Taylor hopes commercial nous will drive The Guardian forward

Putting it mildly, for Taylor, the last nine months have been busy.

Very, very busy.

And with this week's relaunch of The Guardian's much heralded Berliner version waiting in the wings, it doesn't seem like there will be any let up just yet.

Not that he is complaining, cheerfully describing the build up to yesterday's Berliner launch as an "incredibly exciting period".

After The Independent and The Times adopted tabloid formats it was largely tipped that The Guardian would follow suit.

But, as Taylor explains, knee-jerk reactions are not very "Guardian".

Bigger picture

Instead, the management team at Guardian Newspapers Limited used its position as part of the Scott Trust to its advantage, took a step back and considered the bigger picture.

"The Scott Trust allowed us to take the long-term view that we didn't have to go tabloid or stay broadsheet, we could break that mould and we are the first in this country to do that. That was a big decision and the longevity that the trust looks after The Guardian has helped," says Taylor.

Since The Guardian announced its plans in April 2004, Taylor has been instrumental in developing the title's commercial package. It's a tall order, he explains: "There is no paper like this in Britain and we can't trade it like a broadsheet or a tabloid. We had to re-invent a way of selling ads."

Keen not to make the same mistakes as other broadsheets that went before them, Taylor and his team also spent several months touting dummy copies and canvassing industry opinion.

"We haven't sprung any changes on people. We started our communication very early and have been trialling it with creatives, planners, buyers, the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers, auditors, clients and as many people as we can, because we believe in communication – we have hidden nothing."

It is no secret that since going compact, The Indy and The Times have enjoyed some phenomenal year-on-year circulation gains in the Audit Bureau of Circulation figures. Taylor admits that during the months that preceded the launch, it was at times difficult to watch rivals increase their average sale as The Guardian's fell away.

"It was a painful wait as we all wanted to get on with this very quickly, and respond – that is what newspapers do – they respond," says Taylor. "But we had to wait and it has given us a lot of time and we have used that time really effectively.

"We have had a good long look at what happened to the advertising, retail, POS (point of sale) and how we are going to market this to readers. Rather than rush it, I think it has been worth the wait."

Independent research

As part of preparations, in the lead up to the launch, The Guardian commissioned independent research on the impact of advertising in a Berliner compared with a broadsheet in order to, as Taylor explains, "reassure clients that they are getting the same or better value".

He adds: "Some buyers have forgotten that advertising is about impact.

"We are not saying that a page is a page, our rate structure reflects the fact that the page has become smaller, buyers have all bought into our trading plan but we have proved that the impact of the environment is better than the broadsheet and we will do more research as to how people are reading this paper."

With his research results under his belt and the product now in the marketplace, Taylor is more than just a bit excited about what the Berliner offers advertisers. With full colour, back and double page advertising opportunities available, as well new sections and front-page banner ads, Taylor says advertisers have been swift to snap up space.

He adds: "We have been trawling the world's newspapers for different advert shapes and sizes and have mocked up step ads that use the five column grid and have used u-shapes and they look fantastic.

"What we are saying to people is, if you feel you want to do something different away from shapes and sizes come and talk to us and if you work with the design of this paper you get better results."

Taylor is also quick to point out that the physical changes to the paper were heavily influenced by the success of Guardian Unlimited (GUL) and go far beyond the mere size of the page.

"With 600,000 users a day, GUL dwarfs the paper and the Berliner really is one of the first newspapers to be rethought from top to bottom properly in the digital age," says Taylor.

He is confident that the Berliner will not only enhance The Guardian's reputation for journalism, but also extol its brand credentials. "It is good on all sides. Brand differentiation, reputation and innovation, we feel, will all be enhanced. Commercially, we feel we will sell more copies and sell more advertising," he says.

Taylor is anticipating a boost in its Audit Bureau of Circulation figures, which in the latest round up showed the title dropping more than 6% year on year, but he is adamant that the new-look Berliner will not alienate core Guardian readers.

