The Scotsman Publications finds the answers to key strategic questions
The Scotsman Publications which publishes The Scotsman, Edinburgh Evening News, Scotland on Sunday and scotsman.com, has completed a number of probing research projects both for internal strategic purposes and for product development. Dianne Newman, Head of Research, Enterprise & Library Services utilised Snap’s in-house survey solution to answer key strategic questions including: ‘Is the Internet really a threat?’, ‘do people prefer broadsheet or tabloid?’ and ‘who chooses the front page?’ The feedback generated has given The Scotsman an invaluable insight into the industry and their readers, which has been influential in future strategic decisions.
The Scotsman Publications, who are part of Johnston Press plc - one of the UK’s largest local newspaper publishers, views research as a fully integrated service and integral to the success of the organisation. Earlier this year they conducted a series of research projects on questions that are commonly discussed within newspaper publishers.
The first of these projects focused on the Internet and was completed using a quantitative survey of The Scotsman’s online users. The survey was designed to establish whether they had lost print readers to the Internet, duplication between online and paper products and Internet uses. The online survey generated 4,608 responses and helped The Scotsman to understand the relationship between online and offline readers, the opportunities for multi platform sales packages and the effectiveness of online adverts.
Another project involved e-mailing The Scotsman’s reader panel to gain an insight into how the front pages influence the purchase, interest and emotions of its readers. 10 front page designs were tested against the same criteria and each design was evaluated with a mean score against a number of statements. The project helped to confirm the company’s existing thoughts on what sells newspapers and showed them they could dare to be different.
Dianne used Snap’s flexible solution to conduct these key research projects and concludes that research coupled with Snap is a powerful combination. “The Scotsman Publications have been users of Snap for a number of years and it has consistently proved to be an effective way of managing the whole research process, from questionnaire design, to data processing and detailed quantitative analysis. Through our extensive programme of research, we have used the system for strategic initiatives, advertising awareness studies, internal staff attitude studies and more recently to manage our reader panel research. Over the years, the software has developed to meet the changing needs of research professionals, whilst continuing to deliver on its core strengths of range of functionality and ease of use.”
Visit www.scotsman.com for further information on the company.
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