Wyoming Paper's Redesign Raises 'Flag,' New Readers

By: Jennifer Saba Publishers across the country should train their eyes on the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne, because the 15,762-circ paper could teach the big guns a thing or two about redesigns. Go ahead, have them send you a copy ? and ogle away.

On June 10, the McCraken family unveiled the paper's new look. It's an impressive example of how newspapers can play up color, headlines, and photographs, borrowing design elements from such magazines as the redesigned Business Week, rather than USA Today. Subscriptions have picked up, and the Tribune Eagle's number of stops is at its lowest since it started tracking them in 1998.

On the new front page, the flag has been transformed from black script at the top of the page to yellow letters across a swath of red. Above it, the paper teases stories using simple bold headlines and a few select images.

But it's not just Page One that's changed. Flip over to the obits, for example, which now jump off the page due to the sharpness of the printing that gives the entire paper a cleaner feel. The colors in both ads and photos are intense and finely honed.

"I will say one thing, it's the most drastic redesign we have had," says Publisher L. Michael McCraken, whose family also runs the Laramie (Wyo.) Boomerang and three other dailies. McCraken says he steadied himself for negative comments since the change was so dramatic, but the new look has so far proven a hit.

Brass Tacks Design's Alan Jacobson was brought in to put to use the Tribune Eagle's new MAN Roland Uniset 75, an investment including a plant expansion that totaled $15.5 million. "You really need someone from the outside to make you think in different ways," McCraken says, adding that Jacobson and the paper's employees worked on the revamp for seven months before the relaunch.

Another unusual twist ? especially these days ? is that the Tribune Eagle actually added sections rather than strip them away. Previously, the paper consisted of four sections Monday through Thursday. Now each day it runs a free-standing classified section and a "To Do" section that once ran weekly.

Explaining the transformation from a weekly tab to a daily section, Jacobson says people didn't want to wade through 24 pages a week to find out what's going on in the community; four pages are far more digestible. In its new form, "To Do" attracts premium advertisers, says Scott Walker, the Tribune Eagle's vice president of marketing and operations. He adds that a very low number of people ? about half a dozen ? dropped their subscriptions due to the new look.

The paper has been selling about 125 to 150 new subscriptions a month, but Walker says the Tribune Eagle started aggressively selling through kiosks and crews. In July, the paper hit a new record, with 100 new subscribers signed up via crewing efforts.

The Tribune Eagle isn't neglecting single-copy sales, either. The paper teamed up with three area convenience stores for a promotion that enticed people to get a free soft drink or coffee when they bought the daily. During the campaign, some 200-250 copies flew off the racks each day.

With an overall average single-copy circ of 3,000, Tribune Eagle executives hope to raise that average by about 250 copies. Walker adds, "The idea was to work to increase single copy sales and create a better product for subscribers."