Central to his newspaper is knowledge of its brand value. The newspaper was recently redesigned to coincide with Woodbridge's acquisition of a majority stake in the paper's holding company in 2010. He emphasized the importance of an owner who understands the brand, and the multi-platform redesign in 2010 reflected that importance.
He says too many papers in the Americas have lost faith in their future. The redesign last year, combined with faith in the brand and recognition of the need to bolster the brand across all platforms, has given the Globe a competitive advantage. The paper has been reinvigorated but has equally been sure to demonstrate faith in print at the core of its multi-platform portfolio. The redesign speaks to the brand, with a magazine-style front page and a weekend magazine containing strong web elements.
The paper is now printed on four presses capable of running both newsprint and glossy paper, and this has allowed a host of new sections to be launched. A daily glossy lifestyle magazine attracts a lot of advertisers and has caused a growth in female and young readers, with overall readership up 10 percent.
This focus on the strength of the brand is justified, Phillip reasons, as shown in the recent awards from the Society of News Design, the Online News Association and two Emmys in the past years for video reporting in Afghanistan, among others.
Key lessons over the past few years have been the importance of investment, meaning new capabilities fostered, e.g., better print, new apps, increased staff. Staff, Crawley notes, must be hired to serve the new capabilities and not just expand on old ones, bolstering the brand across all its new platforms, providing high -uality journalism across all platforms.
Building connections with the Globe's audience and communities is key to its future success. The Globe ran a video, Our Time to Lead, explaining the new branding, with a focus on readership involvement, especially across university campuses. Since, online readership has seen a growth of 24%.
He closes emphasizing the importance of reader events. For example, a recent event had Bono and the paper's editor talking to an audience about famine in Somalia and raising money to combat it, which was, in his words, "a very popular event which aimed to make a difference, and that is what we aim to keep on doing."
