New Johnston Press sales team to push web-only ads

by Robin Parker, Media Week 29-May-07

Johnston Press has set up a London recruitment sales team and is offering web-only job ads to attract advertisers to its relaunched website jobstoday.co.uk.

Headed by Fiona Davies, a former recruitment sales director at Trinity
Mirror's Hot Group, the team aims to improve the publisher's
relationship with recruitment agencies, which have not traditionally

advertised in its papers.

Until now, job advertisers have been offered a package combining print
and online and have had to put in a specific request if they want to opt
out of either platform.

The new sales team will push an online-only option, in contrast with
Northcliffe Media, which was recently criticised for forcing recruitment
advertisers to pay for an additional online insertion if they wanted to
place an ad in one of the group's regional papers.

Johnston's advertisers can now manage their inventories online,
including CV matching, and jobseekers can do more filtered searches by
salary, location and sector.

Johnston will promote the relaunch with a marketing campaign in papers
published in the 20 largest towns where it operates.

Alex Green, Johnston Press' director of digital, said that 90% of the
local newspaper group's online jobseekers also use print ads.

He added: "It's been a market that the local press hasn't really
attracted and while the focus is initially on growing the online
business, over time we will do more cross-selling."