APN went to plenty of trouble to promote the recent changes to the New Zealand Herald and nzherald.co.nz, with a fancy TVC, a host of print and digital advertising and a microsite dedicated to keeping readers and advertisers informed. All up, the campaign had a ratecard value of $4 million (although it used its own media channels extensively). And, in what could either be seen as an example of how far newspaper marketing has progressed, or an example of how the newspaper industry didn’t need to do jack to maintain its readers and advertisers back in the day, it was slightly more advanced than the campaign the Herald ran to preview its last major format change in 1960.
On Monday 1 August, 1960, news stories took the front page lead on the Herald for the first time and the size of the paper roll it was printed on was reduced (prior to this the paper was slightly taller and wider). Up until that point the front page was made up of classified ads. So, to mark the last day of that set-up, an announcement about the change was published on Saturday 30 July and ran as a personal ad.
PERSONAL
THAT GRAND OLD LADY
Mrs H. E. Rald, regrets she will be making a well-deserved rest. However, her grand-daughter will continue her good works. Much younger and very virile, she commences work on Monday. Older readers will love her and the H. E. Rald great-grandchildren will adore her. She will find a place in the hearts of all the family.
