According to the article
assigned this week, print newspapers “remain the core product in newspapers’
home markets without a single exception, reaching far more readers than the
online edition.” Additionally, online readership is showing only little or no
growth at all! So why are newspaper companies so obsessed with going digital when
clearly something (more appropriately, someone) is not ‘clicking?’
I would like to examine the
transition to online news in light of Coca-Cola’s biggest blunder and business
fail: “New Coke.” In 1985, based on consumer research, Coca-Cola decided to
launch “New Coke,” which was marketed as having a smoother, sweeter taste.
Coca-Cola hauled “Old Coke” off the shelves and prepared itself to surpass
Pepsi as the cola of the 80s and beyond. However, when released to the public,
New Coke was a failure. Consumers demanded ‘Classic’ Coke be put back on
shelves, even going so far as to organize grassroots campaigns across the
nation. Eventually, ‘Classic’ Coke was put back on shelves (along with ‘New’
Coke) due to the emotional attachment that consumers had for the original. Emotional
attachment couldn’t be measured by consumer research. New Coke eventually was
no longer offered as an option. So what does Coca-Cola have to do with digital
news?
Newspaper companies should try
the biggest experiment to hit the journalism world. Albeit probably not
feasible, it would be really interesting to see if print newspapers were
completely taken off shelves, just like Classic Coca-Cola was. Would there be a
consumer backlash? Or would digital news become the core product of newspaper
companies, producing profits surpassing what was attainable by print news? Maybe
then journalists and companies would really know how much print newspapers are
worth. My guess is that print newspapers are akin to Classic Coca-Cola and
digital news media are akin to New Coca-Cola; the nostalgia and value
associated with print newspapers, in my opinion, would be enough for a print resurgence.
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