Having read last week's rant by Stefano Hatfield, editor of thelondonpaper, on the afternoon free newspaper market in London, I couldn't help thinking that instead of reminiscing about the Maxwell era, his company might be better served if it spent more time concentrating on the here and now, particularly the failures of its own paper.
We at Associated can have no objection to other titles launching into the London evening newspaper space in competition with us and others. Of course we are a competitive bunch but thelondonpaper's unsubstantiated bleating about monopolies and anti-competitive behaviour is - quite apart from being entirely misconceived - galling from an organisation that makes Tesco look like a corner shop.
It is unjustified for News International to seek to blame Associated for things that are attributable to thelondonpaper's own failings and inconsistency in its entry to the free newspaper market. We have spent years with Metro, then with Standard Lite and latterly with London Lite building up real credibility among advertisers and readers in the free newspaper concept in this country. Then along comes an enthusiastic amateur and we have an environmental backlash from councils and some Londoners as far too many copies of thelondonpaper are made available even after the large scale dumping that we revealed on You Tube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZn5pdE1dTU.
Do you recall the following comments?
Life begins at 4.31. Copies will be merchandised over three hours.
Geo-mapping allows detailed street level assessment to identify key distribution points.
Merchandisers will have PDAs to ensure everyone is in touch.
We will distribute 400,000 copies.
Our rates will increase in January following an introductory period.
The Lite is an inferior product in every department.
The Lite is a spoiler.
All these comment have been made by News International - none of them has been substantiated, not one. Check the facts. We did say 400,000 copies, with the majority between 4pm and 7.30pm. We did say London Lite would be engaging, colourful, a bite-sized news and entertainments newspaper for the regular commute home. We did say we would deliver a young urbanite audience.
There is much to be said for our eight years' experience at Metro. A clear proposition and actually executing it are two achievements we can be proud of. This experience supports Lite.
The latest ad campaign from thelondonpaper claims that, as it has the exclusive evening distribution rights at Network Rail's stations etc, it is justified in printing so many copies. Somewhat confusing - distribution at present in these stations is around a mere 60,000 copies.
The meticulous planning before the London Lite launch, which fully involved our distribution and merchandising teams, has meant that we have never had to make false promises and that is why we exposed thelondonpaper's distribution failures - we do not want to be associated (excuse the pun) with that type of shoddy practice. If you have had the pleasure of regularly reading London Lite you will see that we have not changed direction since we launched.
Our newspaper was intended to be bright and breezy, gossipy, relaxing and entertaining. We wanted it to be a good read, not a worthy or preaching one. We are working hard to achieve this and are pleased that findings by independent research company Other Lines of Enquiry show that Lite is the more preferred London afternoon newspaper. We are encouraged that we are able to distribute 400,000 each week day successfully and that we are able to work responsibly with the councils to ensure we help keep London as tidy as possible.
It is not yet perfect but we will continue to strive to make it better while working with our merchandisers on the streets, with agencies and their clients, with the local councils and the London commuter. After all, it will be they who ultimately decide their preference.
Steve Auckland is head of Associated Newspapers' free newspapers division
