It’s been less than a year since the demise of the News of the World (NotW), but this Sunday will see the eagerly anticipated launch of the Sun on Sunday, the latest addition to the News International portfolio of newspapers. With the launch, we are set to see one of the biggest battles in recent tabloid history, including old fashioned price wars and an abundance of money being spent on TV advertising, all in the hope of enticing the 2.6 million readers lost by the NotW last summer. With competitors such as Trinity Mirror and Northern & Shell campaigning to keep the readers they won over the past seven months, the Sun on Sunday will have a tough fight on its hands. During this time, the Sunday Mirror has seen its sales increase from 1,097,000 last June to 1,753,000 in January 2012 and the Daily Star Sunday saw an increase of 111 percent in its sales.
It is clear that Sunday paper readers will be intrigued by the new title, especially given the hype created with the £3 million invested into marketing and advertising, but the question is how long will this initial boom last? Will readers find themselves now loyal to their new Sunday favourite? Rupert Murdoch doesn’t seem to think so, with the first print run of the Sun on Sunday anticipated to reach 2.5 million. His confidence might stem from the fact there is still a pool of 800,000 former NotW readers who stopped reading Sunday papers altogether after its demise and the expected cut-price of 50p or 75p in its first week making it extremely competitive compared with other leading Sunday newspapers.
There has already been a flurry of activity in the terms of Sunday paper advertising and giveaways to attract and retain readers, but this may be a good thing for readers as it could inject some creativity into the Sunday newspaper market. After all, a bit of healthy competition is always welcome!
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Tags: media, News of the World, Rupert Murdoch, Sun on Sunday, Virgo, Virgo HEALTH, Virgo HEALTH PR