Media Channels: There's No Place Like Home - American Profile newspaper magazine for US rural citizens - Statistical Data Included

American Demographics, March, 2000 by Rebecca Gardyn

A new newspaper magazine delivers advertisers to the doorsteps of America's heartland.

The residents of America's small towns are more likely to buy gas grills, pressure cookers, and pet supplies than the average citizen. They are also more likely to buy country music and cottage cheese. But so far, advertisers have been unable to efficiently target this potentially lucrative market, which today is approximately 60 million strong. Until now.

Launching next month, American Profile will be the first national weekly newspaper magazine - please don't call it a supplement - inserted exclusively in the community newspapers of America's small (and smaller) hometowns: 74 percent will be distributed to D markets, those counties with populations of less than 20,000, and 12 percent to C markets, with populations between 20,000 and 85,000.

"There's not yet been a truly efficient media delivering advertisers to C and D markets," says Dan Hammond, publisher and CEO of Publishing Group of America (PGA), American Profile's privately held publishing company based in Nashville, Tennessee. "National newspaper magazines, like Parade and USA Weekend, well serve A and B America [counties with populations above 85,000]. We see ourselves as a complement to them, not a competitor. We are delivering a virtually unduplicated market and one that advertisers have been seeking to reach."

In fact, advertisers traditionally have steered clear of hometown newspaper markets, largely because identifying appropriate buys in small circulation, often family-owned community newspapers is extremely arduous and costly. But American Profile aims to supply advertisers with a one-stop-shopping media outlet for reaching small towners with a single collective buy.

When the magazine debuts on April 23, it will be inserted into approximately 500 newspapers with average circulations of less than 4,000 in the Midwest and Southeast, where the number of community newspapers is highest - about 1,300 and 900, respectively. Other regions of the country will be added at six-month intervals, reaching an expected total circulation of 10.5 million by 2002.

While American Profile bears a striking resemblance to Parade (circ: 37.1 million) and USA Weekend (circ: 21.8 million) in both style and design, including the bright colors, oversize dimensions, and newsprint-weight pages, the editorial content's decidedly folksy feel sets it apart. American Profile's tagline, "Celebrating Hometown Life," says it all: Items about gardens, country recipes, knitting tips, and county fairs will drive its editorial content. "We want to focus on the good news about living in America's small communities," says Hammond. "A couple who lives in C America Pennsylvania and C America New Mexico may see themselves very differently, but both will tell you they live in middle America. Both have similar values."

Each issue will profile one of the country's small towns, in addition to regular customized regional features such as "Hometown Heroes," and a calendar of events. National stories on celebrities with local ties, health trends, entertainment, and current events will keep readers informed about the goings-on in neighboring locales as well as those far and away.

Advertising rates for American Profile are slightly more expensive than Parade and USA Weekend; the cost-per-thousand readers for American Profile is $21.75 for a 4-color full page ad, compared to Parade's $19.39 and USA Weekend's $20.80. But for some, like national direct-response advertiser Checks Unlimited, which sells customized checks, the extended exposure is worth every penny. "The audience that American Profile is going to reach is one that doesn't normally get to see a Sunday supplement or freestanding insert, and that's normally where we advertise," says Howard Brooks, new-customer acquisition manager for Checks Unlimited, whose company has so far contracted for 12 insertions.

Then there are advertisers with products that specifically mesh with the lifestyle of consumers living in smaller communities. While residents of C and D markets are 27 percent more likely to listen to country music than the national average, for example, getting to that audience has been a chore, says Mike Kraski, senior vice president, sales and marketing for Sony Music in Nashville. "We usually do national print, radio, and TV and then layer with regionalized advertising. But we haven't been able to layer for the secondary and tertiary markets before now," says Kraski. "American Profile will allow us to pick specific artists to promote. There will be less Dixie Chicks and more Patti Loveless. People in these markets tend to be a little older, more often female, and have more traditional tastes."

In fact, 52 percent of American Profile's prototypical readers are female and older - 38 percent are between ages 35 and 54 and 35 percent are over 54, according to an analysis of C and D markets by Mediamark Research. Fifty-four percent have household incomes of $35,000 or more, 44 percent have some college or a college degree, and 77 percent own their own homes.