Resized Journal expands offer to shake up staid image

<P>Last week's publication of The Wall Street Journal Asia's (WSJA) new glossy supplement Fashion Journal is a sure sign that the former broadsheet is planning on more than a resize and redesign to remain an attractive proposition for readers and advertisers in the future.</P> <P><br><br><BR>"This is something as a company which we needed to address," says the title's managing director, Christine Brendle. "You will see in Asia a number of supplements coming out."</P> <P><br><br><BR>While regional rivals Financial Times (FT) and International Herald Tribune (IHT) have both been aggressively expanding their range of editorial content, the Journal by comparison had appeared passive and inflexible. </P> <P><br><br><BR>Brendle's job is to make sure this changes, getting readers and advertisers alike to take a second look at what the WSJA has to offer. One initiative signalling a signficant change in the paper's approach is a move to exploit its nine Asian printing sites - in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia - giving advertisers who previously had to use the publication as a regional medium the possibility of a localised buy. </P> <P><br><br><BR>"We have a flexibility our competitors don't have so we are going to make much more of this," Brendle vows.</P> <P><br><br><BR>A former Hachette regional head, Brendle took up her WSJA role in February, carrying through reforms initiated to deliver news in a way that suits readers in a digital age, be it via a more manageable paper or a different platform entirely. In March head of circulations marketing Olivier LeGrand was promoted into a new marketing director role, overseeing print and online together for the first time, while his replacement, former Asiamoney publisher Philip Owens, took over a similarly expanded circulation marketing remit, with more freedom to promote WSJA's print and online versions separately. </P> <P><br><br><BR>This opens up new opportunities in markets where the paper version struggled to reach readers. A major push to promote the website is planned later in the year in India -where current laws prohibit the paper from printing locally, an approach that could be extended to other markets such as Japan and Korea.</P> <P><br><br><BR>WSJA's initiatives haven't helped it gain a clear advantage over the likes of FT and IHT yet, says Doris Kuok, a business director at MindShare's regional business unit, although moves towards greater channel integration could yet deliver an edge, with brand-owners showing a real interest in advertising in digital media. "It's a good sign that they have made this step quicker than the other two," she observes. "Who's going to win the game? It's too early to tell. At the end it's quality of the editorial that counts."</P> <P><br><br><BR>As WSJA loosens its ties to its print heritage Brendle is planning a new advertising campaign, arguing that all the changes taking place are leading people to look at the title in a new light. </P> <P><br><br><BR>"We also want to refresh the perceptions people have of our brand," she says. "The campaign will play a key role in that, to re-energise the brand."<BR></P>