Commercial executive director also talks about the vehicle’s rebranding process, which included changing the printed format
Throughout its 103 years, Folha de S.Paulo obtained and maintained a prominent position, both in editorial and commercial terms, by treating credibility as a sacred point for its branding.
Commercial executive director Marcelo Benez states that this reputation was built by being non-partisan, pluralist and practicing journalism with a critical eye. “If it’s published in Folha, people trust it. If it didn’t come out, people doubt whether it’s true or not,” he summarizes.
Just over a month ago, the vehicle underwent a rebranding of its model: it left the standard format to adopt the Berliner. According to Benez, the new project was well accepted by the market and went from 48 printed pages to 64.
The segments that advertise most on Folha are legal advertising, the cultural sector, industry, representative entities and associations.
What is Folha’s current situation from a commercial point of view?
The newspaper has grown from an advertising point of view by more than 6% over the previous year. We have been working a lot on multiplatform and Folha has seen this process as a differentiator. As a media product, the strength of print advertising that documents information, which has a special credibility, with the scope of digital and multiplatform advertising. The vehicle has attracted advertisers in a way that no longer exists: the exclusively printed page. The printed page is also in the digitized version of Folha; Today Folha’s circulation is the leader in Brazil. There are more than 834 thousand copies paid per day. This has, as a curiosity, made Folha’s paid circulation today greater than that of the three other important newspapers combined. If we add the paid circulation of Globo, Valor and Estado de S.Paulo, it does not reach this circulation of 834 thousand copies of Folha. So, it is a very special moment for the advertiser who, when appearing on a page in Folha, is also in the digital version. We have been working on many multiplatform projects and it has been a very different moment.
Has project planning made a difference in keeping the brand as an option for advertisers?
Project planning, yes, has made the difference in keeping Folha as an option for advertisers, because we have been able to offer everything from events to branded content, digital media, printed media, media on mobile devices, and this all makes connection between a brand and a quality, qualified, opinion-forming public. Which has been around 22 million to 24 million people per month passing through Folha. In other words, it is a great option for brands to connect with these people.
What about legal advertising? Does it remain an important business option for Folha?
It really remains a very important business option; almost 20% of Folha’s advertising revenue is directly linked to legal advertising, in its different lines: minutes, notices, communications and balance sheets. Folha has been an option for companies, because they want to and also because they need to comply with the legal obligation of their publications. But, more than that, it is taking advantage of Folha’s entire audience, its credibility, to show the transparency of the companies’ management. That’s why companies end up using Folha a lot, which for us is an honor and a satisfaction, so we’ve been working hard on legal advertising. Both in printed and digital versions. We created the Legal Folha Advertising Portal and it has been a great success.
How are you observing the newspaper industry, which was once third in the media distribution ranking, with the entire transformation process underway?
Observing the newspaper medium in the media distribution ranking, in fact, the advertising pie has changed a lot over the last few decades. The digital era has presented advertisers with an exponentially greater range of options than before the digital era existed. So, the percentage participation of the media really decreased, but it was not a particularity of the newspaper media or much less of Folha de S.Paulo. If we look at open TV? Is the audience for a successful soap opera, compared to what it was 20, 30 years ago, smaller? This happened with all other media options. If you put yourself in the position of a marketing director of a company that has to choose between so many media situations and connections, you have blogs, outdoor media, open TV, closed TV. You can only do this in relation to the newspaper, on the platforms. So, really, the advertising pie is different, but the companies that have managed to adapt in their offers to the market have been successful, fortunately in the case of Folha it has been positive.
Read the full interview in the issue of propmark October 21, 2024
