2013 ONA “Best in Ohio” Awards

1. 2013 ONA “Best in Ohio” Awards As an annual part of the OCMA conference, the OCMA Promotion Awards were intended to create a positive forum where each member had the opportunity to showcase successful initiatives and be recognized by their peers for exceptional efforts and creativity. A lot has changed in one year. OCMA is now a sector of ONA. The title of the awards and the event categories have also changed to reflect our changing industry. But the spirit of the awards remains the same: to create a forum where exceptional initiatives in our industry can be shared and recognized. Following are the exciting new categories and rules for entry in the first ever ONA “Best in Ohio” Awards.

2. Entry Template • The following three slides are to be considered as the official template for ALL entries for 2013. You may have two, or three slides. But in total, the maximum number of slides per entry will be three (3). Any entry over three (3) slides will be returned for editing. • Please do not adjust the background or any other setting for the slides. Abiding by the template guidelines will assist in submitting the entry, judging and presentation for the conference. • To enter, simply enter your information in the space provided by highlighting over the copy that is on the first slide and type in your copy. • The first slide is information on your newspaper, the name of the entry, contact info, the objective of the initiative and the results of the initiative. • The second slide is for your visual presentation of the initiative. Many papers have used this space for photos or other images of the project. Others placed actual documents used for the initiative such as ROP advertisements or correspondence produced for the initiative to illustrate their initiative. Please do not insert video or audio.

3. Newspaper: Cleveland Plain Dealer City: Cleveland, Ohio Category and Name: Carrier Promotion Name of Entry:”Hit A Grand Slam” Submitted By: Dan Lias Phone: 216.999.4491 E-Mail: dlias@plaind.com Title: State Circulation Manager Objective: Increase home delivery carrier profits to secure carrier retention while increasing home delivery circulation totals. Results: With the promise of a successful Cleveland Indians season for 2012, a targeted marketing sales promotion for independent contractor carriers was developed to run during the months of April and May 2012. Using the upcoming baseball season as a motivator, the initiative was structured to have carriers cover “all the bases”…going for a Grand Slam. Marketing materials included all the basic signage and promo images drumming up the initiative, while introducing route specific route profiles for each non-subscribing opportunity for each carrier. By introducing the info which included identifying those non-subs that had actually been previous subs - with at least two payments received - the carriers had a base of ex DS, Sun Only, and Weekend non-subs that had subscribed within the past two years. Additionally, the info included known reasons why each address had discontinued service. This info coupled with a very aggressive payoff that included Cleveland Indian tickets was an easy sell for carriers to get out and “take a swing”. Final results: For the two-month period a total of 212 DS and 310 Sun/Weekend starts were received. A significant total of over 15% of all carriers entered at least one start - earning extra $$ and Indians tickets, while 35 carriers enjoyed 4-packs of premium seats at Progressive Field.

4. Sales kit for each carrier was developed to assist by providing select opportunities for the carriers Several baseball theme flyers for samples distributed by carriers

5. Leave behind flyers for carriers to leave at door when soliciting Carrier personalized contact info was advantageous in resolving those who previously stopped due to service issue

6. 2013 ONA ‘Best in Ohio’ Awards Entry Categories – NEW for 2013 Paid Audience Development* (two categories) 1.       Subscriber Acquisition or Retention, Print or Digital 2.       Single Copy or Business/Traveler, Print or Digital Verified Audience Development* (one category) 1.       Verified Circulation: any verified Audience Development program, including NIE), Print or Digital Circulation Operations (three categories) 1.       Carrier Recruitment, Retention or Recognition 2.       Cost Efficiency Projects: Initiatives that have reduced production, distribution, or sales costs while maintaining or improving results and services. 3.       New Revenue: Initiatives that generated new revenue for your newspaper utilizing circulation department resources. *Paid and Verified circulation categories have been established based on the Alliance for Audited Media definitions for these categories.  Please visit http://www.auditedmedia.com/ for additional details for help to define these categories.

7. 2013 ONA ‘Best in Ohio’ Awards General Rules • Entries must have been used within the 12 months prior to the convention at your newspaper. • You are not required to attend the conference to enter or win. • Your entry must be in electronic format laid out in this presentation. • All entries must be received in the correct format by September 8, 2013. Judging • Entries will be judged on Concept, Creativity, and Overall Effectiveness • Entries are judged in competition to other entries. • Judges may omit or combine awards in specific categories if no qualified entry is submitted.

8. To Enter To enter, simply email your presentation as an attachment to: tzeller@toledoblade.com Please send each entry as a separate email, with “ONA Best in Ohio Awards” in the subject line. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact ‘Best in Ohio’ Award Committee Chair: Tom Zeller Circulation Sales Manager The Blade 419.724.6317 tzeller@toledoblade.com Good luck to all!