Publishing: The Los Angeles Times

Problem
Readers are increasingly getting their news from online sources, and advertisers are following by shifting advertising dollars away from print and into interactive mediums.  In order to recapture a portion of advertiser’s budgets, the L.A. Times needed to find a way to increase the value of print for both readers and advertisers, position the paper on the cutting edge of technology,  and provide innovative and competitive interactive marketing tools.

Solution
The L.A. Times launched LAT Mobile, powered by the Gumiyo Mobile Ready Platform.  The paper’s advertising sales staff was able to offer an interactive print-to-mobile service for their retail automotive advertisers to enthusiastic response.  With LAT Mobile, advertisers received:

• SMS calls-to-action included throughout print ads
• Custom, rich-media Mobile Web site
• Mobilized, up-to-date details for each vehicle in inventory
• Inclusion in the Times’ automotive classifieds mobile portal
• Real-time reporting and lead generation directly from print ads

Results In the first four weeks, the L.A. Times sold multi-month mobile service contracts to many retail dealerships, several of whom had previously ceased print advertising.  Car shoppers noticed and began responding to the auto section with their mobile phones resulting in participating dealers receiving dozens of mobile hits per week.