The Eagles WichiTalk

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The Eagles WichiTalk
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GROWING AUDIENCE
how we went about innovation at The Wichita
Eagle
WichiTalk was born through an initiative last
summer that aimed to answer this question What
changes in culture and content would make the
paper more useful and essential to light readers
and drive circulation?
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what we wanted
SPEED Move faster than the usual newspaper
pace. INVOLVEMENT Enlist every department,
readers and advertisers. FOCUS Pick two or
three BIG ideas. RESULTS Increase circulation
and readership among light readers.
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Our Game Plan
The Right People
The Right Research
The Charrette Process
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Creative thinkers from 5 sister Knight
Ridder papers. Collaborative, innovative people
from every division of The Eagle. Mary Nesbitt
and the Readership Institute. Two idea-rich
execs from KR corporate. Creative CEO of a local
ad agency.
The Right People
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Brainstorming in every Eagle department. Local
market information. In-depth phone interviews
with occasional readers. Readership Institute
research on key experiences that drive
readership.
The Right Research
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The Charrette Process
Intensive 70-hour lock-in
Flesh out ideas draw them prototype run on
press test
Pre- Charrette
Brain- storm new ideas
Idea 1 NEW LIFESTYLE SECTION
Conference call w/ Mary Nesbitt to review RI
findings, introduce reader experience concepts
BIG 3
Idea 2 NEW BUSINESS SECTION
Idea 3 NEW FRONT PAGE
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SUCCESS WITH TARGET Positive response from
female readers new, relevant content
READER SATISFACTION Substantial increase
in usefulness rating in 2005 Reader Image Study
CIRCULATION BOOST New starts wrote 143 orders
at Womens Fair based on WichiTalk
ADVERTISERS RESPOND About 30K/month in ad
revenue, almost 10K/month in new revenue
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We learned to GET EVERYONE IN. Cant be a
newsroom project make it a whole building
project. DRAFT THINKERS. Pull in creative minds
outside your organization. BE FLEXIBLE. Dont
wait to perfect. Adjust and learn on the fly.
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Heavy emphasis on useful content and local faces
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Quick-reading profiles of successful local women
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Emphasis on easy-to-read, non-traditional story
formats
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Small spaces are great for getting more local
faces in the section
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Sherry Chisenhall Editor The Wichita
Eagle schisenhall_at_wichitaeagle.com [phone]