It's official: regional newspapers provide best value

Evening Press marketing manager Paul Stevenson: results encouraging

That is the conclusion of a detailed survey by Research Society of Great Britain commissioned by the Newspaper Society which finds that they relate better to the regional press too.

And the findings will influence the content of your new pink Business Press as it seeks to satisfy the needs of the business community in York and North Yorkshire.

More than 2,000 business decision-makers were asked for their views on different media. The definition of a decision-maker went much wider than the normal choice for business surveys.

Usually the views are canvassed only from the cream of the business community such as the bowler-hatted white collar male managing director.

Analysis of their responses showed that the regional press stood head and shoulders above other media, including the national press, such as The Times, FT and Independent.

In fact the response by the decision makers to regional business advertising was more than double that of the nationals (16 per cent as opposed to seven per cent) and almost eight times that of local commercial radio, which stood at a mere two per cent.

As expected, the trade press performs particularly well being able to target news towards specific disciplines and industries and enjoys high levels of response. Even so, the levels of advertising response are lower than those of the regional press.

Paul Stevenson, marketing manager for York and County Press which publishes the Evening Press said: "These research results are very encouraging, confirming the wisdom of re-launching Business Press last month.

"We shall continue to monitor research findings nationally and locally in the business sector in order to ensure that we stay at the forefront of business news and information in the region."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.