The Western Mail was relaunched in March 2003 with considerable investment in the redesign and accompanying marketing campaign. This consisted of a large branding campaign with in-paper changes and a refocus of the target market. Research and Marketing Ltd. were commissioned to conduct some research amongst readers and non-readers in order to establish how the changes had been received and to provide some strategic direction for ongoing product development. All research required that respondents were able to view the paper and its competitors in some detail and this dictated the methodologies used.
Hall Tests
Both readers and non-readers were interviewed in central hall locations across South Wales. They were questioned about their awareness of marketing campaigns and prompted with relevant visuals. Their current perceptions of the Western Mail were noted and they also described their ideal newspaper.
In-Home Research
This was used to obtain the views of regular readers of The Western Mail. They were asked about the relaunch and their reactions to the changes in the paper. In addition they were also asked about recent marketing campaigns, their current perceptions of The Western Mail and their ideal newspaper. A quota was set to ensure interviews were evenly split between the South East and South West as there is some evidence of differing consumer expectations.
Data was collated from both surveys and a gap analysis was produced to help identify the future direction for newspaper. The results were presented to the Senior Management Team at The Western Mail. As a result of the research the decision was taken to launch the paper in a new compact format.
In announcing the change of format the editor, Alan Edmunds said:
"We have been delighted that the research shows that readers totally endorse the editorial changes made last year. They also overwhelmingly support the change to a compact format, which will be one of the most important milestones in the history of the newspaper."
