The Weekly Advertiser – 20th Birthday – July 11, 2018

The Weekly Advertiser turns 20 today. We celebrate the milestone with a special four-page feature.

Our community paper –adaptable and thriving

The Australian media landscape is continually evolving and trends are starting to provide a clearer picture of where newsprint sits in the equation.

The progression and growth of The Weekly Advertiser from a basic annex to radio into a standalone product reflects ACE Radio’s understanding of this evolution.

Early fears that society’s rapid absorption and acceptance of digital media would spell the death knell of the printed word have proved, in many circumstances, unfounded.

While major paid metropolitan and traditionally strong regional newspapers have been unable to adequately adapt to the presence of online media, weekly free publications have blossomed.

This is where The Weekly Advertiser has come into its own and in the past decade has forged ahead, expanding in size and content every year.

In 20 years, The Weekly Advertiser has gone from a 12-page brochure that from a business perspective struggled to break even to, on average, a 56 to 60-page publication that financially holds its own.

People still want a newspaper, still want somewhere appropriate to display or look for products and services and, importantly, still yearn for a good read about what’s happening in their neck of the woods.

And the success of The Weekly Advertiser is far from a rage against a modern media environment – it’s

from the centre of the

front page of the first edition. Pictures: PAUL CARRACHER

tial for all mediums represents where the industry is heading.”

The Weekly Advertiser concentrates heavily on a ‘what’s happening next’ approach to broad regional news and issues and community activity and sentiment. It prides itself on presenting a ‘familiar’ feel through its editorial columns with Wimmera-based staff members reporting on issues with unrivalled community insight, alongside support from highly valued contributors.

The Weekly Advertiser advertising manager Mark Sulic emphasised the importance of a broad ‘local’ approach in building the newspaper’s evolution.

“We’ve stuck to our guns and backed a home-grown product, something we have all invested in heavily,” he said.

“Everyone is on board and engaged – from front-of-house staff to an incredibly strong editorial and design team and account managers fully committed to developing rigid business partnerships through proven formulas.

“To put it simply, the paper is kicking goals because the people involved are good at what they do.”

based on adaptation and acute awareness of the needs of people in the region. The reality is that consumers want a piece of everything.

They want their newspaper, radio, and all the information and entertainment the digital world now offers.

The Weekly Advertiser general manager Brendan O’Loughlin said operational autonomy had also been critical in steering the newspaper in the right direction.

“The research is done here, the planning is done here, the decisions are

A successful adventure

It has been great to be able to service the regional communities in and beyond the footprint of our radio stations with a quality print product, which continues to expand with online services.

The Weekly Advertiser, through positive and meaningful stories and a significant distribution area, provides an outstanding avenue for businesses to promote their products and services.

It is hard to believe it was 20 years ago that

Mark Taylor announced he was keen to add a newspaper to his stable of Wimmera operations. My mother-in-law, the late Helen Handbury, was also a great supporter of the project.

Over the journey it has proved a successful and robust adventure and we continue to look to grow and develop The Weekly Advertiser as part of a multi-media approach.

– Rowly Paterson

made here and the work is done here,” he said.

“We rely on the intellectual capital and resources of our own region and that approach has paid off. Having the ability to integrate media platforms while respecting the reach and poten-

Of course, the critical backbone of The Weekly Advertiser’s success, apart from an unwavering charter to be the best publication in the region, is its growing number of readers and advertisers.

– Dean Lawson

Home-grown product, resources

The company is very proud of the evolution of The Weekly Advertiser and the effort that has been required to get it to where it is today.

We’ve tried extremely hard to provide a local product for local people – to establish a place in the regional print-media landscape – and we’ve succeeded.

The approach of creating a home-grown prod-

uct using home-grown resources and talent has paid off and now, 20 years on, I’m amazed how much the paper has become part of the region.

Our great strength is that we know, understand and have close ties with the people of the Wimmera, Grampians and Mallee.

With a successful newspaper, we provide advertisers with unrivalled regional multi-media print, radio and online services.

– Mark Taylor

From humble beginnings

BY DEAN LAWSON

It is staggering that The Weekly Advertiser has become by far the most widely read newspaper in the Wimmera considering its humble beginnings.

Twenty years since the first edition appeared in letterboxes as the Horsham and District Advertiser, the weekly newspaper has entrenched itself in the regional media landscape.

It is no mean feat that today, based on individual editions, more people read or have access to The Weekly Advertiser than all other Wimmera newspapers combined.

Copies of the newspaper find their way to 22,589 homes, farms and businesses across western Victoria, many of them hand-delivered by a dedicated distribution team to household mail boxes.

Based in Horsham and Ararat, The Weekly Advertiser is a free-of-charge community newspaper working in the regional ACE broadcasting stable alongside and in partnership with radio stations 3WM and MIXX FM and a vibrant regional business community.

ACE broadcasting chief executive Mark Taylor was Horsham station manager when the idea of creating a print publication to support AM and FM radio stations became a reality.

“We just felt we had the opportunity to extend the radio stations’ reach into the community by expanding what we did on the radio into print,” he said.

“We started just going to Horsham and surrounds and then extended to Stawell and Ararat as part of a natural progression. Pretty quickly we were then sending it right across the region.

The Weekly Advertiser team, made up of people from across the newspaper’s distribution footprint, boasts a wealth of print-media industry experience.

The team’s expertise ranges from editorial and graphic-design insight to comprehensive sales and business know-how.

Collective staff experience represents more than 150 years in Wimmera newspapers.

Critically, the team reflects The Weekly Advertiser’s philosophical approach of creating a ‘local product, by local people, for local people’.

“Now, 20 years on, I’m amazed how much it has become an integral part of the region. We tried really hard to get into people’s minds that there was a new local paper in the region and we’ve succeeded.”

Simple chat

Mr Taylor said the newspaper’s beginning resulted from a social gettogether with long-time newspaper journalist Bruce Lawson.

“We basically hatched the idea while chatting. It was as simple as that and look at what we have now,” he said.

“What it means is that ACE Radio in Horsham has evolved into a multi-platform media organisation unmatched in Victoria.”

Bruce Lawson, now a Geelong web-design company chief executive, said the project concept was initially to create a ‘simple’ 12-page real-estate

and motoring guide. “It soon became obvious it was going to be much more than that and it was tough going. Staff members were putting in 70-plus hour weeks simply to get it out,” he said.

Mr Taylor said the company was proud of how The Weekly Advertiser had entrenched itself in the regional marketplace.

“It has certainly been an evolving project,” he said.

“What’s interesting is that ACE Radio is a large organisation but is still based in the region with its owners living near Ararat,” he said.

“Critically, The Weekly Advertiser has traditionally tapped heavily into the obvious talent that comes out of its own area – the Wimmera, Grampians and Mallee – for its journalism and photography, sales expertise and graphic design.

“This backs a philosophical approach that it is a local product made by local people for local readers –that’s the newspaper’s great strength.

“We know a lot of newspapers do a lot of outsourcing these days and we remain proud to this day that everything we do, except for printing because what we need is unavailable in the Wimmera, is done locally. And at least the printing is still in regional Victoria at Shepparton.”

Mr Taylor said much of the credit of the newspaper’s success was due to its loyal clientele.

“Our clients have shown enormous faith in us and we couldn’t have done it without them,” he said.

“In most cases we consider our clients our business partners – many of them have been with us on the journey right from the start.”

• The Weekly Advertiser is 100% locally owned and operated

• 22,589 copies of The Weekly Advertiser are distributed each edition

• We cover six municipalities: Ararat Rural City, Hindmarsh, Horsham Rural City, Northern Grampians, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack

• The Weekly Advertiser presents a comprehensive coverage with a strong focus on relevant content that matters to you

• The Weekly Advertiser staff have more than 150 years’ Wimmera newspaper experience