NORFOLK DAILY NEWS, Tuesday, May 1, 2012
‘Johnny Goes Home’
Kings Ballroom fire
In 1981, Johnny Carson returns to Norfolk to film a special about his hometown.
In 1986, fire destroys Kings Ballroom, a popular dance hall for 40 years.
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Over the years, advertising has changed a lot
Longevity has been hallmark for paper’s advertising staff
By LARRY BARTSCHER
By ASHA ANCHAN
I certainly cannot go back the entire 125 years of the existence of the Norfolk Daily News, but I can relate to more years than I like to admit. Advertisers in the 1950s really had to do nothing. If they had the product, and a place to sell it from, they were in business. We wanted what they had to sell. We wanted televisions. We wanted refrigerators. We wanted electric ranges. REA (Rural Electric Association) was bringing electricity to many rural areas. In the 1960s, merchants were starting to push product, but they also talked about air-conditioned shopping comfort, off-street parking and, of course, being “open one night a week.” In those days, that night was Saturday. Everyone went to town on Saturday night. It was a social event, as well as a shopping experience. In the 1970s, a major change occurred in how we shopped and how merchants presented their products. This was the advent of the huge box stores. Kmart, Gibson’s, Alco, Pamida and many others began appearing on the edge of town. Shopping centers with multiple stores under one roof became popular. Stores were now open every night of the week, and many were open on Sunday. Print advertising changed with the start of inserts or circulars that carried multiple products and were inserted in the local papers. In the 1980s, merchants had more options with their advertising. Radio and television became a bigger part of their spending budget. Suddenly the local merchant was no longer competing with other merchants in their own town, they were competing with the world. The past 20 years have brought incredible change. With the Internet, you can buy anything you want without leaving your living room, and it will be delivered to your front door. These days, advertising with the Norfolk Daily News doesn’t mean just the newspaper. To help businesses reach today’s diversified market, we bundle print with Internet options, including Facebook and Twitter. QR codes in print ads direct readers to mobile websites through a barcode scanner on their smartphones. As more people shop online, our advertising department builds, hosts and maintains websites and improves search engine optimization for area businesses. What the future holds is anyone’s guess. I only know that the changes that I have experienced in the last 34 years at the Daily News have made this an exciting profession to be a part of.
While skimming headlines, photos and reading stories is all part of the newspaper experience, there is another element that can’t be overlooked: advertisements. Whether in color or black and white, readers are naturally drawn to advertisements when flipping through the Norfolk Daily News or other newspapers. As the Daily News celebrates its 125th anniversary, it is celebrating the strength of the advertising department, which has sought to maintain its focus while continually changing to meet the needs and preferences of consumers. “The role of advertising has always been the same — to convey a message to the consumer in a timely fashion,” said Larry Bartscher, director of advertising. “But now, the way it’s done is very different.” The advertising department covers a broad spectrum of capabilities that reach both consumers and local businesses in a process that is vital to the strength of the newspaper as a whole. Bartscher has been with the Daily News for 33 years and said the changes he’s seen are incredible. Long gone are the days of sifting through artwork books, tracing images and utilizing five people to create one advertisement. Now, an online image search and various font styles on a computer can aid one employee in a process that takes a fraction of the time. But with changes come new forms of technology that demand greater skills from the staff. “We’ve had to become much more professional and we have to know more about our product and be prepared with ideas,” Bartscher said. Additionally, greater technology and accessibility make for a greater number of choices for both the sales staff and the consumers — which can be somewhat of a scary notion at first glance, said Vickie Hrabanek, advertising manager. In her 31 years at the newspaper, she remembers the staff being nervous about the
lbartscher@norfolkdailynews.com
aanchan@norfolkdailynews.com
DENNIS MEYER/DAILY NEWS
VICKIE HRABANEK, advertising manager, and Larry Bartscher, director of advertising, lead the Daily News’ advertising staff. changes and learning curve they needed to undertake to keep up with the mounting technological advances. It was difficult but necessary, Hrabanek said, and the staff did well to make the adjustment. “One advantage that the Norfolk Daily News has is that all of the advertising sales staff has stayed together for years and years,” Bartscher said. “We were able to go from print to Web so successfully because of the relationships of our sales staff.” It’s the trust in the staff that the community witnesses, enabling their work to remain consistent as the methods of advertising changed. “The longevity is rare; people can’t believe that,” Hrabanek said. Local businesses benefit from the longstanding advertising department, Hrabanek said. Keeping its services convenient and user-friendly is a definite goal for the newspaper. “One of the things that we’ve been blessed
with here is the consistency of the Huse family,” Bartscher said. “We’re not controlled by a chain that doesn’t have a feel for what the local economy is doing, which is a great advantage for local businesses.” When the economy ebbs and flows, a family-run business has the ability to adjust prices and services to maintain quality and allow for a space that advertisers can be proud to use. At a time of many changes within the newspaper industry, Bartscher said he’s hopeful the Daily News will be able to avoid many of the negative changes — such as reducing the size of the printed product — because of the strength and consistency of the revenue flow from the advertising department. “We continue to stay strong and I think we will continue to grow because we have a product and salespeople who are great,” Hrabanek said. “People continue to invite us in to their homes every day.”
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