Newspapers urged to begin testing EDI p. 21

By: Dorothy Giobbe

NEWSPAPERS MUST BEGIN selecting advertising partners and systems suppliers for electronic ad transactions, or risk having terms dictated to them by advertisers.
That's the message from Barbara Boyer, systems planning manager for the Chicago Tribune. Boyer spoke on a panel at the recent Nexpo convention in Las Vegas.
"You cannot afford to wait," Boyer told attendees. "Get out there and start testing, because otherwise it will be forced on us and I don't think you'll like the results of that."
Currently, newspapers are in a "unique position" because they have a "choice," she added. Because there are a variety of systems and services available, newspapers can either forestall the inevitable, or they can "go out there and work together with our advertisers and decide what we want to work with and what works well together."
The Tribune, is currently "working along several paths on electronic ads," Boyer said.
The Tribune is involved in a pilot with "several" advertisers using Adobe Acrobat, Boyer said. Also, the newspaper is testing different communications channels, including satellite and ISDN lines. Internal procedures at the Tribune are also being evaluated to ensure efficient flow.
Boyer confessed that "when I first started hearing about electronic ads and how many companies are getting into providing services, I had a nightmare."
Boyer feared that every advertiser would choose different electronic ad service suppliers, requiring newspapers to install special-purpose hardware to accommodate every customer system.
"I have a great fear that if we don't take the forefront, I won't possibly be able to support ten different systems," Boyer said.
To avoid "computer overload," or having to install multiple electronic ad systems, Boyer said that as transaction guidelines develop, "We have to support them actively, and we have to push suppliers to accept each other's formats. We are going to have to be salesmen to our advertisers to push our choice. You can be sure that the [electronic ad] businesses are going to be talking to our advertisers, so we're going to have to decide the system that we want to use and be our own salesmen."
Newspapers can help facilitate the process by "offering to help set up our system of choice."
For newspapers just beginning the process, Boyer advised that they become acquainted with as many options as possible.
"Start simple, build experience, offer to help set up your system of choice, and clean up your internal procedures so that you'll be ready for what I predict is going to be a flood of ads," Boyer said.