Johnston Press is seeking to bolster revenues striking a three-year regional advertising deal with Sky to sell targeted TV ad slots to clients.
The regional newspaper publisher started a trial to use Sky’s AdSmart product, which tailors what is shown in TV ad breaks according to household post code and profile, to sell to its advertisers in May last year.
Johnston Press has now struck a three-year deal that will see what had been a limited trial in selected areas a full partnership spanning across all of the publisher’s titles.
“Being able to now offer customers across our portfolio the chance to advertise on television to a local, relevant Sky audience is a hugely attractive proposition and further enhances our attractive multimedia advertising offering,” said the Johnston Press chief executive, Ashley Highfield.
Under the deal, Johnston Press’s ad sales force will work with the Sky AdSmart team to help identify small and medium-sized businesses that could look to run TV ad campaigns in local markets.
Sky, which took a small stake in Johnston Press when it struck the trial partnership last year, says that more than 500 advertisers have run more than 2,000 ad campaigns using AdSmart since it launched in January last year.
Jamie West, deputy managing director of Sky Media, said that the majority of advertisers that have used AdSmart to run campaigns are either new to Sky, or have never advertised on TV before.
“Sky AdSmart has been a phenomenal success since its launch with hundreds of local businesses benefiting from the unrivalled power of TV advertising,” said West.
