Battle cry sounded as regional titles fight for supremacy

The battle for supremacy among the three regional newspaper titles has turned into all-out warfare, with the three players - The Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ), The Financial Times (FT) and The International Herald Tribune (IHT) - launching major ad campaigns, rolling out new print sites, initiating redesigns and, in one case, even slashing the cover price. The three dailies have been spurred into action because the ranks of the elite business class are growing, and all are positioning themselves to try to capture as large a portion of this growth as possible. The battle is made all the more intense because the three papers are courting roughly the same group of advertisers. Market leader AWSJ has introduced a more user-friendly design and added colour for the first time, including on its masthead. It is also printing three hours earlier in order to make home and office deliveries before 7am and 9am respectively. AWSJ publisher and executive editor Urban Lehner said the earlier delivery times were made possible because closing New York stock prices and other late US news could be sent to subscribers via email in the early morning from WSJ.com. However, it stunned the market by slashing its cover price in four markets - Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand - by varying margins; in Hong Kong, it was reduced to HK$9 per issue from HK$15. Media analysts said that any time prices for top-end products are cut, it generates a negative perception, but Mr Lehner said the decision was strategic and carefully thought out. "We are very strong in reaching the top executive level of companies," he said. "But we think there are a lot of people out there at the next level down who ought to be reading the paper and who would benefit from reading the paper, but are frightened away by the price. "The reduction is a way to court the next level down - the upper middle management down to middle managers - by offering the paper at a premium price.". The changes at the paper are being supported by regional and country-specific ad campaigns, both print, TV and outdoor ads. The AWSJ currently has a circulation of 68,000, and with the improvements is hoping to boost this figure to 100,000 by the end of next year. Dow Jones & Company international president Karen Elliott House said, "We are number one and we don't intend to lose (this position)." The AWSJ's two regional rivals said they had no plans as yet to bring down their cover prices. Analysts speculated that the AWSJ appeared to have been spooked by the fact that advertising revenue at FT, its direct competition, soared by almost 50 per cent in 1999 compared with the year before, according to the CMR Report. While the FT's 1999 revenue of US$7.1 million was still far behind the AWSJ's US$46 million, the rate of increase was substantial especially when seen in light of the fact that the FT's revenue languished below the US$5 million level for several years prior to 1999. At the same time, the FT is poised to open print sites in Singapore and Malaysia this year to add to its facilities in Hong Kong and Tokyo. It plans to roll out more sites over the next few years. However, it still has the fewest print sites; the AWSJ has nine and, by June, the IHT will have eight when it opens its Manila plant. The FT is also planning to add more journalists on the ground in the region to bolster its Asia-Pacific content. The FT's regional director for Southeast Asia and Australasia, Deirdre Ball, said: "We're moving up and we want to ensure the momentum continues over the foreseeable future." The IHT - the second-largest in terms of ad revenue among the three papers - does not consider itself as a direct competitor to either the AWSJ or the FT because it is not an exclusively business paper. But despite this, even the IHT has launched its own ad campaign to protect itself from the battle now unfolding between the AWSJ and the FT. IHT chairman and CEO Peter Goldmark said: "There are two stately dreadnoughts out there with 16-inch guns firing at each other because they know only one of them in 10 years can lay claim to being the world's financial newspaper. "And we are shooting from the general interest market because this AWSJ-FT battle can be dangerous for us. A few stray shells can hurt us so we're going in too to protect our interests." On the Internet side, the AWSJ has moved to bundle the print and electronic product to provide readers with the opportunity to access as much information as they need. The FT recently relaunched its website, while the IHT is focusing more attention on its cyberspace business. The IHT's Mr Goldmark said: "We've been slow with our Website (but) we are now investing in it to modernise it." Meanwhile, the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) and Asiaweek have both redesigned their publication, following revenue drops of 17.6 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively as recorded by CMR. FEER editor and publisher Philip Revzin said the overall look has been made more modern, but in terms of the CMR report, he said: "We want to approach it by making the content as best as it can be ... we hope then that the circulation and the advertising will follow." Both publications denied following the other's lead. Asiaweek publisher and managing director Peter Brack said: "It's purely coincidence ... I don't think there is any more competition between the regionals, certainly no more than there ever has been. "What I see basically is that the market is just evolving. In fact, there is still room for new titles to enter the market, although I don't think that will happen any time soon." - Asiaweek revamps; increases frequency of 'Net supplement: see story on page 14.

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