He adds: "There is a huge group of people who are intelligent, inquisitive, smart, challenging, upscale and in good jobs and we want them to have a look at The Guardian. We think a lot of the defectors that have gone to The Indy will come back – they only left because of the size."

So convinced is Taylor of the Berliner's success, he positively baulks at the notion that circulation may not increase in leaps and bounds when the honeymoon period ends and curtly responds. "We don't think that will happen, but we will have a plan for it if it does."
With the exception of a three-year stint at Argus Specialist Publications, Taylor, who joined The Observer in 1985, has spent his entire career in newspapers.

Taylor says it is the fusion of creativity and commercial that attracted him to and keeps him in newspaper publishing. "I have regular meetings with all the section heads, and we have very strong relationships because we share the same goals – we want the best possible paper in the world.
"There is the odd time when our interests are not together, but we always get round it."

Unsurprisingly, given his history with GNL and his recent appointment as non-executive chairman of the Newspaper Marketing Agency, Taylor doesn't buy into the notion that newspapers are a dying medium.

And, just because the medium is in, what Taylor describes as, "marginal, gentle decline", this is definitely not, he argues, "a reason to stop innovating and extending the brand".

Extending brand

Although he is unwilling to disclose details, the recent launch of The Guardian Sports Show on Channel 4 indicates that extending the brand seems to be firmly on the agenda and Taylor is not ruling anything out. "Everyone has banged on for years how The Guardian should get into radio and TV – it is such a strong brand, we have such authoritative content, we will see how we go."

But he quickly points out that whatever route The Guardian should take, it won't lose sight of its roots. "You have to look after the core. We wouldn't have Guardian Unlimited without the journalism in the paper.

"Whether we are selling 500,000 and 300,000 is not the point. The point is we already have 11 million people using us online and they are coming online because they love the journalism.

You cannot have one without the other and we are in this fascinating time of transition – it's a very mature, very competitive market over here."

Notable landmarks for The Guardian

1821 John Edward Taylor publishes the first Manchester Guardian on 5 May.

1872 Charles Prestwich Scott becomes editor of The Guardian, a post he holds for 57 years.

1936 Ownership of The Guardian is transferred to a trust. The Scott Trust ensures the independence of the newspaper and continues the journalistic principles of CP Scott.

1959 The newspaper changes its title from the Manchester Guardian to The Guardian, to reflect the growing importance of national and international affairs in the newspaper.

1988 The Guardian has a radical redesign, splitting the newspaper into two sections and introducing a new masthead. An international edition is launched in Europe.

1995 Alan Rusbridger becomes editor.

1999 Guardian Unlimited network of websites is launched in January. By March 2001, GU has over 2.4 million unique users, making it the most popular UK newspaper website.

2004 Digital editions of The Guardian and The Observer, online replicas of the newspapers, launched. The paper also introduced a weekly tabloid edition aimed at students and distributed through university campuses across the UK.

2005 GNL announces details of new printing and production partnerships for the launch of The Guardian and The Observer newspapers in Berliner format. A £50m order was placed for three MAN Roland Color MAN presses, which will allow the production of full colour newspapers with a page dimension of 470mm by 315mm.

Compact timeline

September 2003 The Independent launches a compact edition

October 2003 The Times launches compact edition

April 2004 The Guardian announces plans to go Berliner in spring 2006

May 2004 Indy ditches broadsheet version

October 2004 The Times ditches broadsheet version

June 2005 The Guardian brings forward date of Berliner launch

12 September 2005 The Guardian launches its Berliner format

Career path - Stuart Taylor

2004 Commercial director of Guardian Newspapers Ltd (GNL) with responsibility for display, classified, recruitment and online advertising across the company

2000 Advertising director of Guardian and Observer. Appointed to The Guardian board

1993 Advertising manager for Guardian and Observer

1992 Sales manager for The Observer

1988 Joins agency sales team at The Observer

1985 Joins Argus Specialist Publications