Classified Concepts. By Dana E. Blozis

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1 Published by Growing classified revenue one map at a time By Dana E. Blozis Stemming from its success as a custom mapping company, Maps.com formed to meet a growing need in the newspaper industry: creating individualized maps for classified advertising. Now serving over 60 newspapers across the country, creates customized maps for open houses, builders, auto dealers, apartment and home rentals, garage sales and more. A winning concept It started as an idea with the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press in late The newspaper wanted to add a map of open houses to its real estate section, providing additional value for readers and classified advertising clients. designed the custom map based on the newspaper s coverage area, desired size, color preference and specified style. They loved the idea, but were concerned about turnaround time, Peter Sproul, national sales manager for, explained of the newspaper s initial apprehension. To allay fears, guaranteed a turnaround of three hours from the time the newspaper submits its data. Each week the newspaper submits its data on a certain day, and creates the customized map. Once complete, the newspaper is notified via and can then download the map from Classified Concepts FTP site or it can request that uploads the map to the newspaper s own site. The Santa Barbara News-Press officially launched the product February 2004 with great success.

2 w w w. m a c d o n a l d a d v e r t i s i n g s e r v i c e s. c o m Page 2 of 5 It was received tremendously well, Sproul said. Director of Advertising Sarah Sinclair was thrilled with open house map prototype and said she had to have it as soon as she saw it. The company worked closely with Sinclair and her production team to design and print the map. was great to work with. They were flexible, and receptive to our questions and concerns, Sinclair said. They really worked with us to make this a reality. Once we overcame the production obstacles, we decided to use the open house map as the centerpiece for a redesign of the section. The map is unlike anything that any of our competitors can do. It makes even the print version of our real estate section interactive. People walk around town on Sundays clutching our real estate section. It ensures that we are the source for real estate information in our community. Cheryl Cuming, director of advertising for The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, Calif., has also had great success with the open house mapping product. After nine months of development, the program was implemented along with a directory listing and the online component, which included a searchable map. Cuming said the product has been a big success, providing new incremental revenue. In addition to providing the open house map, Sproul said each newspaper has the ability to add advertising opportunities to their maps. For example, the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald plotted a grocery store chain on each map, creating new revenue for one year. Other newspapers have added ad space along the perimeter of the map or sold additional ad space in real estate tab sections. Our programs generate significant new revenue for newspapers every week, Sproul said. They create a lot of premium ad space. A garage sale lover s dream Since the launch of the open house map, has expanded into other classified arenas, adding maps for builders, auto dealers and garage sales. The garage sale maps, described in the September 2006 cover story, have also added significant value to classified advertising. The garage sale maps appear both online and in print. These maps plot garage sales in different regions of a newspaper s readership area. In the online version, Web site visitors can select garage sales by location or by searching for specific items baby clothes, furniture, antiques, etc. and then plot an individualized map, complete with driving instructions.

3 Crazy for cars Launched in September 2006, partnered with The Tribune to reverse publish its Cars.com auto listings. The online listings are paired with private party auto ads in a special Thursday automotive section. Currently at 16 pages with 1,000 auto ads, the special section is sorted alphabetically by make and model, along with a directory listing of auto dealers and pertinent advertorial content like how to buy a used car. The product is very reader friendly, Cuming said. It is sorted alphabetically and contains contact information and full color photos. Prior to the development of this product, the newspaper had never had a stand-alone auto section. This product gave us the opportunity to create new auto advertising on Thursdays, Cuming explained. It has created additional display revenue advertising opportunities. Not only do readers love the product, but auto dealers are pleased as well. They no longer have to advertise in both the newspaper and the rack-distributed auto magazines. They can advertise in just the newspaper, which gives them greater exposure. The auto market has really struggled with auto advertising, Cuming said. But we haven t had that problem since implementing this product. Success secrets Each year continues to grow, regularly adding new newspaper clients and products in response to customer demand. We re very responsive to newspapers, Sproul said. Our products have been developed based on feedback from them The products, sold to newspapers ranging in circulation from 3,000 to 750,000, are designed to be affordable regardless of a newspaper s size and to provide significant, incremental revenue above the newspaper s cost, which is based on Sunday circulation. We sell it to newspapers and newspapers turn around and sell the advertising around the maps to their customers. They see an ad volume increase, sometimes a very significant ad volume increase, Sproul explained. Sproul attributes the company s success to the value of the product and to the expertise provided by Maps.com. To date, there is no significant competition and, because of the

4 learning curve involved in creating customized maps on a weekly basis, Sproul does not anticipate any meaningful competition in the near future. That s not to say it couldn t happen, Sproul said, but right now we have good market penetration. Customers like Cheryl Cuming credit the company s success to its innovative products and customer service. For example, Cuming said when implementing The Tribune s open house product, Sproul made three visits to the paper to help different departments work together in creating the appropriate systems needed to support the mapping product. Sproul was really key in getting me hooked up with folks who were doing this already, Cuming said. has been great to work with. About Maps.com Founded in 1991 as Magellan Geographix, the custom mapping company changed its corporate name to Maps.com in The privately held company is owned by Robert H. Temkin. It is run by the executive team of John Serpa, president and CEO, and Charles Regan, executive vice president. As one of the world s largest mapping companies, Maps.com statistics show that nearly 2 million people use Maps.com online services each month, and over 8,500 school age children have used the Maps101 learning system. Cheryl Cuming The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Phone: ccuming@thetribunenews.com Web site: Sarah Sinclair Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press Phone: ssinclair@newspress.com Web site:

5 w w w. m a c d o n a l d a d v e r t i s i n g s e r v i c e s. c o m Page 5 of 5 Peter Sproul, Santa Barbara, Calif. Phone: peter.sproul@maps.com Web site: