PROFILE: Media Watch - Lianhe Zaobao plays its China card to boost relevance

Singapore's leading Chinese dail y Lianhe Zaobao relaunched on March 27, a move driven by two goals. It needs to restate its relevance in its predominantly English-speaking home base even as it eyes a far bigger market overseas.

Touted as the only foreign Chinese-language newspaper allowed to circulate in China, Zhaobao has thrown financial and human resources into making the paper more appealing to a younger readership. Richer China content and more youth-focused entertainment news have been introduced. China-related news have been reorganised under a new Zaobao China sector, with two extra pages of news and a doubling of staffing to 10 reporters to handle the additional coverage. "People are hungry for information related to the waking giant," says editor Lim Jim Koon. Zaobao has also beefed up its sports, entertainment, popular culture and IT coverage. The ZBNow entertainment section boasts two extra pages. "Zaobao's readership has to be rejuvenated to achieve a younger profile. To achieve this, Zaobao needs a makeover that will appeal to the young." The Singapore Press Holdings-owned Zaobao is banking on the editorial improvements to attract stronger advertising support for the city's leading Chinese-language daily. Media buyers have however questioned the relevance of a Chinese-language paper in a predominantly English-speaking market and amid the current advertising slump. Zaobao circulation figures appear to bear this out - in February 2003, weekday circulation was 187,000 and Sunday at 198,000, lower that figures reported for August 2001. "Singapore statistics show that there are more English-speaking households," says Kenneth Tsang, chief executive officer of ZenithMedia.

SPH's executive vice-president of marketing, Tham Khai Wor, is adamant that Zaobao has a place in media schedules. He says its readership - estimated at 750,000 - is "the most misunderstood" group of consumers.

"Throw away your obsession with numbers," Tham says, while quoting statistics to show that Zaobao's readership is increasingly affluent (a 28 per cent growth in monthly household income to S$3,700).

Agencies such as Starcom believe that by expanding China coverage, Zaobao will allow advertisers to better target affluent professionals interested in China news. However, its general manager Melissa Ho doubts if its efforts on the youth front will bear fruit since literacy in Chinese is low among younger Singaporeans.