When
it comes to automotive advertising, the Daily News in Los Angeles has shifted
into high gear.
The
Daily News, building on its 12-plus year relationship with Vertis Inc., recently
brought Vertis’ employees on-site to handle all of its automotive
advertising.
Ross Stewart, Vertis' on-site senior customer service rep, at the Los
Angeles Daily News.
Photo: Vertis
The
newspaper (daily, 178,217; Sunday, 200,509) has been involved with Vertis since
1999, when Vertis acquired AdOut, a newspaper services company the Daily News
had been working with since 1989.
The
new three-year contract between the Daily News and Vertis covers premedia
services for ROP and classified automotive advertising. Those services include
digital workflow, page building, art production, digital proofing and on-site
creation of spec ads, according to Daily News Advertising Director Paul
Ingegneri.
“Automotive
advertising is important to the Daily News’ customers and readers,” he said.
Vertis
said having staff on-site at the newspaper will allow the company to be more
responsive to the newspaper’s needs.
“Vertis
has been supporting classified display ad production for the Daily News for over
12 years,” said Young Kwak, advertising services manager for Vertis. “This
strong relationship has allowed us to develop standard operating procedures to
quickly correct color and ensure quality and consistency of the paper.”
Vertis’
Color Communicator, in use at the Daily News, marries color measurement with
International Color Consortium guidelines to create more accurate proofs.
“This
technology allows us to create proofs that will match the press output,” Young
said. “We do this by continuously monitoring our output devices and
fingerprinting and remotely tracking the presses to ensure consistency.”
Vertis
is sending two staffers to support the Daily News sales department, Kwak said.
The employees send layouts and materials electronically to a central Vertis
facility for design and assembly. Those in turn are transmitted over a dedicated
high-speed line to another facility where they are printed.
The
Daily News is currently transferring files to its offices in Van Nuys and
Irvine, Calif. Vertis employees design and assemble Daily News ads on-site,
accessing the Vertis database remotely.
Ingegneri
said the outsourcing deal will let the Daily News tap Vertis’ technologies and
erase the need to purchase costly equipment. “Instead, we can concentrate on
our core competencies.”
‘Reversal
of trends’
Ingegneri
said the Daily News’ on-site model has allowed the newspaper to buck the trend
of rising costs.
“While
many costs have been going up for newspapers, Vertis has enabled us to improve
services for our customers while significantly reducing costs,” he said. “In
a reversal of trends, the implementation of the on-site model at the Daily News
enabled Vertis to reduce our costs and, therefore, pass on a reduced rate to the
Daily News (customers).”
Kwak
said the relationship also benefits Vertis.
“When
the client has a question or has issues, a Vertis employee is right there to
work with him or her,” Kwak said. “The remote electronic workflow allows
Vertis to provide newspaper advertising production in a central facility while
maintaining a small local presence at the paper. Some of the fears of sending
work across the country are lessened with this workflow.”
The
Daily News is Vertis’ first on-site arrangement in the newspaper industry.
