Creating New Strategies

by: Adreana Young

Maine’s Bangor Daily News and Dream Local Digital, a marketing agency, are planning to launch a new digital arm for the BDN. Called BDN Maine, this new digital division will expand the newspaper’s online content and customer services and give local Maine businesses better advertising tools through Dream Local Digital’s services.

While BDN and Dream Local Digital have been working together since 2008 to create a digital product, the BDN wasn’t seeing great digital revenue traction, said Shannon Kinney, Dream Local Digital client success officer.

After discussing several strategies, Kinney said they “agreed that a separate division unfettered by doing things the way they have always been done was a move that would produce the highest results and move the company forward.”

BDN chief operating officer Todd Benoit said he knew they had to find new revenue sources to support their journalism, and they could find it by creating a more affective digital space for advertisers.

This, Benoit said, will also benefit the readers because with more revenue the BDN can create the kind of journalism readers appreciate.

Dream Local Digital is helping to create the products and services BDN Maine is planning to offer. Kinney said that with this launch the BDN will become a digital company with legacy media assets, and she and her team will help the BDN create their strategy, product lines and lead the sales effort.

“For me personally, this is not only exciting to help the Bangor Daily News grow, it is an opportunity to create a blueprint and case studies for the industry at large, and specifically for Dream Local Digital partners,” she said.

According to Kinney, Dream Local Digital will be documenting the entire process so other media companies can learn from the experience.

The positive impact Benoit and Kinney believe this new digital strategy will yield is one Benoit thinks many small and medium sized newspapers can learn from.

Benoit said that acquiring the skills and experience necessary for growth and success in today’s media industry sometimes calls for non-traditional media partners.

“When you look at the kinds of sites that are growing audience and revenue the fastest, they often are not coming from a traditional news background,” he said. “We need guidance to appreciate what’s going on there and when it’s appropriate for us to pursue those strategies.”