opportunity” and how will we know it when we see it? A transformational opportunity fulfills the following three criteria:

• Achievement would add substantial profitable growth by the year 2014.
• We can clearly state Gannett's “right to win,” that is, the unique advantage that we bring to the table vs. other players.
• We can outline the path and actions necessary for success.

The transformational teams have been chartered to identify and qualify these opportunities.

In the course of the work our teams have underway, we also expect they will identify other near-term opportunities. While those opportunities may be smaller, they will also have a more certain impact on our company over the next one to two years. In addition, our teams will identify long-range opportunities which require positioning today in order to bear fruit five or more years from now. These will be noted and explored. However, the core purpose and work of the transformational teams is to champion those ideas that will have a significant impact on our business over the next three to five years.

While our business has both historical strengths and current health, we must achieve transformational change in order to fully thrive in the future. We have the right people in place with the right level of commitment, creativity and bold, strategic thinking to design and drive this important change.

We will continue to share updates with you about our progress. Thank you for your continued support of this work, these teams and our company.

[Artwork: Despair.com]