Guardian News & Media says: September was a fantastic month ABC-wise for the Guardian and Observer, with both titles seeing strong month-on-month increases and remaining well ahead of target. Both papers were the best performers across the entire market in a month where a number of other titles saw significant month-on-month declines.
A wide range of marketing activity - including the second part of our successful ‘Own the Weekend’ campaign - contributed to September’s success, as did the launches of Observer Tech Monthly (the second edition of which is coming out this Sunday) and new biannual magazine The Fashion. A number of exclusive news stories – including the Guardian’s revelations around Nepalese workers in Qatar and a UN inspector’sviews on bedroom tax – also boosted sales.
The Observer’s performance is especially robust when you consider that the price of the newspaper rose by 20 pence to £2.70 midway through the month.
David Pemsel, Chief Commercial Officer, Guardian News & Media, said: “We’re thrilled with our September print performance, with both the Guardian and Observer outperforming the entire market from August to September.
“The September launches of Observer Tech Monthly and biannual magazine The Fashion, supported by the second part of our Own The Weekend marketing campaign and a number of exclusive stories, demonstrates how our continued investment in print is being welcomed by our readers. The Observer’s sales figures are especially heartening since we introduced a 20p price rise midway through the month, showing how our engaged audience truly value an improved, quality product.
“We've had an excellent 12 months and - beyond our encouraging print figures - our digital strategy is really paying off, and the recent move to our new domain, theguardian.com, clearly signals our global ambitions. The forthcoming launch of Guardian Labs will only strengthen our ability to offer even more brands and businesses the opportunity to partner with us and connect our engaged audiences with their consumers in new and exciting ways.”
