While newspapers still have an important part to play in industry advertising, it has come as a surprise to many that Countdown has decided to significantly reduce its ad spend in press advertising.
NZME’s commercial director Sandra King at NZ Herald told Marketing Magazine’s Stop Press that her team was quite shocked by the move because newspapers were still strong and the audiences were massive. 
She said it wasn’t digital versus newspapers but about the client having as many touch points as possible and dropping the newspaper meant missing out on a high level of reach and frequency.
Countdown is currently looking at other reach opportunities and marketing manager Bridget Lamont has said that the company would continue to use mailers and catalogues although NZME argued that they didn’t have the reach or connection that newspapers offered. The retail industry is watching the move with interest.
